Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Recently I went to a fair that had a reptile display.One of the animals was an American Alligator that was aproximatly three and a half feet long. I talked to one of the workers and they told me that it was 21 years old. I asked them why it was so small (knowing that the average growth is a foot or more a year) He said that by regulating the tempetures of the water and basking area they slow down there matabalism and the growth of the animal.

-My question is first off is this possible? They don't sell the animals so i don't see a resine for him to lie.

-Second if this is possible is it healthy for the animal? The one they had was very fat, if not to much so. And looked as if it was in great condition.

Thanks for your time.

That animal is SEVERELY stunted. It IS possible to stunt an animals growth in that manner. Reducing food intake and lowering environmental temperatures will prevent the animal from growing very large, however, there are negative side effects to this. Just because an animal APPEARS healthy on the outside, doesn't mean it is so. Most likely, this animal will or does already have some calcium deficiency related problems, etc. I also doubt that the animals muscle tone is all that great as well.

You have to remember that there are organs inside as well. Those require more attention than the muscle and skin of the animal and thus most of the vitamins and nutrients that are in the animal's diet go towards maintaining the internal organs first and ensuring they are strong and healthy.

Additionally, I seriously doubt that this animal is 21 years old at that length.

JMO,

Chris
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My Website
www.herpfanatic.com

As mentioned before there are many factors that could of stunted the alligator. My guess since it was at a fair they did feed the animal properly and the animal was in a small enclosure. A animal stunted like that would never make it to twenty one years old. Stunted like that would make the animal way to unhealthy to live that long. To me I consider this animal CRUELTY. Ronnie
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>> A animal stunted like that would never make it to twenty one years old.

I agree that stunting is reprehensible and usually kills the animal, but I personally know of an alligator that was under 30" for more than twenty years. It was sold (illegally) at an Oklahoma pet store in 1974 or 1975. I remember really wanting it as a teenager, but not wanting to risk breaking the law (plus I couldn't afford the $50 asking price). Caimans were only about $5 back then.

It was purchased by a college student who kept it until he graduated and then donated it to the Biology department of the school and told them it was a caiman.

I first heard about it again back in the late 1980s. A recent graduate of the college told me of the "caiman" that was only about two feet long that had been there for years. I then heard from several other former students who remembered it.

During the 1990s the school built up a small herp collection and started buying feeders from me. Around 2000, the student who usually picked up the herp food wanted to try some alligator diet for the "caiman." I cautioned him that, in my experience, caimans were not nearly as good about eating the dry food as were the alligators. He tried it and the animal took to it right away. The only problem was that it soon started growing again and outgrew its 40 gallon tank.

At a later date they wanted me to come check out some new, larger cages they were constructing for the collection. I was interested to see the "caiman" I'd heard about over the years. Of course I was startled to see it was not a caiman at all. After talking to several of the older faculty members we were able to trace the animal's history back to the pet shop in the 70s.

The animal has continued to grow. I was able to find a local herp educator who offered to take it after clearing everything with wildlife department officials. It was getting too hard for the college folks to handle.

Again, my feeling is that no one should get any animal if they won't be able to allow it to grow to a healthy, normal adult size. But it is certainly possible for an animal to survive in a dwarfed condition for many years, and even to start growing again when diet and conditions improve.

The only way that I could see an animal remaining that small, but living a long life, would be if the diet that IS given was an excellent and healthy diet allowing the animal some of the important nutrients to maintain some of it's health. The growth factor would be controlled by the temperature and the quantity of food it receives (frequency of feeding or amount fed each feeding). Nevertheless, it's a horrible thing to do to the animal, but, YES, they can bounce back if the diet is corrected, although, I have my curiosities as to whether the animal will EVER be as fully developed as they would if they were well cared for to begin with.

Chris
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My Website
www.herpfanatic.com