Feeding

In the beginning we were feeding the bigger guys every 4-5 days with between 12-20 pieces of meet, fowl or fish; each piece approximately the average size of their heads. We feed the little guys every 3-4 days with between 4-9 pieces of meet, fowl or fish approximately the average size of their heads. Dead mice, bunnies, squirrels, birds and other assorted animals that the cat drags home all make for good feedings, as well. Occasionally, we will also put live fish (catfish, bass, etc...) into the middle pond for the big guys so they have the chance to hunt live prey, as well. And the little guys get june bugs, crickets, grasshoppers, and whatever other insects stumble into the house.

Since around 2004 or so the feedings have been once a week, approximately 8-10 pounds of raw meat each sitting.  The raw meat is usually beef but may be chicken, pork or any other raw meat we can get.  When we feed them chicken we continue to make sure that it is chicken with no preservatives and we still add calcium and reptile vitamins when there is not a great deal of bone in the meat.

We never feed them the same food more than three feedings in a row, to insure they receive the right nutritional contents. Fish have all the right ingredients; bones, gizzards, etc..., but also contain an oil on their scales, which, when ingested in abundance can cause crocs trouble. If we happen to have way too much boneless meat we will add a vitamin and calcium supplement especially designed for reptiles. With fowl it's a little trickier. Sometimes, depending on the size of the bone, we'll remove the bone to prevent problems. But mostly, crocodilians can handle wilde beast horns, so we don't worry too much.  With the furry creatures, they usually eat the entire thing, but they always excrete the hair, since hair and fur have no nutritional value for them. And with larger prey, we will cut it up so there are enough pieces for everyone to get a few pieces.

We used to make sure never to feed them during the day. Daytime was reserved for cleaning, maintenance, and other caiman and enclosure necessities. When they see, hear or smell us coming during the day they used to submerge and hide or get temperamental and splash around or become jumpy.  Of late, with the added upgrades tot heir enclosure, there has been far less need for maintainance, so the feedings occasionally occur during daytime hours.

At night, we would enter the enclosure with a flashlight and set the food on an upper, outer edge of the far end of the pond. This gives them the opportunity to jump out of the water a short distance and grab the food off the bank, as if they were really hunting in the wild - except that the food we place in there doesn't try to run away. They are also, naturally, nocturnal hunters, so this sits well with their evolutionary instincts. With the live fish, they also get the opportunity to ambush or attack moving, living prey.

During the day, we've found, that if we put the food on a long pair of "grabbers" the crocs will jump up and attack the food, so this has also helped with their natural hunting instincts and abilities.