Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've been searching the web, and asking around, and I've found that I should expect to pay around $50-75 for a south american caimen, but I can't seem to find one for less than $200! Any links?

-=Dave

there is hardly any chance you'll find one that low.. the cheapest is an american alligator and they're only that low at show (sometimes not all the time that low) if you're worried about the price don't get one because the purchase of the caiman is just the first FEW bucks compared to everything it will need. keep in mind even the dwarf caiman will get to 5ft if fed properly. also they will need a good sized pond and enclosure. the food will also caust alot. if you go to crocodilian.com and go to the captive care section it will tell you you what you should expect to pay and answer anyother question you might have. the cheapest caiman i have ever seen was $175.

good luck and hope all goes well with the caiman

k

lol Oh, no, it's not that I MIND paying the $200, I've just heard I SHOULD be paying far less, and who wouldn't preffer to spend less money? As far as the rest of the cost, yeah, I know. I've got a few 125gal tanks open right now, one with a 1 footer in it as is. I'm in the proccess of building the outdoor enclosure, a pond land, fully fenced and locked, around 10x20ft. But, I figure that's about two year away before being needed. Perhaps it was the American that was suposed to be that cheap... Oh well. Thank you for the information! ^_^

-=Dave

A few short years ago (Mid 90's) I can remember buying caiman juvis from dealers for like 20 bucks. Pet shops were selling them for around 80 to 100 bucks. Then something happened. Not sure what it was but the prices for caiman went through the roof. If you are reading info from a few years back that says they should be around 50 bucks it is probably just outdated info. 200 sounds about right these days.

Here in germany a Caiman crocodilus costs approx 160$ and this is the most caiman spec. that you can buy in germany!!

Look here http://www.gherp.com/index1.htm

I don't know where you live but I probably rescue over 20 caiman annually (mostly specs)....based on the prices you are giving, are you talking about dwarf caimans? If so, you can expect to pay at least $150 (but to pay anything more than ZIPPO for a spec. caiman seems like a ripoff to me).

The inexpensive spectacled caimen is no longer imported legally into this country. The laws were changed a couple of years ago with the intent to stop the caimen pet trade (affordable pet trade) barring their importation under the guise of the look a like theory because inspecting forces could not tell them from yacare caimen. LOL>>>>>> All of the legally obtained spectacled caimen in this country (other than cb us)would be approx two years of age or older. You can usually obtain smooth fronts and dwarfs from approx $175 to $275. Even though specs that have outgrown their welcome are often found via the rescue basis their value has grown accordingly.

You are right about the change in regulations but we are still getting quite a few baby specs coming into our facility (just had 2 come in last week; both were under 12"....somehow, they are still making it into the pet trade which is too bad. My guess is that even the more expensive dwarf caiman will soon become readily available through various herp adoptions. People anticipate getting a "dwarf" that can be easily managed without having any idea as to how aggressive these little "crocs" really are. I would rather handle an alligator twice the size than mucking with a young adult dwarf (my little guy is absolutely wonderful but strictly a display animal with as little "hands-on" contact as possible). I will be very interested to see what happens over the next several years with all of the various nile crocs and other crocodilians that have fallen into private individual's hands....hopefully, most of them will be well cared for (but I doubt it).