Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have been holding him at least a hour each day. I was hoping to help desensitize him to me. He is always calm, but active when I hold him. No opening of the mouth and no hissing. When I approach his cage most of the time he hisses at me. When I attempt to reach into his enclosure he usually hisses too.

Just recently he has become a lot more aggressive in his enclosure. He usually hisses and then attempts to escape when I go to handle him. Two days ago I was about to pick him up when he did a 180 and bit my finger. My hand was behind him and pretty far up. It was very fast. I wasn't able to avoid it. I always thought his little teeth would tear me up. It did no damage and didn't even hurt, suprisingly.(I haven't been bit since, I take extra precautions now.)

I thought that since he was so aggressive in his enclosure that I needed to have him get accustomed to my hands beging in there. Now I have been puting my hand in and leaving it in there until he settles down and becomes calm. Sometimes this works, sometimes he leaves the water and charges at my hand hissing and snapping.

When I held him last night he also seemed more shy than usual.

What different handling and feeding techniques have any of you used? Are there specific ways to hold a crocodilian to reduce their anxiety? Are there any specific spots where they like to be pet, back of the neck etc? Are there any feeding techniques that help develop "trust" between the croc and human. (I never feed him by hand, I place food in his enclosure when he is out of it. Then bring him back later)

Thanks,
Matt

P.S. I am buying Cdieters book, can't wait to read it.

Also, he doesn't seemed stressed by me. He will eat in front of me and basically seems to show little fear.

Albert Einstein said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge."

This applies to animal caretakers. Whn you imagine their life in the wild, you must take care to translate all that to it's captive care...diet, behavior, environment, etc.

Your gator wriggles when you pick him up because it simply isn't in his nature to be picked up by a big, ugly human that might eat him...Little gators are used to being with their big, beautiful mother...it will take time for him to be desensitized to you, but you'll have to be careful about how much you handle him...take baby steps with him (no pun intended).

Kudos to you for buying the book. Keeping a crocodilian requires more than a pet keeper...if you dedicate yourself to raising one, you will be, at a minimum, an amateur herpetologist. They are wondrous creatures, but not everyone has the 'stuff' of a croc keeper. Not to patronize...You are on your way...I hope the best for you.
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Israel Dupont
Winter Haven, FL