# Caimans?



## Noofy (Oct 22, 2009)

What do i need to do to get a license for breeding/keeping these guys?


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## Tehanu (Nov 12, 2006)

Hiya Noofy, 

Firstly, how old are you? 
Secondly, I can see the animals you currently keep in your profile, have you had other experience and/or is this more of a future plan?

Caiman, even Cuvier's dwarf caiman are a pretty serious animal to house and deal with, are you really aware of what you're asking for!?


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## SiUK (Feb 15, 2007)

well by law you have to be 18 and have public liability insurance, the rest is up to your individual council, so best to contact them.


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## Jellyman (Sep 22, 2009)

I love caimans, im pretty sure they need a DWA licensee tho


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## pymn nice but dim (Oct 28, 2008)

oh god roll on abuse but to be fair if your even thinking of breeding them you should know all this already i think you about to be bombarded maybe do some real research as above SERIOUS animal


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## Piraya1 (Feb 26, 2007)

Serious animal alright:flrt:
Make sure when you go to buy one you have pretty much started on the final enclosure. I've been at mine for quite some time, if I had more free time and money it'd be finished by now. 
Only thing left is the construction of the pond and finishing touches to the land area as well as a couple of extractor fans. Once that's done I've to buy the filters, heaters and lights. And an alarm system.
I might even contemplate on a live video feed upload at some point in the future in the new home to check up on them online but I'll see.


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## pymn nice but dim (Oct 28, 2008)

piraya
just curious ive been looking at some massive fluval external filters what are you planning on using?

i looked at running a pair or 100 gallons but that still only equats to less than 1000L bit minimal i guess


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## Piraya1 (Feb 26, 2007)

I'm looking at getting pond filters, I have a fluval fx 5 filter on my fish tank with 300 liters in it so I'm looking at a pond filter to manage 6000liters but will only have about 3000 to 4000 liters in the pond. 
I'll be putting in a waste pipe at the bottom before I start moulding the pond's concrete so that I can empty the pond on a regular basis.


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## Noofy (Oct 22, 2009)

Yeah, just researching for possible plans in the far future.
Was simply interested in what was invovled to get the license etc, i've looked on government web pages and found that you have to be major tight on security!
Thanks for all the posts,
Cheers


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## ViperLover (Jun 7, 2009)

Just a quick question..

Are caimen really that dangerous? They are the smallest of the Crocodillian species, am I right?


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## abandonallhope (Jun 19, 2009)

ViperLover said:


> Just a quick question..
> 
> Are caimen really that dangerous? They are the smallest of the Crocodillian species, am I right?


Stick your hand in ones mouth and find out.....:whistling2:


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## ViperLover (Jun 7, 2009)

abandonallhope said:


> Stick your hand in ones mouth and find out.....:whistling2:


 
Um...I don't think so.

I've seen pictures of Crocodillian bites.

I'd rather not do that....:whistling2:


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## abandonallhope (Jun 19, 2009)

ViperLover said:


> Um...I don't think so.
> 
> I've seen pictures of Crocodillian bites.
> 
> I'd rather not do that....:whistling2:


So thats answers your question.

Anything with big sharp teeth is dangerous.


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## mad martin (Sep 4, 2008)

The bite is the least of your worries. That "rip and grip and roll" is the painful problem


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## Tehanu (Nov 12, 2006)

ViperLover said:


> Just a quick question..
> 
> Are caimen really that dangerous? They are the smallest of the Crocodillian species, am I right?


"Smallest" is relative, 5' doesn't equal literally small...

They are much more agile than you will ever have imagined, they are lightening quick and can come for you in a variety of directions, a powerful muscular tail helps with that. 

Any bite no matter how glancing is likely to be slashing, there was a picture thread on here a while back of someone's thumb all but shredded by a quick bite (keeper took their eye off the animal for a split second).

They can be highly defensive of their enclosure and particularly dangerous when hungry, during their breeding season and especially during and increasingly so after nesting...

A 4' female Cuvier's defending her nest (even 8-12 weeks after you removed the eggs for incubation...) can be very intimidating and a physical struggle to work with.


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## Genseric (Oct 7, 2007)

People always seem to think that because they are smaller, they are small... they actually aren't that small fully grown, and certainly a lot bigger than the lizards that most have kept.
I worked in St Augustine Gator Farm as a youngster (well newly married, early 20's), and nearly got the arm ripped off me by an adolescent one.. I still have that football shirt somewhere (Jax Jaguars) to remind me of how close I came to learning to use a hook to eat dinner.... liberties are something we as a species always seem to take, and animals never do.. and it is that that gets us hurt.


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