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There has GOT to be something useful to discuss here...

We're the proud owner of a male P. trigonatus (Smooth Fronted Caiman). It was sold to use as a Cuvier's dwarf - but after reviewing the CITES Crocodilian Identification Key, we found out otherwise.

Our trigonatus has was imported as a hatchling, and has been in captivity for a little over 18 months. He's a little fireball, as I hear most trigonatus are.

Feeding has been a chore since we acquired him. He's flighty, and easily stressed. Leaving prekilled prey items on his land area has proved unsuccessful. Feeding him thawed rat pups on tongs has been the easiest method as of late.

He has two distinct responses to food being introduced. He will either shake the rat violently and swim away, or close his mouth tightly over the rat, and hold it for 15-30 minutes. Only after we leave the room and shut off the lights will he swallow his prey.

I have an incredible desire to handle him frequently, and try to make him a calm trig - but my desire to get him eating more regularly is taking the front seat. As of now - I can get him to eat every 5-7 days. Anything more than that, and I get nothing but a stress response.

Digestion is not a problem - his ambient water temperatures are from 75-82 degrees. Water temperature right at the basking area measures around 84-86 degrees, and he regularly basks on land under two 75 watt light bulbs on surface temperatures of 95 degrees. This is on top of a patio block, about 6" above the surface of the water.

The only complete stress free feeding he does for us as of now is snapping up an occasional fish. We do keep roughly a dozen live fish in the water at all times - to let him pick them off as he chooses.

The benefits of UVB light has been a difficult topic for me to find concrete information on... So for the time being - I keep UV lights on the cage for approx 12 hours a day. I figure it can't hurt. And if anything - it aids in natural algae growth in the cage, and makes everything look a little less "industrial". I'm sure everyone here understands the concept of "good" algae.

We also provide occasional treats of crawdads, when they are available. More often than not, our trig would rather kill all the crawdads and just leave them be once they are dead. It seems he finds them to be nothing more than a nuisance. In the summertime, feeder frogs are also available at our local bait shop - but we have yet to offer those as a feeder item. I've heard of good results using them...

So that's our experiences in a nutshell. Anyone? Care to add? Comments at all??

Feeding has been a chore since we acquired him. He's flighty, .and easily stressed. Leaving prekilled prey items on his land area has proved unsuccessful. Feeding him thawed rat pups on tongs has been the easiest method as of late.

That's a good start, if they are really stressed, they won't even do that.

He has two distinct responses to food being introduced. He will either shake the rat violently and swim away,

This may be an aggressive response to a threat. One of the reactions to a threat is to bite and shake - causing a simple bite to be much worse in terms of damage because of the tearing of the tissues. This is common with caimans in general - moreso than at least than alligators (IMHO)

or close his mouth tightly over the rat, and hold it for 15-30 minutes. Only after we leave the room and shut off the lights will he swallow his prey.

A common response if the animal is actually intent on feeding.

I have an incredible desire to handle him frequently, and try to make him a calm trig - but my desire to get him eating more regularly is taking the front seat. As of now - I can get him to >eat every 5-7 days. Anything more than that, and I get nothing >
>but a stress response.

trigs tend to be a little high strung. Chances are you will never be able to get it to tolerate human intervention. That said, there are always exceptions to the norm.

The benefits of UVB light has been a difficult topic for me to find concrete information on... So for the time being - I keep UV lights on the cage for approx 12 hours a day. I figure it can't hurt. And if anything - it aids in natural algae growth in the cage, and makes everything look a little less "industrial". I'm sure everyone here understands the concept of "good" algae.

I have not been to the areas of the SA where trigs are found, but from what I have read, they basically burrow or hide during the day, plus they are in fairly heavily forested areas. This would lead me to beleive that they don't get a lot of natural UV. But like you said, it probably won't hurt.

We also provide occasional treats of crawdads, when they are available. More often than not, our trig would rather kill all the crawdads and just leave them be once they are dead. It seems he finds them to be nothing more than a nuisance. In the summertime, feeder frogs are also available at our local bait >shop - but we have yet to offer those as a feeder item. I've >heard of good results using them...

Good variety is important. It sounds like you are doing a great job!

