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I recently received a 2ft American Alligator from a lady who no longer knew what to do with the gator now that she wasnt a small little nip anymore. The poor animal was kept in a 20 gallon fish tank with little water no dry basking area. There was no water heater, lights or filtration. Since I have raised crocs before my heart went out and I took the gator now known to my family as cloe. I immediately built her an enclosure with a 55 gallon pond area plenty of dry basking area. The water temp, air temp, basking area temp and humidity is digitally monitored and controlled from day thru night. Anyways back to my intial question I'm having trouble with getting her to feed. Its been a couple days with just some slight food intact. At her last home she was only given raw chicken just the meat. She refuses to except pinkies or live food. Just today I got her to except a small amount of chicken and beef which I have supplemented with calcium since she will not take the bone yet from small feed. What other vitamins can I supplement with until I get her appetite up? I'm hoping since she came from an enviroment that was so cold 70F air 68F water that her new home with warmer temps 85F water temp during the day to 83F at night and air temps between 80F and 90F that this may soon trigger her appetite. As the days go on she seems to be getting more comfortable and active in her enviroment. One other quick question. She hasnt left the water to bask yet. Its been four days since I rescued her. I'm wondering why she wont leave the water and should I be concerned or will this pass as she gets more comfortable in her new enviroment.

This has been a very stressful time for it. Give it time and it will likely come around.

Bill

Its going to take some time for your gator to adjust. We have found that new arrivals spend most of their time in the water because they feel secure there. So, we added a "night basking lamp" via a ceramic heating element on the land area so that the gators are more apt to get the necessary heat by basking at night. Eventually, they settle in and you will see plenty of day basking. When kept in good conditions, your gator should turn around nicely.

I once recieved a very stressed gator as well. What the others say about giving her time is all true. A few days and she should be fine. However if she still refuses food after a few days try something that splashes around in the water. With my problem feeder I tried everything I could think of. He refused everything until I dropped a live mouse into the water. The splashing caught his attention and within seconds he was eating. For the next couple of weeks he would only eat if it splashed around in the water. Then he gradually began taking food from tongs and other sources. Good luck.

All of the others were very correct man. I also own an american alligator. When they go through a rapid change like that especially into a warmer climate than what they were used to and now in an environment that it needs to be in it is just getting used to the situation. Just allow the little guy to settle in and maybe in a couple weeks or so then try to pick him up for a little bit to help him get used to that. Then just work with him gradually until he comes around. If you have any other questions just email Chris at: Pisces842001@yahoo.com. Enjoy the gator and good luck.