Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hya.

Just became the proud owner of four dwarf caimans. Now I had a few questions and I hope somebody can answer them for me.

- What is best to feed them first. There are a bit skinny now, and I want to give them a healthy diet.
- One of them has a broken tail. The last 2 inches of it tail just snapped a little. What is best to do now? I would really hate to see him losing it.
- Should I keep them with two 4" matamata's? The palpies are 10-12" now.

Thanks in advance

kind regards,

Hans

>What is best to feed them first. There are a bit skinny now, >and I want to give them a healthy diet.

Give them large crickets dusted with a vitamin supplement, minnows from the bait store (not goldfish), superworms if they will eat them, and whole fuzzies/pinkies/small mice.

>One of them has a broken tail. The last 2 inches of it tail >just snapped a little. What is best to do now? I would really >hate to see him losing it.

Leave it alone unless it is bleeding or it turns abnormally colored like blackish brown or red. It will heal but could be crooked.

>Should I keep them with two 4" matamata's? The palpies are 10->
>12" now

No. Mata Matas even though they eat by a sort of sucking motion they could still stress out the animals and have a good bite on them also. Good luck.
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Jeremy Carroll
Center for Reptile and Amphibian Propagation and Conservation
http://www.onet.net/~eagle/Reptile/index.htm

Jeremy.

Thanks for your response. I feel more confident now.
I still have one worry. I have 4 and the heaviest is 101 grams, which is slightly less then 3,5 ounce I think and the litest is only 51 grams. Is this animal underweight or in dangoure. Is is also smaller then the biggest one. Do you loose them easily like baby turtles when sick or distressed?

Thanks again. Really appriciate is. There is almost no information available in Europe about the kewl reptiles.]

Rgrds,

Hans

Oh.

One more question. Should I feed them all they want every day to gain weight or should I be feeding a little every other day?

You may want to seperate the smaller one. Hatchlings weigh around 45-50 grams at hatching. The bigger one could be dominating over him and could be getting more food. Small caiman you want to feed everyday. As they get about 2ft you can go to every other day then finally evening out at 3 times a week.
-----
Jeremy Carroll
Center for Reptile and Amphibian Propagation and Conservation
http://www.onet.net/~eagle/Reptile/index.htm