Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Whats up. I am becoming increasingly worried about keeping my Caiman "Riggs" (5yrs old) and my American "Murtaugh" (3yrs old) in the same cage. It is 9'X13' and they have pleanty of room in there to stay out of each others way. They have always got along very well and Murtaugh, when frightened, will still retreat underneith Riggs' head. However, lately when I feed them they have become more aggresive toward me and each other. (ie. biting each others mouth, legs and crawling half way up the cage to find the next mouse) I feed them 3 mice apiece every 3 days. Will they become territorial no matter how much room they have, or does the added aggresion just come with age? Any info would help, thanks.

Yes, they will become territorial. In fact the more room they have the worse it will be. However, it would be cruel to limit their room to avoid it. Unfortunately, this is just one of those things about owning crocs. You might consider splitting them up if possible. I have seen the same behavior out of my two gators.

good luck.

Chris

>>Whats up. I am becoming increasingly worried about keeping my Caiman "Riggs" (5yrs old) and my American "Murtaugh" (3yrs old) in the same cage. It is 9'X13' and they have pleanty of room in there to stay out of each others way. They have always got along very well and Murtaugh, when frightened, will still retreat underneith Riggs' head. However, lately when I feed them they have become more aggresive toward me and each other. (ie. biting each others mouth, legs and crawling half way up the cage to find the next mouse) I feed them 3 mice apiece every 3 days. Will they become territorial no matter how much room they have, or does the added aggresion just come with age? Any info would help, thanks.

Im wondering, I dont have enough room to build 2 different cages but could i put 2 ponds in the same cage to eliminate some of this territoriality?

It could possibly help, however, if one wants to move into the other's pond, you are going to have the same problem. Training them to stay in their own pond during feeding time may help. However, once they start getting in each other's way supposedly, they will start giving each other hell (atleast that's the way mine do...lol). You can try putting two ponds and then separating into two sections to keep each other out of each other's way.

It's really a toss-up.

Good Luck,

chris

>>Im wondering, I dont have enough room to build 2 different cages but could i put 2 ponds in the same cage to eliminate some of this territoriality?

Thanks man, im just not sure what to do. I always knew i did not have enough room for both of them, but I had to save Murtaugh from some jerk that was not taking care of him at all. The only problem is that im getting attached to him so its hard to even think of finding another home for him. Ill come up with something. thanks

You brought up the idea of adding 2 ponds to the enclosure? If the enclosure is that big couldnt you divide the enclosure to make it 2? Just an idea. Take it easy.