Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello I am 14 and own a brazilian rainbow boa and a ball python. i know neither are anywhere near what you would call aggressive.Thats the experience I have though. I personally think i am more mature and responsible than most people my age. I am very interested in dwarf caimen. They seem to be great animals that aren't completley oversized. I think the dwarf caimen can get to six feet right? How much do they eat every day? Also I am pretty sure you need a permit for one if you're in california. Does anyone know how to get one? My enclosure would probably be a 150 gallon rubbermaid stock tank with a preformed pond and such. I wolud make sure it couldn't get out. Do you guys think I should get one? I will read other posts on here and repticzone for info. Thank you for your input.

Oh ya and is diamond reptiles or glade herps a good place to purchase one? And which sex gets smaller?

Hello,

As for your experience, I will always recommend other lizards first and then possibly a crocodilian. A 150Gallon stock tank will not hold a dwarf caiman for long. That will be great for a baby up to maybe a foot and a half or so, but it will quickly outgrow that. I would keep it cheap and simple as a baby because you will just be throwing money out the door. I would feed the guy around 3-4 times a week or every other day. Read the crocodilian faq at this site:

www.crocodilian.com/crocfaq

Crocs aren't necessarily the easiest animals to keep, but they certainly aren't the hardest depending on the size. You have to understand that as it gets bigger that it will get quicker and stronger and has a nasty bite. Be prepared to get bitten atleast once, because you will. Just hope that it will be when it is smaller and can't give you quite the bite that an adult can. I would certainly look up more information and have the setup prepared BEFORE purchasing the animal.

I would throw some more info in here but I am at work and need to get going.

Hope this helps,

Chris

Hey thanks chris does anyone else have any info?

Here ya go:

http://crocodilian.com/paleosuchus/
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Israel Dupont
Winter Haven, FL

I hope you know what you are getting yourself into. Crocs are A LOT different than owning any of what you have now. I can't say not to own one, because I owned one when i was about your age. I quickly lost interest in it because it would bite the crap out of me. BE PREPARED. At this present time I am 27 years old and own 9 spec caimans. I have done my research on them and know what I am doing. I hope you do the same if you decide to get one. If you would like to see a website that is dedicated to caimans, go to my link. Good Luck, you will need it.
Link

Sorry boaguy but you need a permit in California and it is over $600 a year. They also only give them out for education purposes and even then rarely.
crocodil

Fish and Game is very, very strict about giving permits in CA. If you go to their website they have a whole list of qualifications to meet and a minimum cage standard. They don't give you permits just because you want it as a pet, and you wouldn't be able to get it anyway till you were 18.

A rubber maid will work when its young, but what are you going to do with it when its bigger? It will need a huge enclosure, and if you plan on having it in CA the $$$ for creating the required set up, as well as paying the permit fees and the vet (which is required for a permit)it is going to take you a long time to save up. What would you do with it when you go off to college? Trying to find someone willing to take in a big dwarf caiman in california is not easy.

Not sure if this applies to all dwarf caimans, but the one I care for is by no means a good pet. You cannot handle them at all. Sometimes she'll let you rub her back, but even then she'll turn around and try and bite you.

If you'd be interested in seeing an adult dwarf caiman, if your in the bay area you can come and see "mine".
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1 crested gecko
1 RES
1 leucistic texas ratsnake
3 bullfrogs
1 dusky conure
4 australian shepherds
3 cats

hey Tugi...
I have a 1 1/2 feet Dwarf, and would like to see an adult...do you have some pics of your adult Dwarf...???

could you mail me some to elchars1@yahoo.com

thanks

Rick

A dwarf caimen is not a good idea unless you can get a MUCH bigger tank than 150 gallons.
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0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican kingsnake
1.0.2 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Rose Hair Tarantula
1.0 BTS
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats

Alright guys. Thanks for the info. I'll get one when I graduate from college and have a nice steady income just in case.(Ah! My leg!lol) I would dedicate a farley big walk in closet to it probably. Also I was planning on getting out of california because the housing costs here are nuts. Do you think fish and game would have a problem giving a permit to a vet specializing in reptiles?(That's what I'm going to college for, hopefully berkley). Thanks for your input.