Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is Elvis.

He is about 6 years old, and approximately 4.5 feet long. From what I can find he is a Cuviers Dwarf Caiman. He does not have any sign of a ridge between his eyes to indicate that he is a spectacled caiman.

He has just recently moved in to my home, along with his owner...my boyfriend (in case you're wondering he didn't name him Elvis, he came with that name).
I want to make sure he is getting the best of everything as far as his diet goes.
What would you caiman keepers recommend for a fellow of Elvis' size? How often should he be fed?
He is in an 8 foot long cage, that is about 4 feet wide. The cage sits on top of a "pond" that is about 100 or so gallons. Part of it is in the light, and part of it remains dark.
We have added a few goldfish and 3 crayfish just for entertainment purposes in case Elvis wants to chase something. They are not in there as "food". We have been giving him whole smelt and chicken legs.
What else can he have, or what else should he be having?

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Kim, Dave and Elvis.
-----
Kim

let me try this again...

Here are the pictures of Elvis I tried to post the last time around:

-----
Kim

Welcome!

s for that caiman, I believe it is a brown colored spectacled or C.fuscus (brown caiman), not a dwarf caiman. The green eyes and lack of heavy osteoderms on the neck are indicators of that. I can't see the orbital ridge well enough in the pictures to comment. I will say that the head is very strangely shaped with a very short nose. It also appears to have the splayed teeth syndrome so common in captive spec caimans.

As for the diet, the smelt have to go as a regular food item as they, like goldfish, contain thiaminase (see the croc FAQ linked here for more on that). The chicken legs do not contain all the nutrients that the animal needs. You should be feeding it whole animals or perhaps the new Mazuri pellets that have come out recently - scroll down aways to see discussion about that.

Good luck to you.

Bill

he is a spec... you can clearly see the diference with mine....

the head and eyes should be red or ligth brown...

as for feeding, I feed mine with a mix of meat and chicken, powdered with calcium and vitamins 3 times a week, and mice 2 times a week...

good look

rick

Wasn't Elvis the name of Sonny Crocket's gator on Miami Vice? Remember, he was chained below deck on his boat.....

Rob
(Providing safe and useless trivia)