- #WIRE SCREEN SNAKE TANK TOP FOR WOODEN ENCLOSURE HOW TO#
- #WIRE SCREEN SNAKE TANK TOP FOR WOODEN ENCLOSURE FULL#
In the wild, crocodilians eat entire animals and are able to therefore ingest all the minerals, vitamins, proteins, and other nutrients that are essential to their health. The most important thing to keep in mind when feeding your pet crocodilian is that they will eat pretty much whatever you feed them, so you’ll need to balance their diet and make sure that your pet is getting all the proper nutrients in the correct doses. They’ll even eat crayfish and mollusks when obtainable. Adults eat everything from birds to mammals. Juveniles tend to consume foods such as insects, fish, and small amphibian and reptiles. Obviously, the type of prey varies based on the size of the animal. In the wild, caimans and alligators are very opportunistic predators who will eat pretty much anything they can get their jaws on. You’ll be hard-pressed to find the proper housing for a medium to large-sized croc at any brick and mortar store. But be advised that as your pet outgrows the tank, odds are you will need to have some sort of custom enclosure built to keep your pet at its peak health. Hatchling and juvenile crocodilians tend to start out small enough to fit comfortably in glass tanks that are readily available at commercial pet stores. Your crocodilian should be able to swim around and walk around comfortably in both portions of the enclosure. So, how big should a crocodilian’s home be then? We recommend that the width and length of the cage, tank, or terrarium be at least three to four times the animal’s length, but the larger, the better. They grow to be quite large pets and require dual wet/dry habitats, so please do your research and make sure you can care for an alligator or other crocodilian species before you adopt. If you don’t enlarge your pet’s space as it grows, its health and life span can be compromised. So if you’re not prepared, your crocodilian can and will outgrow its home. Crocodilians do spend most of their time in the water, but they do need a dry area to emerge to bask.ĭespite rumors indicating otherwise, crocodilians do not stop growing to fit the size of their enclosure. They will need an enclosure that is at least several times their body length with both aquatic and land elements. In the long run, they are costly and their enclosures require quite a bit more effort to maintain and keep clean.Įven caimans, which are considered small by crocodilian standards, grow to be around five feet long. They require a large habitat with both land and water elements as well as a specific protein-based diet and warm temperatures. Of all the large pet reptiles discussed in this article, crocodilians are certainly the most difficult to maintain. Check with your local fish and wildlife department and obtain any necessary permits before adopting. When considering a pet crocodilian, it’s also necessary to be sure that it is actually legal to own this type of animal within your state, city, and county.
#WIRE SCREEN SNAKE TANK TOP FOR WOODEN ENCLOSURE FULL#
So please, if you are interested in owning a pet crocodilian, do your research and be prepared to handle the animal when it attains its full size. These animals can not only be dangerous, they have very specific care requirements in captivity that make them suitable for very special owners who can meet and understand their needs. We want to preface this section about pet crocodilians by making it very clear that we are NOT endorsing alligators, caimans, and other crocodilians as pets for just anyone.
#WIRE SCREEN SNAKE TANK TOP FOR WOODEN ENCLOSURE HOW TO#
We’ll go into detail about how to care for them, the pros and cons of keeping such large animals, and what is required to keep these amazing reptiles happy and healthy in captivity. In this article, we will discuss our favorite large pet reptiles. For obvious reasons, they are also not good pets for people who have limited space, live in compact city environments, or don’t have the physical capabilities to transport such large animals when they need to leave the house (i.e. While we definitely feel that these large pet reptiles make rewarding pets, it’s very true that they are not necessarily the best animals for beginners to the reptile hobby. However, there are some really amazing reptiles that people keep as pets that grow rather large. Most pet reptiles sold by Backwater Reptiles can live comfortably within a tank or enclosure that maxes out around twenty gallons.