Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is it safe to just feed a gator which is 22inches one large meal each week?

If you are keeping your gator at decent temps (say 90 degrees or nice basking spots and warm water) he will digest in a timely manner, usually in less than a day. So he should recieve daily feedings. When gators are really young they can eat 6 meals a day at 4 hour intervals, they digest so quickly. As your gator grows and ages he will require less frequent meals, but even my 53 year old adults eat three times a week between spring and fall. And this is food with hard bone in it (harder to break down). I would not suggest that you give your guy any food with bone until he is about 3 feet and has a more hearty digestive system. OR, you can thoroughly pulverize (very messy) chicken leg bones. OR you can open turkey leg bones and extract 1/2 inch thick marrow. This is very vitamin and nutrient packed and I do advise this over calcium/phosphorous/vitamin suppliments any time, if you have the time. I always advise that one feed their gator "whole food" items like rat pups in your guy's case (22 inches) or whole fish (not goldfish, but fish from a fish market. fresh or salt water, makes no difference). By "whole" I mean that the stomach contents and organs be left intact. If you get any fish with spines (catfish or talapia) I'd advise removing ALL spines. Neither fish is available in a small size, so I doubt you'll need to worry about this now.

>>Is it safe to just feed a gator which is 22inches one large meal each week?
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It isn't "Ideas" that fail or succeed,... it is the "Systems" which are instilled to launch and sustain the idea that either fail or succeed.>[Me.]

So you would advise against pinkies for young crocs?

Mr. F

Oh, not at all. Where did you get that from? I ALWAYS suggest feeding pinkies to juvenile crocodilians. But a 22 inch guy would need something a bit bigger and fuzzies offer a bit more roughage (important in digestion)

>>So you would advise against pinkies for young crocs?
>>
>>Mr. F
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It isn't "Ideas" that fail or succeed,... it is the "Systems" which are instilled to launch and sustain the idea that either fail or succeed.>[Me.]

No. Pinkies don't have a hard skeleton yet so they are easily digested. Full grown mice/rats have a hard skeleton and are therefore harder for young Crocs to break down.
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All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.

ooooooookay...

That cleared it up.

Mr. F

This 53 yo that you speak of, are you sure about the age, and if so, do you have any close-up, detailed photos of it's teeth - particularly the rear ones? Is tooth replacement still cycling?

Bill

Actually there are more than just one. And there is no question of the ages. But yes, all of the teeth are still present and are replaced at what appears to be every 2 or 3 years (not yearly like in the 70's and 80's, and certainly not monthly like juvies) but all 38 upper and 38 lower are still present. Their eyes are still clear and their movements are not labored. For these reasons I theorize that healthy gators can live to very advanced ages such as 80 or 100 or more. Who knows?

>>This 53 yo that you speak of, are you sure about the age, and if so, do you have any close-up, detailed photos of it's teeth - particularly the rear ones? Is tooth replacement still cycling?
>>
>>Bill
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It isn't "Ideas" that fail or succeed,... it is the "Systems" which are instilled to launch and sustain the idea that either fail or succeed.>[Me.]

Hello fellas,
A fella here in my area has 2 gators both in their upper 40's early 50's, the female still lays eggs annually and both animals are very vibrant. These can be very long lived animals when properly maintained.

These are outdoors year round, raised from hatchlings by the owner. I worry about them though as the owner is in his late 70's early 80's. May end up coming here.

CD

I was just wondering if you were referring to Herman. If so I am a personal friend of his.

>>Hello fellas,
>> A fella here in my area has 2 gators both in their upper 40's early 50's, the female still lays eggs annually and both animals are very vibrant. These can be very long lived animals when properly maintained.
>>
>>These are outdoors year round, raised from hatchlings by the owner. I worry about them though as the owner is in his late 70's early 80's. May end up coming here.
>>
>>CD
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It isn't "Ideas" that fail or succeed,... it is the "Systems" which are instilled to launch and sustain the idea that either fail or succeed.>[Me.]

You know i'm not sure what his first name is anymore. I just know were he lives. It's about maybe 10 minutes from here. i guess I could go out there and ask him.They are great animals. he had them on public display for years, finally had to board them up due to people tossing stuff at them.

Do you know were I live Brian?

So I thought you were going to write something up about this guy (?). As I've told you before, It would be a fascinating read.

Bill

I've thought about it quite a few times. Really pretty interesting story. Just never seem to find the time these days.

Whats even more interesting is DOW chemical built his pens for him, for I believe to keep him happy as a worker but I could be wrong about that.

Once they reach 2 feet, I feed them once a week. Smiley gets two jumbo rats, one after another, and that's it. She doesn't ask for any more either.

Small ones I feed more often - < 12", I feed them all they will eat, 1 to 2 feet, twice a week. It's what's worked for me.

Bill