Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know from experience of taking other reptiles to schools and things that they can stress from noise and commotion of too many people or too much handling. Just curious how a gator might hold up under similar circumstances? I invariably have some kid who wants to know if I have an alligator to bring next time. I think it would be a great experience to be able to get the kids close to one but I'm still hesitant about the whole thing. Any thoughts?
e

So much depends on the individual gator's personallity that you can't make a blanket statement that covers it. In general though, I would say that if the gator is comfortable around people, meaning it has been around people frequently without freaking out, then it will probably not be too stressed by the experience. Use one that is a couple years old because the hatchlings and juvies are frequently over-stressed to the point where the just shut down. This usually recognizable by closed eyes and very little movement. Many interpret this as enjoyment or relaxed because those body signals are what we look for in people - but it's not that in crocodilians.

I think the school visit can be a very positive thing, just make sure you take every precaution. My advise is to always bind the mouth if the kids are going to be able to get close to it - even with the head of the animal pointed away and kids touching the tail, inevitably one of them will get a hand close to the gator's head. Any incident could be devastating to you, the school and the hobby.

Bill

I have 2, 2 1/2 ft babies that I take around to schools and have never had a problem. I give the kids a lecture first thing about being quiet because it can scare the animals. For the most part they are pretty good. The gators I choose to do public demonstrations with are the ones that don't seem to mind being handled. Hope this helps.
crocodil
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how do you go about transporting your gators to the school? Do you take them in a box or blindfold them or what? I've pretty much gotten down taking snakes and turtles and birds and mammals but . . . I just like to be really cautious. I don't want to stress the gator and I don't want to have a disaster on my hands with the school or the kids either.
e