I've been seeing this practice in the past few years that I have been working with alligators and I wonder what more experienced people think of this practice. It seems that there are power feeders that get 4 ft yearlings, natural folks who just go with 'traditional' growth curve, and some who maintain diminutive animals or display.

This seems to be an alligator phenomenon. The display animals appear healthy in every way, have an adequate habitat, eat a healthy diet, but are half the size one would expect for the size.

If I had a question with this topic, I guess it would be: Do you think an animal intentionally kept smaller for its age for display purposes is as healthy as its larger counterparts? Can it attain average adult size later in life if it has no signs of MBD?

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