Sparkon these are for you...

[KrokadilyanGuy3]

....Here's some fairly old pics of my niles.. I'll get new ones this spring when the sheds come down.
Xain



2' female
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/503/1227nile-med.jpg



3' male
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/503/1227nile_in_pond_ii-med.jpg

10" unsexed (sold)
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/503/1227stalk_mode-med.jpg

[RachelS.]

Sweet looking niles!! Guess what, man. You bought a friend of mine's nile croc last year. His name is Simon White... ring a bell?
I would love to make an outdoor spot for my caimen. I have a 15' x 8' area I could use. I also have a pond liner I was going to build in that area just for fun, but I could surely turn it into a caimen enclosure with a fence and everything. It's also surrounded by concrete so the caimen wouldn't be able to dig outside the fence. Just thought it was a neat idea. But who knows, it might be too cold during winter. I would have to bring him in :rolleyes: What do you think?

[KrokadilyanGuy3]

....Yup, I remember him. Still talk to him from time to tima as well on Aim. The lil' 10incher was the one I got from him. I had to sell it a few months ago for some quick money for some important personal stuff, but he went to a trusting person that I know. Now I regret it, heh. ( He was bigger than 10" when I sold him).


Which caiman species did you decide on?
What I would do is take your pond liner and dig a pond of say 8' x 8' (or about that). This way it'd be close to 50/50 ratio. I would also make the pond 2' deep or deeper and have a ramp(logs, wood planks, stones) leading onto land. Or you could go for the slant affect but I favor drop edged pond with the bottom starting at 2' slanting to 3' for small ponds.
What else you could do instead of fencing it off..

1: Build a frame out of 2x4's on top of the concrete (use fresh mortor to hold the frame onto the concrete)

2: Place Plexi on the inside and out side of the frame, even on the roof.

3: Use a 8"x1" or so wood panels to protect the plexi from being cracked by the caimans thrashing. Considering on how hig the concete is, you may not even need this step.

4: Invest in a decent sized heater/AC that will warm/cool the "green house" if needed in the cold/hot days.

This should keep the caiman happy. But its rather expensive but needed if you don't have room to house him inside during the winter when hes an adult.

Now for fencing I would buy cow paneling (welded wire) and most come in 5'H X 16'L. All you have to do is buy a few 'T' post and wire the panels to the post and thats pretty much it. Unlike Chain link which is more expensive and have to be stretch, and framed to hold strength. And I'm not sure how cold it gets in your part of town but if it doesn't get below 50-60 you could always use flood lights, a water heater, and a pig blanket to keep the lil beast warm.

Just a few tips of the trade that I would do.
Hope it helped.

Ps. I'm in the process of building a 20x20 pond using welded wire and 'T' post.
Xain

[snakemann87]

I wish i could get an alligator, they're awesome little guys.

[RachelS.]

Wow thanks Xain! I printed it out and made a copy for my dad. He helps me with all the construction work, of course ;). I decided on a p. palpebrosus. How much do you estimate all this will cost? I think that as the caimen gets bigger (about 3 feet) I'm going to build in that area, and by that time I will have a good job as a vet assistant. Already got myself 2 vet clinics that want to hire me :D.
Also, did you say you were going to breed dwarf caimens? When will that happen? I'd look forward to buying one from you maybe sometime in summer if you have any available by then. Thanks again :).

[KrokadilyanGuy3]

Good deal, always glad to help. Estimation on my local store prices Id guess.. ::Counts:: Buck fity.. deffinatly. Heh
Seriously (green house) it's alot of counting and you have different factors on what your own Ideas are. Such as the Hieght, what you wanna make the door out of, the heater type, ect.
The 16' weld wire here is about 20$ and Im assuming you want it to fit with the concrete you'll need about 3 panals (60$) plus 'T' post are 1.09 And Ill guess you'll need about 6-10 post.
(6.54-11$). Plus what ever you choose to decorate the enclosure with and gas money. All in all it'll be about 1-2 hundred. For the green house however will run you 500-1,ooo. But is worth it.
Either way, a Dwarf can live happily in that size enclosure. Maybe I need to get with vet for first hand training, do you think it'll be useless considering Im not going to go to college after HS?
I will breed Dwarfs and Smooth fronts once I find some deffinate adult females. But I dont believe Ill have any this year. But I'l keep you guys in touch on my processes..
Good luck and Id love to see pics when ya get it done.
Xain

[sparkon16]

well zane i am going to do my MCE(Monthly Crocodilian Evaluation) this friday coming up and i always take pictures of the crocodilians so i will post or send u a couple of em' and see what you think! Lets see we have 2 nile, 7 specs. 3 alligators one with only 3 legs, 3 cuviers, 2 schnieders, 3 west african dwarf crocodiles, and a beautiful little dog tame baby yacare caiman. Remeber to keep me posted on those freshies and tell me if there are any babies because guess who might be interested!

Deuce