Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was looking for some advice about Shinisaurus and I am getting conflicting information as I search the web.

I have a decent amount of reptile experience, but next to no experience with Shinisaurus. I want to set up a large aquarium in my office (I'm a dentist). It seems everybody has saltwater aquariums, and they are fine, but I'd rather set up reptiles. I was considering a smooth front caiman, but obtaining the permit would be burdensome for me here in Florida as I would have to try to document hours of experience from 10 years ago. I also do not want an animal which is likely to scare the general public or make them uncomfortable.

I was considering setting up a half land, half water about 120 gallon aquarium with a handful of Shinisaurus. The following questions come to mind:

1) Will they make good display animals? If no one can see the Shinisaurus because they always hide, it kind of defeats the purpose. This is another reason I do not think a smaller caiman species would work.

2) Can they be housed communally? The tank needs to be at least a little "busy." One lizard resting in a corner may not be very entertaining, but a handful of lizards located in different spots would be neat.

3) Can they handle the stress? Is the commotion of a waiting room going to be too much for these lizards?

Any other thoughts. I am trying to set up an impressive display tank that lets me use office funds to support my enjoyment of reptiles yet doesn't scare the general public. I had also considered mata mata, Carettochelys, or a Chitra as options.

Thanks in advance,

Bryant King

The ones I have seen have been very expensive. The ones I have seen also didn't do much and you had to search pretty hard to find. A smooth front caiman is going to get way to big to keep as an office display.

I would think either of the turtles you mentioned would be a better display.

Shinisaurus' are very neat, but hard to find. Bert Langerwerf of Agama International is the only breeder of them I know of. You should check out his care sheet. Hes not selling them yet. Im not sure why.

As for your display, you want something kid-friendly, active, and cool. Maybe a pair of ackies? Theyre active but from what I understand theyll tear up a naturalistic vivarium. A lot of lizards simply trash nnatural cages. Only little uns dont because the hide a lot. Like crested geckos. You could try some sort of snake. Maybe a GTP would be cool. Theyre easy to get CB and have lots of morphs. Carpets might be good too.

You mentioned turtles as well. Since youll have kids in there, you shouldnt try red-ears. You know the drill: Kid sees cool turtle, begs mom, mom buys cheap turtle(which is illegal under 4 inches but she buys anyway), turtle either dies or grows up miserably, no ones happy, blah blah blah. You should try a turtle that kids wont get worked up about. Maybe some softshells. A common snapper (whichever sex is smaller, I bleive female) would be attractive.

If youre willing to try amphibians and have enough money, you could try dart frogs. Theyres plenty of info on them. Maybe tree frogs even.

Sorry if Im confusing you or making it more difficult, just tryin to help!

Bryant,
I have been keeping and breeding shinis for a while now, and I can try to answer some of your questions.
The size and setup that you described would be adequate for a pair. They do like to have some land available, but in my experience, they will spend the majority of their time in the water.
As far as the entertainment value of them in an office setting, I would probably recommend against them. They do tend to be fairly sedate and won't provide much movement or activity for the public to witness. I have displayed them in a public setting before, however, and have had many people remark on how impressive a lizard they are - regardless of the fact that they had to search in the cage to find them. I never had any problems with the outside activity of the public being stressful to them.
I have set up many terrariums in the past, both for myself and other folks, and would say that if you choose to do shinis you may want to consider concentrating your efforts on an impressive terrarium display with a live animal as a bonus sighting. Many people will be just as impressed with a well thought-out display as with a cool lizard. Also, the posting recommending dart frogs is a good one. These have been the most popular of the setups I have done, and tend to require the least amount of effort for the maximum amount of entertainment.
Hope this helps. If you have other questions about them, feel free to contact me.

Bryan

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"America was designed to answer to no one but ourselves, but somewhere along the line we stopped asking questions."
-Bryan Cole

Looking at that awesome animal you have pictured convinces me even more that they would be a great choice.

Dart frogs are a great suggestion, but I have a knack for killing frogs. I first discovered this skill when I worked for Glades Herp 10 years ago. I could tell you how to care for one properly and you could do great, but the minute I set up frogs- they croak. It really is a special unskill I have that defies explanation.

Anyways, I think the Shinisaurus will work. I can place small fish in the aquatic portion to add activity to the tank. I presume Shini's will eat fish if they can catch them. Small oscars with larger Shinisaurus would probably look neat although the oscars may be too aggressive. A plecostamus (spelling) would certainly be in order. The nice thing about a primarily aquatic set up is that ability to filter the water which will help with maintenance. I am thinking of a floating bin as an island portion within the aquarium. This will be fun to design.

Thanks for the advice Bryan, but the picture cinched it. I was leaning towards dwarf caimens, but the Shinisaurus seem much wiser.

Now I have to figure out how soon I want to do this and start shopping for appropriate aquarium set-ups.

Thanks,

Bryant King

Hi
first, sorry for my english, it s very bad!
I m italian, a new one in this forum, my name s Cristiano and I live in Verona.
I love shinisaurus and I have four, if you buy these fantastic animals be carefull with the temperatures, they feel good beetwen 18-22 celsius, not more!No basking spot lamps, no water heaters.
Also is impossible put in the tank the astronotus ocellatus because they need higher water temperature as you know.
In the tank of my shinis I put a pair of oranda(gold fish), very beautifull and usefull(tank cleaning) and like the same temperatures.
I would like to know new people that like shinisaurus, I think they are very interesting and different from others lizards, so write me please!(In Italy we are only 3 or 4!!!)