Hey Archie.. Forgive me if I forget to answer any of your questions from the last couple of posts, I'll do my best to remember as I type.. I started out with a pair of Florida red bellied turtles in with the female trig, long before I got the male and they've always been fine together. There are now about 8 turtles living in their pond (with most of them being drop-off red eared sliders). Most of the turtles have marks on their shells from where the caimans have tried biting them but no injuries have ever been sustained. I have seen lots of pictures of different species of turtles living with crocodilians, and have seen red foot tortoises kept with some large yacare caimans as well. I think it depends on a lot of factors whether they'll get along or not.. I wouldn't trust keeping bottom dwelling turtles like muds/musks in with crocodilians because their heads become too exposed when coming up for a breath. I'm sure the croc in questions personality has a role to play, plus enclosure, etc..

As for putting the caimans outside, I would like to one day, but I live in Ontario, Canada where the summers are short and the winters are loooong and cold. I don't know that keeping them outdoors for 4 months of the year would be very beneficial in stimulating them to reproduce or not. Part of the problem of why they havent bred in the past as well is that they haven't lived in a suitable enclosure for long enough to really settle in, until now.. They've been living in this enclosure for 2 years so I'm crossing my fingers that after doing what I mentioned before, I'll see some breeding activity from them. I can't wait until the day they've both reached their maximum size. I have a friend up here that has an adult male that is just under 6 feet and he is absolutely incredible.

I have a bunch of different, older pictures of the female trig, and not too many of the male. He's always been pretty shy and never seems to be out when I have my camera around. He does tong feed though and was out in the open a lot more than he's been last summer. The female is very accustomed to me and is an aggressive tong feeder. I know what you mean about their teeth being long, and thankfully not experienced them "first hand" so to speak..

Matt

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