American Alligator
- Thread starter M_MULLINS
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Just so no one gets confused again (rhino, hehe) this is an alligator and not an alligator lizard from North America lol
super-pede
Arachnobaron
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- Feb 6, 2010
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how do you keep it?
S-P
S-P
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- Aug 11, 2009
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i see you live in springfield ohio. don't be like the idiot who lives near me in michigan and kept a pair in his garage that froze to death one winter. they get big so i hope you have a very large (bedroom size +) enclosure for it. Expect to spend quite a bit of money feeding.
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- Oct 14, 2007
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Not only feeding but lighting, filtration, a large pool of water. Good luck with it.
Cass
Cass
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- Jan 25, 2007
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yeah, i hope this isn't an impulse thing (like, i wanna buy one cause it's so cool). this should be a big decision as it will grow into a big angry creature within a few years, requiring a large setup (as already mentioned) and a lot of money feeding and caring (what if it gets sick?).
this almost reminds me of: "i want a lion cub 'cause it's so cute!"
(examples: lions, green anacondas, gators, etc, etc)
if you have the money, space, time, and maturity to care for it for a long long time, go for it! might be pretty neat. just be sure to think long and hard about it
this almost reminds me of: "i want a lion cub 'cause it's so cute!"
(examples: lions, green anacondas, gators, etc, etc)
if you have the money, space, time, and maturity to care for it for a long long time, go for it! might be pretty neat. just be sure to think long and hard about it
+1,000,000yeah, i hope this isn't an impulse thing (like, i wanna buy one cause it's so cool). This should be a big decision as it will grow into a big angry creature within a few years, requiring a large setup (as already mentioned) and a lot of money feeding and caring (what if it gets sick?).
This almost reminds me of: "i want a lion cub 'cause it's so cute!"
(examples: Lions, green anacondas, gators, etc, etc)
if you have the money, space, time, and maturity to care for it for a long long time, go for it! Might be pretty neat. Just be sure to think long and hard about it
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2005
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- 598
still cracks me up! yeah,i dont know if your ready for a gator,,just intuition.you should already should have an idea what to expect if youve done all your homework before ordering one.if not,your in for a helleva ride and hopefully the gator doesnt suffer too much.good luck
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- Mar 15, 2009
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- 351
hm.. now i can't stop thinking of one day walking into my room with a giant gator laying on my bed..
what are you talking about??sleep with one every day!:5:hm.. now i can't stop thinking of one day walking into my room with a giant gator laying on my bed..
Advice? Don't get one.
If you have to post something like this on an arachno-based forum:
"I was hoping to get an idea on what to expect. I know they get big & all but what else should I look forward to. Any advice is greatly appreciated."
... then you are exactly the idiot who does not need to get one. If you are going to own something that gets larger than you, is 30 times stronger than you, can't think as much as you can or should, has only three concepts: kill , ignore , or breed; then you need to know the answers to your questions BEFORE hand and not after you LOSE a hand. You or the animal will get hurt/killed otherwise.
Call Snake Farm and Animal World Zoo in New Braunfels, Texas. They have alot of advise and experience with giant reptiles/ crocs/ gators and how to keep them correctly.
"I was hoping to get an idea on what to expect. I know they get big & all but what else should I look forward to. Any advice is greatly appreciated."
... then you are exactly the idiot who does not need to get one. If you are going to own something that gets larger than you, is 30 times stronger than you, can't think as much as you can or should, has only three concepts: kill , ignore , or breed; then you need to know the answers to your questions BEFORE hand and not after you LOSE a hand. You or the animal will get hurt/killed otherwise.
Call Snake Farm and Animal World Zoo in New Braunfels, Texas. They have alot of advise and experience with giant reptiles/ crocs/ gators and how to keep them correctly.
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- Jul 14, 2008
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I think if you mentioned the many other cons to keeping a gator aside form phrasing it as "they get big and all" then you wouldn't have been flamed.
To me it sounds like you made an order on impulse. Someone who is serious about owning such a massive reptile would have done all the research needed before getting one and would not be asking a forum related mainly to arachnids what to expect from an alligator, especially as their first post.
Assuming this was an impulse purchase, I can tell you that if you expect to be able to give it to a local zoo when it gets too big, DON'T. Zoos get offers for hundreds of unwanted exotics each day. Most of these animals are not accepted because they have tons of unwanted exotics in their care already, and no more space for housing anymore.
Also, crocodilians do learn feeding schedules, and may get all excited around feeding time. I've heard of Nile crocodiles rushing to the door of their enclosure and even jumping as they eagerly anticipate their food. These are adults I'm talking about, too. You will want to train your gator early on to not act this way. You may want to try having it simply touch it's nose to a target(ie a stick) and rewarding it with it's food when it does this. Do not offer a reward if the gator attacks the stick. In time it will learn to simply swim over and touch the stick for food.
Crocodilians are highly intelligent and very rewarding if you know what you're doing....oh yeah....and have the time, space, and cash.....and paperwork.
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- Mar 20, 2010
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- 424
Yeah not only all that, but have you ever cleaned an adult monitor or large python enclosure after a nice big poop? Imagine that to the 20th power and you may be somewhere in the ball park. And they just love to do it in their water too! So have fun cleaning up after it!
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The OP has made one post on the forum, and this one post was on a highly inflammatory topic among exotics keepers: keeping aligators as pets, particularly if uneducated or unprepared. I feel that if he was ACTUALLY getting a gator and not simply trolling, he would have asked on say... a crocodilian or even general reptile keeping board, not a tarantula forum.
In short: do not feed the trolls.
In short: do not feed the trolls.