Baby Alligator enclosure?

We just purchased a baby American Alligator. He is about 7 or 8 inches in length. We currently have him in a 78 gallon rubbermaid tub. We have a heat light on him and covering maybe a third of the bottom of his tub are large rocks for basking. Is this the proper enclosure? Any ideas would be much appreciated... Where can I get more information?

Thanks in advance!

 

what are you going to do with him when he is 7-8 feet? What when he gets to big for you and you can't care for him no more.A gator imprinted by humans cant be released. Depending on your state you will need a wildlife license. Do you realize how much they will eat. I am not trying to be rude, but a gator is one of the few animals that should not be a "pet" I live in Florida and we hear about problem gators all the time. Sorry my Dear but a alligator belongs in the everglades and not in a rubbermaid tub.

 

i have to agree with connie63malies, owning an alligator is something that cannot be taken lightly. If you havn't done enough research to already know exactly what you need for an enclosure for a baby alligator, i have to question whether you are aware of and ready for the huge commitment and responsibilty owning an alligator really is. what is your plan for him when he is fully grown and has the potential to eat you? do you have a plan for how you are going to house him then?

i dont mean to be rude and i'm sorry if that's how it comes across but i dont think aliigators are an animal that cannot be kept by the average person as a pet. Leave them to the wild or at least to the zoos.

 

Males can weigh over 1000 pounds[1] and the largest recorded American Alligator reached a length of 19 feet, 2 inches (5.8 meters)[2], although 4 to 4.5 meters (13 to 14.7 feet) is a more common adult size[3]. However, they have the ability to sprint for short distances at speeds of up to 30 miles/hour.


[edit] Diet


.Once an alligator reaches adulthood, any animal living in the water or coming to water to drink is potential prey. Adult alligators will eat razorbacks, deer, domestic animals including cattle and pets, and are well known to kill and eat smaller alligators. Larger male alligators have been known to tackle Florida panther and bears, making it the apex predator throughout its distribution.

Thats a small portion of what Wikipedia says about the gator. This animal has the brain size of a walnut.

Last year thre people in one month got killed just by being to close to the water in Florida. Do you have a 20 by 20 pool to house a adult.
and one last question What would you think about when your neighbors have a pet lion cub? sure they cute when they are young, but get my drift, they dont stay that way, they will get big -FAST-
and turn into an unpredictable danger for their surrounding.

take a look at Siegfried & Roys white tigers, they worked with them for 20+years but all sudden it snapped. Certain animals are reserved for zoo's not private collectors.
sorry for my long story, but some things just get me going

 

Holy crap you bought an american alligator. Are you out of your mind! If you are planning on getting a crocodillian maybe you should have gone for something that wont try to eat you. Maybe a dwarf croc or the smaller caimans even a smaller gavial. I would understand if you were experienced enough to care for it, and already had plans for it's adult hood. But it tells us that since you are asking if the tub is big enough and your asking for more info. To me that kind of sounds like an impulsive buy. I guess you probably are not the only person who has bough crocs before. Please post back and tell me you know what your doing and can afford to house/feed him.

 

Re: RE: Baby Alligator enclosure?

Let's stick to answering the question please. If you have nothing constructional to post, then simply don't post.

 

RE: Re: RE: Baby Alligator enclosure?

I think its pretty cool that you got one, actually I have heard many stories of people housing alligators and being successful just take your time and dont be nervous around him. Spend alot of time with him when he is young and he will grow up to like you..I hope, like any animal they grow a bond.

 

RE: Re: RE: Baby Alligator enclosure?

I believe that we are experienced enough to handle the gator... we have 14 other reptiles... and have done research on each of them. I will, however, admit that this was a spur of the moment decision, and we need to learn as much as we can as soon as we can... we got him from a dealer at a reptile show that had absolutley no idea how to care for him and didnt seem to mind. I think that he is in much better hands now that we have him. He is a little guy now... betweent 7 and 9 inches... i've read that they average a foot in growth each year... We plan to transform our basement into his kingdom when he gets larger. If he gets too large... too aggressive, we've already thought about donating him to our local zoo.

I understand that some people do not think that this is a good idea, but please do not tell us what to do... I only ask... if you know any good resources, please let us know!

Thank you!

 

RE: Re: RE: Baby Alligator enclosure?

I think it might be a good idea to go to any zoos that would have crocs and see if you could possibly book an appointment with the keepers and talk to them. I know at Toronto Zoo (where i live) they have a program that you can pay to spend a day with the keeper and expereince them caring for the animal and they teach you all kinds of things. Also here is a link to a site with some info:

http://www.torontozoo.com/Animals/details.asp?AnimalId=357

I didn't mean to critisize earlier. It just seemed like you were unsure about how to care for the croc. Now it seems that you have an idea of what your doing, and are willing to learn.

I have to be honest I have been doing a lot of research on all the different species and am highly concidering getting a smaller caiman or some other species when I can get the space for it.

Good luck with your new pet!

 

RE: Re: RE: Baby Alligator enclosure?

I think you can do a good job also and good luck!

