Trig diet..

[Dom]

Hello to all my crocodilian lovers!

I am very happy to say I finally got a dwarf like I wanted :)

As for his diet.. I was simply wondering what percentatge of the following prey source is OPTIMAL for him ..

I have acces to rodents, fish, Crix, mealie, silkworms, hissers, and many other things..

I am leaning towards a 90% invertebrate diet but would like other ppls oppinions..

Let me know what u think of each of the followin prey items i named above..

Thanks guys

Dom

[Scotty Allen]

Hey Dom. You're right on with the invertebrates. The biggest part of both species of dwarf caiman diet in the wild is inverts. Bugs, crayfish etc. Too many rodents (especially captive bred ones) will make your croc fat and lead to complications. If you have a good supply of any of the giant roach species that's a good thing. They are also fond of appropriate size snails. In the summer if you have a clean water source for crayfish, he'll love them too. When catching them, be sure to leave any females you catch that are carrying eggs.

[KrokadilyanGuy3]

....Heh, you got me confused, Do you have a P. Trig. or a P. palp.?
Either way, congratulations.

As for feeding my friends start their babies (8- 14") off on a main diet of Crickets, mealworm, small frogs and roaches.
After they reach about 14-15" they gradually reduce those items and put the on a strict diet of fish. (minnows sp., Perch, bass, catfish, and sometimes goldies. At about 20-24" They put them on a main diet of rodents/fish...

Personally, I've only delt with 30+" when it comes to Paleosuchus, and during the winter I feed nothing but rodents. I do have free ranging minnows and perch in the water but those are mainy for the small alligator snappers. When spring hits I I'll add snakes, amphibians, fleglings and crayfish. But its still a main diet of rodents and according to my vets they are healthy besides the internal pest that cray fish and amphibians heavily carry, but is easily corrected.

The key practice is to feed a variety of whole food items.

Xain

[Dom]

Its a paleosuchus Trigonotrus.. Shneiders dwarf caimen.

Thanks for the advice everyonw .. Its nice to re-assure yoursel sometimes..

[jason h]

well wheres the pics dom!!!
hehe I think xain pretty much covvered it but ya whole prey items is definately the best way to go i think your little guy would love the hissers.:D

[PunkMonkey11]

Hey Xain you keep alliagtor snappers in with your caiman? I wanted to do that with mine but was afraid the snapper would hurt my guy. do they not see the caiman as a food source?

Jeremy

[KrokadilyanGuy3]

....It all depends.
I keep hatchlings of both Ally snappers and crocodilians together for simple reasons that little harm would come about. (none at all to my animals). I also keep 7 inchers with medium (3-5')sized crocs. But as the snappers get older they see everything as food, more so than crocs, so thats when I seperate them.
But the key is to know your animals eating habits really.
Like for instance I had 2 common snappers 3" and 6 ally snappers 3" in with a recently aquired 2.5' gator. Next day the two commons were gone, but for the like of me never thought you remove the ally snappers, but they were never harmed.
Go figure.
Xain

[Dom]

I have heard and seen many keep turtles in with crocodilians.. but never snapers.. as they cant fully be protected by there shell.. Is this not a risk is a crocodilian seems interested...

[KrokadilyanGuy3]

...What amazes me is everyone keeping sliders or other highly active turtles with crocodilians.. Seems to me that they harm the crocs more than anything else. IE.. fingers, tail tips.
As for keeping snappers with crocs I'm probably more worried about the crocs. It's not a practice not many do. But I love the view of the interactions and the mixed variety, and as long as the crocs aren't harmed then I'm still goin to do it. As for the snappers, I hate to be this way, but I favor crocs more than turtles (both are cool) and I'm for the food chain and lets face it, a snapper, no matter what size, wont be able to fully eat a full grown croc.

Xain

[Dom]

they both can't eat each other but they both can harm each other.. its only a matter of time until they do... Just the way i feel

[reptilesalonica]

As for the diet part i will agree with Xain. Post some photos Dom! I believe we all wanna see him-her buddy!
~Greg~