Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am wanting to build an enclosure for a dwarf caimen. I need it to be big enough for an adult. Any suggestions and/or pictures of enclosures you have built in the past would be very helpful. Thanks

I have only built one dwarf caiman enclosure and it was a huge permanent display. 10'x10' with a water area that held over 300 gallons. Not exactly something for the DIY project at home if that's what you are planning.

Can you give us a general idea of how you want to go about this? I have seen small crocdilians housed a variety of ways and really don't know where to start making suggestions. Maybe find a picture or describe what you want and we can help.

I'm very jealous. Dwarf Caiman's are one of my all-time favorite species. Honestly, if I had plumbing in my reptile room I'd probably figure out a way to keep them.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

hi..

this is my dwarf caiman enclosure... it was really easy to make it, but a lot of work...

hope can help

Rick

Chris, The size doesn't matter that much as it will be built and kept inside my garage.

Bigtank, Thank you for the picture, do you have any other pictures of that one? Also what are the dimensions of it? Thanks guys and I am looking forward to your input.........

Okay, but that still does not tell us what you are going for. I have seen small crocodilans kept in what is basically a small room or I have seen them kept in what are essentially dog kennel with horse troughs. I have also seen cabinet type enclosures for the species you plan to keep.

A friend of mine keeps a lot of Dwarf Caimain and W. African Dwarfs in a bedroom. He put down an extra layer of vinyl flooring and then sectioned off the room with stacked concrete block. Each section has a horse trough and a ramp leading up to it.

And then there is what BigTank pictured. I happen to like that one a lot. That would be my preference if I were to keep them again. I would elevate it somehow so I could have a drain in the pool.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

I was planning on doing something along the lines of the one BigTank has pictured. I agree with you about elevating it, as I too would want a drain in the pool, and have the bottom completely enclosed to hide everything below and have a ball valve on pvc pipe to the drain.

I think BigTank pretty much nailed it. Something like this will be pretty straightforward but probably time consuming to build.

I would pretty much start with whatever tank you want to build and then figure out how much extra land area and cage decoration you'll want. From there you can start to decide how to build your decking.

You said this will be in a garage. Do you live in an area that will the cage to be heated or will you pretty much just need a basking spot for the caiman?

If you'll need to heat the cage you might consider insulated walls of some sort. I think at that point you might just consider building a room within your garage.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

What I meant to write was I would start with whatever tank you want to buy or build.

yes I do have some more pics...

mail me and I´ll send you some... my mail is elchars1@yahoo.com

it does have a drain, but you cant see it because its under the concret... and goes to the house main drain...

I was meant its a lot of work to built it, but it takes me about 2 hr per week to keep it clean...

here is another pic of my dwarf inside enclosure...

good look

Rick

When I worked for the Florid Aquarium we kept our Caimans in large Vision tubs in the husbandry area in the back out of public view. Of course, the actual displays in the aquarium were to huge to put in the average home as they had an island with trees etc.

Frank