Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Anyone have good ideas or techniques they use to feed their gators so the gators never associate you with with food and you keep them as tame as possible?Im having this problem now.Whenever I want to go to hold them...they think food is coming..ANy help would be appreciated.

Thanks,MIKE
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?.? American Alligator
0.1 Normal Burm
1.0 Albino Burm
1.0 Red Hognose
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Amazon Tree boa
1.0 GTP

"Never insult an Alligator until you have crossed the river"-oriental proverb

Mike,

Your alligator's brain can only handle so much associative stimulus , so you need to change the association in a clear and simple manner. This is easy to do, but requires repetition and consistency. keep in mind that crocodilians, like people, vary in their mental capabilities, so one alligator in a seperate enclosure may respond more slowly or quickly to identical conditioning procedure.

You can employ an audial(sound, visual or spatial association, or even combine them, at feeding time. Here are a few examples to get you started:

Audial: Grunt like an alligator.

Visual: Use a white food container that is placed in his enclosure (in the same general spot - see below) as you draw food from it.

Spatial: Always feed only from a specific spot in the alligator's enclosure(this example is more difficult with smaller enclosures), and avoid approaching it from that spot during non-feeding interactions.

In the examples above, your gator will likely realize in time, that when you approach his enclosure without a grunting noise, and/or without a white bucket, and/or from a non-feeding spot, then it is NOT dinner time. Some crocodilians will even associate the color of your shirt, or a baseball cap on your head, with feeding time, if such stimuli are consistent!

If you break your own rules of conditioning him, you could spoil all your efforts -- consistency and self-discipline are important. If there is someone else living with you who has access to the animal, make sure the follow the rules.
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Israel Dupont
Winter Haven, FL

Whistle when you feed and when you feed only.. My alligator and dwarf caiman both respond to that for food only and if I dont whistle when I go near their enclosures, they just grunt and swim away..

Matt