Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

I bought a baby Diamond Caiman from Diamond Reptile Breeders.

Animal is perfect in everyway and eats everything everyday.

However she never basks. She has a large basking area with UV light and indescent bulb. Also she has a night time lamb for night.

She climbs up to the land portion of her cage just pick her food up and thats it.

She hides in water under her basking area in day time.

Please let me know if I should change the setup (maybe add an hidebox?!). I am posting a picture of her 30 gallon setup. (there are plants in her water area now,she hides in them)

Thanks
Yasin

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We are the best GALATASARAY

Yasin,

Young crocodilians dont bask quite as much. I have noticed this in my younger alligators. Make sure that the basking temp is nice and toasty and make sure that the animal has IT'S choice on what temps it prefers. Remember that thermoregulation is a MUST for crocodilians. What are the air temps and what are the water temps? If the water stays warmer then the caiman will continue to stay in the water. 78-80 degree water temps for your caiman will be fine. Just make sure that his basking temps is somewhere in the 95-100 degree range. Ambient air temps should be around the mid-80's. If your caiman doesn't want to bask, it's really nothing to worry about. As long as the animal has what it needs, then the animal will take whatever course it finds is necessary. At this point, your animal is going to feel much more vulnerable, so therefore he will hide more than anything during this stage of his life.

Hope this helps!

from the picture is that you have then enclosure sitting right in front of a stereo system? Is this normally where he is? If so, theres no wonder. Get him into a quiet room to himself or something because that stereo has to be rather stressful for him.

Hey guys,

First of all thanks for your comments.

Do you know what I saw when I came home today? He was basking Just one day after I posted the question. So I guess there is nothing to worry about.

As for the stereo and the tv. I don't use the stereo at all and I watch TV only on wednesday nights for southpark. I do everything else with my computer so he is in a quiet place, don't worry.
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We are the best GALATASARAY

I would suggest maybe placing the tank beside a wall, or getting some background to cover some of the glass.. He doesn't really have much to hide under, and all sides of the tank are open, so he's probably just extremely nervous of exiting the water.. Also, if your water is really warm, he probably won't need to bask as much anyways.