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Here are a few pic's of what is going on with him. He is pretty much drying up and cracking. He has a nice pond that he still goes into. The pond has a filter and turtles living in the pond. Does anyone know what this is and how to help him. I myself don't own this caiman anymore and I'm just trying to help the new owner with it's care now. He's had him for 3 years and this is the first problem he has had. So please anyone that can help e-mail me at burmman@charter.net

His teeth are also falling out..

This caiman is showing signs of fairly serious nutritional problems, plus it is also anorexic. Cracking skin can be caused by several things, but vitamin deficiency seems a likely factor here. The teeth are also symptomatic of a poor diet. What have you been feeding it, and for how long? What are the temperatures like?

Adam

I have seen the same cracking in an animal that was kept in a new concrete pond. It caused burns and leasions when the minerals started to leach out into the water. The loss of teeth is common in animals that live extended periods with no natural light.
Of course a poor diet will make it worse? Are you feeding whole animals? The pic you showed kind of looks like an animal that has high protien diet with little of no organ meats.
This is just a guess, but do you feed it alot of chicken parts, and red meat without supliments?
At one time I had an american alligator that would crawl out of his pond in the fall and would not return to the water untill spring. The only way it would go into it's pond was if I put him in the water myself. He also had problems with cracking, and he would get a slimmy film over his eyes. The number of daylight hours seemed to be more of a factor then seasonal temp. changes. After adjusting my timers to match a longer day he started swimming agian.
I'm not claiming to have your answers. I'm just letting you know about experiances with animals I've worked with.
Good luck

Ok I don't own this caiman any more I sold it to him about 3 years ago. He has been feeding him chicken and rats. His pond is a 90 gallon plastic pond. I know that he doesn't get natural sun light except during summer time he get's to go out in a bigger pond outside. We live in Pa so it's pretty cold her most of the time. He has been putting some vita-spray on him and trying to get him to drink some electra-lites and rehydrate him. He is also misting him 4 times aday. I had told him that I would ask on here and see if anyone could give me any ideas on what is going on with him. So I asked. I'm going to to tell him once again that he needs to go to a vet that deals in reptiles.

Friend, you have one of the leading croc experts in the world, Dr. Adam Britton trying to help the caiman. Answer his question: "What are the temperatures like?"

I'm not sure yet that is why I haven't written back yet I have to go there and check. I know the pond has a heater in it and there is a basking light in the cage so I'm not really sure on what they are. Like I said it's not my caiman anymore I'm just really trying to help the caiman and my friend. He doesn't own a computer or he would be here asking the questions himself. Sorry if I don't reply back fast I have to also get ahold of him and find out the answers. We both work different hours so it is difficult sometime.