Bill

Bill, thanks for your comments. I'm glad to hear it sounds like I am off to a good start. This trig is our first crocodilian, and a challenge to say the least! I've spent plenty of time around various monitor lizards, but they are not even close to the same caliber as a Caiman.

I'll have to post a picture one of these days...

What's your feelings on land/water ratios for trigs? Some people say they need very little water - and others say the opposite. Right now, his cage is primarily water, with a small basking area (~25% of the cage). He seems to be doing great with this setup - and it works well for the time being.

Both dwarf caimans tend to be more terrestrial than most species of crocodilians but as far as a ratio, I don't know. I think as long as they have enough land that they can move around in, maybe do some burrowing, some basking (although mine rarely bask) and achieve a thermal gradient, then they have the minimum. The same for water - enough to move around and seek different levels so they can sometimes stand on the bottom and sometimes submerge and hide.

Bill

Thanks again for the reply. Over the last few evenings, I've noticed our trig coming out of the water more and more... And basking in plain view. This is even with a Great Dane, Doberman, and Pit Bull charging past his cage on occasion

Just another note... I have a pond pump on one side of the water, to make a little "current". The water moves fairly rapidly, and oddly enough, our trig seems to prefer sitting directly in front of the output of the pump. He typically hangs on to whatever rock is nearest, and lets the water stream past him.

The pump I mentioned is a large, powerful pump designed for a fountain in an outdoor pond - just placed underwater to create the extra water flow. This also works excellent in keeping anything from settling on the bottom of the tank, and lets the Eheim filter catch a LOT more.

I guess it all makes sense - everything I have ready about trigs talks about their preference for fast moving streams and rivers.

Also - Last feeding he actually took a rat pup without giving me too much grief. He shook and let go once - but the second time I offered the pup to him, he grabbed it HARD. This is a GREAT response, compared to what we were getting a few months ago. I might even be able to increase his feeding intervals to 2-3 days now.

O S,
You know when my palp. was quite small (around 14-18 in.) he would sit in front of the filter out flow (fluval 4) and wait in the current just like you discribed. I finally figured out that he was hunting. The mosquito fish in his tank would get caught in the current and become easy prey. That could have something to do with your trig. sitting in the current. Or not.:e

Bill,
you said that your palp. seldom basks. Just curious how large the land section is? The reason I ask is when I had my palp. in a smaller cage he was like you said, rarely basking, however since I moved him to a larger tank earlier this year that doubled the water area and tripled the land area he spends a lot more time out of water. Maybe 30% or so of the day. I am not sure why increasing the land made such a difference but it certainly did. He also dug a "burrow" that he works on all the time since it often caves in. Its really funny seeing a little caiman around three feet trying to "ambush" me out of his "burrow" when I feed him. Its just hilarious.

Thanks again for the reply. Over the last few evenings, I've noticed our trig coming out of the water more and more... And basking in plain view. This is even with a Great Dane, Doberman, and Pit Bull charging past his cage on occasion

Also - Last feeding he actually took a rat pup without giving me too much grief. He shook and let go once - but the second time I offered the pup to him, he grabbed it HARD. This is a GREAT response, compared to what we were getting a few months ago. I might even be able to increase his feeding intervals to 2-3 days now.

"I finally figured out that he was hunting."

That's an interesting observation. Could very well be... The only fish in the water are large minnows and goldfish. I rarely see the trig eating either of them... But I DO find fish swimming around in the bottom of my Eheim every time I clean it out

On the subject of basking... Our trig has a relatively small basking area, composed of a flat cement patio block on top of a square cinder block. He spends just about all night out of the water - and basks for several hours during the day under two 75 watt flood lamps. I haven't been able to set up a land area with a dirt substrate yet - so I probably have been neglecting him of his natural tendecy to burrow. I may take care of this soon...

"Its really funny seeing a little caiman around three feet trying to "ambush" me out of his "burrow" when I feed him. Its just hilarious."

That's awesome! I can certainly see the humor I'm actually anxious for my caiman to get bold enough to start leaping for food. That has GOT to be half the fun of owning a crocodilian.

O_S

i saw trigs at a zoo that were infront of the water.... i've read that they do this and prefer this a lot, they wait there to catch food coming down the river.