Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a 2 foot american aligator that recently has been spending alot of time submerged under water pokeing his nose around in the rocks and i assume that he is lookign for rocks to eat because i know that aligators sometimes eat rocks to aid in digestion or to affect there boyancy..but all the rocks at the bottom of his pond are the same size and they are very tiny and he never seems to find one that he wants to eat he just chews them and then spitts them out...i think that he might be looking for some bigger rocks to eat so my question is do you think i should put in some rocks of various sizes so he can choose which one he wants or is it not important wether or not he eats the rocks..?

thanks alot

Yes, I do think you should put rocks of varying sizes like you said. I have done this before for indoor gators that had no other means to get the rocks that they instictually needed.

>>i have a 2 foot american aligator that recently has been spending alot of time submerged under water pokeing his nose around in the rocks and i assume that he is lookign for rocks to eat because i know that aligators sometimes eat rocks to aid in digestion or to affect there boyancy..but all the rocks at the bottom of his pond are the same size and they are very tiny and he never seems to find one that he wants to eat he just chews them and then spitts them out...i think that he might be looking for some bigger rocks to eat so my question is do you think i should put in some rocks of various sizes so he can choose which one he wants or is it not important wether or not he eats the rocks..?
>>
>> thanks alot
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It isn't "Ideas" that fail or succeed,... it is the "Systems" which are instilled to launch and sustain the idea that either fail or succeed.>[Me.]

Mine is ll years old, has never had a rock in it's stomach and is doing just fine. I have a friend who has been traveling with one for 28 years and it gets no rocks either. Make up your own mind, but I have no intentions of introducing rocks into it's diet.

Bill

Does your friend drive around with a male in the back portion of his van? From Cali? Just curious.

>>Mine is ll years old, has never had a rock in it's stomach and is doing just fine. I have a friend who has been traveling with one for 28 years and it gets no rocks either. Make up your own mind, but I have no intentions of introducing rocks into it's diet.
>>
>>Bill
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It isn't "Ideas" that fail or succeed,... it is the "Systems" which are instilled to launch and sustain the idea that either fail or succeed.>[Me.]

Yes, he has a business called "Monte's Traveling Reptile Show". The gator rides in the van if he is doing small shows, if he is doing large ones, like state fairs - he has a huge pull-behind trailer that he pulls with a dual-wheeled pickup. Monte winters in CA and summers in WI.

Same person?

Bill

Yes.

>>Yes, he has a business called "Monte's Traveling Reptile Show". The gator rides in the van if he is doing small shows, if he is doing large ones, like state fairs - he has a huge pull-behind trailer that he pulls with a dual-wheeled pickup. Monte winters in CA and summers in WI.
>>
>>Same person?
>>
>>Bill
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It isn't "Ideas" that fail or succeed,... it is the "Systems" which are instilled to launch and sustain the idea that either fail or succeed.>[Me.]