Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi peeps........im going to be building an enclosure for a dwarf caiman (palp)....now part of my councils conditions for keeping d.w.a. animals is they want me to build the adult enclosure in advance.....rather silly in my oppinion but hey if thats what i got to do so be it...the enclosure will be in a converted garage..now ive ive been told concrete is bad for there feet...so im intending to give it a raised pool 8 x 8 feet 18"-24" deep and build the land section up around it ontop of the concrete,i think this will give it the chance to dig around as well so should be ok....what id like to know is what would be the best substate to use for this taking into account the land section alone will be roughly 7 feet x 9 feet and 24" deep...
also any tips or hints on lighting and heating such an enclosure will be very welcomed.the total size of the enclosure will be about 15 x 9 feet square... ps.im in the uk so allow for are [bleep]ty wheather.(which is great at the moment lol..thanks roger.
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no way the way no limit the limit

Keeping in mind that the dwarfs are very terrestrial and tend to like to hide under leaf-litter, burrows, and in hollowed out logs, you should provide a substrate that will allow it to do that. This could be dirt, shavings or cypress mulch, in combination with "furnishings" that will provide security for it (they are very shy animals). Mine is outdoors in the summer months with a sand/dirt/overgrown weeds substrate. In the winter it comes indoors and I use cypress mulch.

Bill

thanks for the advice bill.would 50/50 peat and sand mix topped with cypress mulch be good enougth or should i use normal soil?

as its going to be a large amount i was thinking of spot cleaning as and when needed with a six monthly complete change..
what are your thoughts or advice on this?

any hints or tips you have on heating and lighting such a large enclosure would be useful too....
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no way the way no limit the limit

thanks for the advice bill.would 50/50 peat and sand mix topped with cypress mulch be good enougth or should i use normal soil?

as its going to be a large amount i was thinking of spot cleaning as and when needed with a six monthly complete change..
what are your thoughts or advice on this?

any hints or tips you have on heating and lighting such a large enclosure would be useful too....
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no way the way no limit the limit

Roger,
Spot cleaning should be fine. The soil mix sounds fine, but just as something to think about how are you going to keep it out of the water? I have a similar setup(smaller though, about 4x8ft.) that originally had cypress mulch on top. I had to put pea gravel over the mulch though because although the dwarf looked like he enjoyed it when his wet body contacted the mulch bits of bark stuck to him and when he dug, or rooted like a pig I should say, the problem was that much worse. I have largely fixed that though by adding a inch or so of pea gravel to the top of the soil. He doesn't get any bark on him any more unless he is digging and even the the pebbles remove much of the bark before he gets to the water. And that sure makes cleaning less time consuming. Just something to think about.

Seth

umm i could put gravel down around the pool but then im not too sure about using something of swallowing size...i know in the wild they swallow stones for reasons not yet proven but i have been advised not to provide them as it would'nt harm them to be without them,im not yet ready to build the enclosure yet but felt if i get other peoples ideas first i could save myself alot of mistakes and pick up some good tips ................

so keep em comming guys cheers.....roger.
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no way the way no limit the limit

umm i could put gravel down around the pool but then im not too sure about using something of swallowing size...i know in the wild they swallow stones for reasons not yet proven but i have been advised not to provide them as it would'nt harm them to be without them,im not yet ready to build the enclosure yet but felt if i get other peoples ideas first i could save myself alot of mistakes and pick up some good tips ................

so keep em comming guys cheers.....roger.

Roger,
I agree that it doesn't harm them not to have rocks to swallow but having rocks around doesn't cause problems. I have used rocks in the water area for years because I like the way they look. Also with a powerful filter and highly oxygenated water the gravel seems to act as a filter on its own and the water tends to stay sparkling even with a fair sized crocodilian. I am guessing maybe a bacteria colony builds up in the gravel and the caimans rooting around under water helps keep it aerated? Anyway I find you can go quite a bit longer in between water changes and that really is helpful if you have a lot of water to change.
So although rocks aren't necessary I don't think you need to worry about them causing problems.

Seth

thanks for the help jug.any tips on heating and lighting such an enclosure...im not expecting people to tell me what i must use just aquireing info and other differnt options....i was thinking of running a bottom drain on the pool gravity feeding a biolodgical 3 chamber filter with uv and pumping it back via a 2kw tube heater.i built a 30ft x 16 ft x 4ft deep koi pond a good few years ago so ive done somthing like this before,and still got the pumps ect... is it good enough for a croc or do i need to do somthing else...the pump runs at two speeds and sort of flushes the water at a quicker rate every hour or so..i thought as dwarfs like faster flowing water this could be used
but not too sure if the flow rate changing would effect it...any views on this welcomed.thanks
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no way the way no limit the limit