Dwarf Caimen housing???'s

[Ryan]

I have done some casual researching off and on for the last year or so about the care for these guys but never seriously looked into it due to lack of space at the time. Well I have more space now and although still not decided I'd like to start researching some more.

Question from anyone who keeps or has kept Dwarf Caimens, just wondering what size caging you have used for a full grown Caimen? Also what water to land ratio you use? If I did decide to start working with them I'd most likely be going all out on the adult cage right away and have it completed long before I ever had the animal coming, is it possible to start smaller specimens in large enclosures or is this going to possibly cause stress issues?

Thanks for any input!!!

[Ryan Wunsch]

I've kept a dwarf caimen, but sadly for an unknown reason it is in my freezer so maybe my suggestions arent' the best....

For small caimens, I used aquariums and gravel which i'd pile up to make a land area. I'd put the heat light over top of this land area, and fill the aquarium to a level so that there were parts of it that they could not touch bottom on.

For the larger caimen we had (just under 4') which would be similar to a full sized dwarf, I built a cage in the basement for it. A 4' x 8' cage was sufficient for him and was much larger than he had been used to before I got him, but most people suggest larger cages than that for one of his size. I think a 4x8 would do an adult dwarf caimen for all of his life though.

What I did first, was to buy a large pond liner. I then traced it onto a 4x8' sheet of plywood and cut out a hole so it could be fit in from above. This gave a basking area of about 2.5x8', but he also would sit up on the ledges around the side of the oddly shapped pond liner.

I built a cage around that (plexi glass in front, the top of the cage opened in 2 4x4 sections) including legs to support the cut out plywood which held the pond liner in place.

This is the set up that I referred to with the home made filter deal in Barry's thread. Pond liners come in many sizes, and smaller ones could be built just like this, as well, larger ones could as well using stock troughs instead of pond liners.

The only reptile I keep in the basement is a snapping turtle, because it cost a fortune to heat in the winter when I had more tropical reptiles down there, but I'm thinking an American alligator would probably do well down there, and I'd have room for a big one with out all of the other cages taking up space.

Ryan