Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello there,

I work at an animal shelter and there is what I believe to be a juvanile american alligator being kept at the shelter in a very small 75-gallon tank, with disgusting water in it.

I'm going to try to bring in a larger tank.

I also want to bring in a heat/uv lamp for him.

If I'm able to take pictures of him, would someone here be able to ID it for me and help me figure out more proper care?

I don't think I'll be "allowed" to handle it, so I probably won't be able to even clean his tank...but I'm hoping to find a large rock to put in there so he can get out of the water sometimes and such...

Will frozen rats be okay for him to eat? It looks like a smaller rat would be no problem for him to eat size wise. I have some frozen rats in my freezer right now, so I'm going to ask my superior tomorrow if I can bring in some items and food for him.

Thank you in advance. I hope I can get him at least a little happier. I think he's being kept there for a court case, so I'm not sure what's going to happen to him afterwards...

If you can post some pics, that would be helpful for people to see what type of condition he is in.

Stan

Unfortunately most animal shelters are not set up to deal with reptiles, esp. crocodilians. Is there a local herp society that can work with the shelter? In Edmonton, our herp society has a rescue that works very close with animal control, the pound, and the humane society so that herps aren't kept like this crocodilian for more than 12-24 hours.

In any case, it sounds like no one there is comfortable to handle this thing and someone needs to so the the water can be changed. Perhaps you can bring someone in that is experienced with them.

Good luck