 

Nobdy has mentioned the legalities of owning a gator. In some states and townships you need a permit, and in others, it is illegal. Most states that have permits, require that you adhere to a strict list of crieterea. For example, having 1000 hours of hands on experience with a professional, posting signs on your property that notify your neigbors that there is a gator on the premises, submitting a written plan of recapture to the state, a list of quallified vets, and names of people who will assume responsibility if there is an accident. You are in the process of getting a permit, right?
Have you considered the expence of converting a basement into a gator habitat? Or the expense of feeding it? How about vet bills? Let's say you keep the gator 'till' it's an adult and it gets sick? How are you going get a 15ft gator to a vet? How many herp vets make housecalls? Forget zoos. They get flooded with calls on a daily basis by people wanting to dump their unwanted reptiles. They won't take it. The fact that you are saying that you will try to pawn it off to a zoo if it gets too big or agressive (there is no"iff" its "when") says that you are not ready to take on this kind of responsibility.
An alligator is a logical step up from beardies, corns and iguannas :roll:

 

Well beside the legal parts of owning one settle down. For one how do you know a zoo wouldnt be of any help? Something like a gator they might take. People dont call every day saying they have a gator that needs a new home. And second maybe sense they already have all these reptiles they might know of a good herp vet. I am thinking some herp vets might make a house call if you really needed them too.

Dont go attackinng people. Lose the attitude and be nice about things.

 

IMHO burky_tc has some good points. If you get everything legit, and you know that you can take on the challenge of keeping this gator then go for it. I wish you and your gator the best and I honestly hope things dont get out of hand. Good luck, and keep on your research! 8)

 

Its me again. I do not know in which state they live, or which zoo would be closest. but your average zoo has enough gators. even if they would take him and put it in with their existing population consider this, put a new full blown mature gator in with them, they will fight. They are somewhat terretorial especially around mating season. . sure they like to display a large gator. but if they already own these animals why would they need another one. if they dont why would they bother take in a "rescue" zoos trade with other zoos.
those parks overproduce gators. there is a surplus of gators out there. down here problem gators over6 foot get shot on a regular basis. you need a class 3 wild life license to own a gator, in order to obtain one ,you will have to prove 1000hours of experience
of handling them. you got that.

 

Also, many zoos won't take gators because they have too many already.

I hope you keep reading and finding out as much information as you can. Good luck in your endeavours with the little guy... for now... ha.

 

Ok, people, calm down.

First of all, sb1127, before you get on your soap box again, why dont you voice your concerns to us in question form instead of critisizing two adults who have extensive experience with herps and have done much research. First of all, I know for a fact that our local zoo will accept an alligator. And we also know a local exotic pet store owner that raises and keeps gators who would take him, and third, I have a step uncle that has a souvenier shop in Florida and has a gator exhibit, it would cost a bit to get him down there, but he would be happy to have him should we ever decide that we dont want him. Now that that concern of yours is satisfied, hopefully, let me get to the part about vets, there is a herp vet about 3 min. from our home that makes house calls. Bingo. As far as the "cost" of building a home for him in the basement, I rennovated houses for 4 years and can do all of the work, and materials for it wont cost much, and yes, of course he will be expensive to own and feed and care for, but we love our animals and have put a very lot of money into keeping them and keeping them healthy and growing well, really, there have been days when our reptiles ate instead of us going out to dinner. As my fiance' mentioned before, we have a lot of reptiles but they are all in excellent health and are being cared for exactly how they are supposed to be and our gator "Fido" will be no different. So before you are quick to critsize next time, please be decent, like the other good people on this forum, instead of an overly critical person who just likes to flap his gums. And legally, first of all, I am a police officer, I know our states laws, and we are in the clear for everything that we are doing. If you have any other concerns, we will be happy to answer them for you, so that you can feel at peace that we arent just some over spontaneous kids that decided an alligator would be a good thing to bring home because the seller said that they wont grow any bigger then their enclosure! Please understand that we are not kids and are fully capable and prepared to care for this lovely prehistoric wonder.
Now that I got that out, back to the original point, any good "resources" would be appreciated, not "resources" as in someone telling us how wrong they think we are, but "resources" as in the direction that a herp enthusiast would point another herp enthusiast for information, when they both have a mutual love of the same thing. I do not ask for information because we are ill informed but because we love to learn as much as we can about ways to help our little man thrive and become the big guy that nature intends him to be.
Thankyou

 

RE: Ok, people, calm down.

Well, first of all i just want to apologize for being a little presumptuous. I have to admit from reading your first post it did seem a little like an over spontaneous kid, but i was obviously very wrong. i guess it just becomes automatic because we all see and hear of way too many of those kids buying a pet on a whim thats way out of their league - and one of those kids with a gator is a really scary thought! Not that im making excuses, its actually kind of sad.

Anyway, since you actually know what you are getting into, i guess its time to address the original question - i'm sorry i dont have anything that could help you right now, but i know some people at the university that work at, or know people that work at the zoo here, so i will dig around and see if i can turn up any info for you...

p.s. - just one other thing - make sure that vet knows he might need to do a housecall on a gator and is ok with that. i'm sure youve thought of that since you seem to have everything else covered, but just wanted to double check - mostly for the vets sake, lol

 

RE: Ok, people, calm down.

http://www.herphabitats.com/reptile_inform...n_alligator.htm

that dude seems to have knowledge in gator handling.
check it out if you havent already.
i have deceided that this is my last contribution to this post

 

If only a gator was like an iguana. Then this could be true, but as previously stated a gators brain is tiny. They are built to kill and have the instinct to kill no matter what.

 

totally correct, a gators brain is only about 8 or 9 grams. This thread has been a bit rude and I have been watching it, if it stays on track I will leave it open but if it gets to that rude point again it will be closed. It's 1 of those threads where I can't really comment without offending 1 side or the other so I will refrain from any in depth commenting myself.