# few questions on my caimans setup



## Shane D (Feb 22, 2012)

hey folks hows everyone keeping

Right i have a baby caiman, he is about 5 months old now and living in a 4.5ft tank .... will need upgrading in a few months im sure lol

anyway few Q's i have, there is not a whole lot of people over here in ROI that know about these crocs etc and im just wondering if my setup is ok for him now

I have roughly 70% water area, then the remaining basking area with a 50w heat bulb, some mock trees, some coral rocks to build the base of the basking area etc The heater is out in the open and he hasnt touched that yet, he rests alot around that area and from what i saw on here im thinking of enclosing that so he cant go near it

Im thinking of removing the coral sand and replacing it with some type of gravel and re-doing the whole setup again

If anyone has some advise / input please feel free to shout

Thanks in advance
Shane

p.s some pics


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## TEG (Feb 4, 2010)

*croc*

i personally would remove the sand, put in some flat stones just above water level then put another larger flat stone/tile on top of them for a basking area
i do not think it will burn itself on the water heater but the heat bulb is too low 
if the caiman lay under it i think it would get burned, you may want to check what temp it is under that spotlight.


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## Spuddy (Aug 24, 2009)

If you're worried about it burning itself on the water heater go to any of your local fish/aquarium shops and look for a Rena Smart Heater. Or alternatively have a look online for them. 

I use them in my Cichlid aquarium as they aren't hot too the touch and are made from some type of unbreakable plastic, apparently. So no chance of the caiman smashing it and electrocuting itself.

Should be able to get a 100W one for around £20.


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## davesreptiles (Sep 10, 2009)

i would be so much worried about your caiman burning itself on the heater the real problem will be when it trys to bite through the heater u will need a guard or something around it thats what ive done with mine


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## Shane D (Feb 22, 2012)

I was thinking of getting some sort of guard for the underwater heater. The bulb up top in his basking area is away from him and anytime i see him on the tile relaxing he is always a few inches away from been directly underneat the red bulb etc

Was thinking of removing the sand and replacing with some gravel 

Water temp is about 27/28


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## farnell182 (Jan 26, 2009)

Directly under that heat bulb will be HOT!! Check temp with temp gun..


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## sharpstrain (May 24, 2008)

I know nowt about crocs so sorry if this is thick - but wouldnt the animal prefer a white light for basking - many lizards and chelonia are encourage to bask by white light rather than red - is this not the case with crocs?


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