Whenever I think of crocodiles I think of the late Steve Irwin, “The Crocodile Hunter,” whose life was tragically cut short. Whenever I hear the word crocodile I can see his big grin and wild mop of hair and hear him say, “Croiky that was close!”
Crocodiles belong to the Crocodylidae family, which also includes alligators and caimans. Crocodiles are huge aquatic reptiles that can be traced back thousands of years. Some live in fresh water bodies such as rivers, wetlands, lakes and brackish water and some live in salt water. The largest species live in salt water. They are found in Africa, Asia, Australia and America. Crocodiles are frequently confused with alligators, however, if you examine the head you can easily tell the difference. Crocodiles have a V shaped head and alligators have a U shaped head. As you can see from the above photo, the nose is very narrow when compaired to the width of the head at the eyes.
Crocodiles should only be considered for a pet by those who have past experience with dangerous exotic pets. They are certainly not recommended for beginners, or even intermediate pet owners. People that are interested in having a reptile for a pet should consider an agamid, gecko, skink, bearded dragon, or a small snake. Crocodiles are for very experienced hobbyists only. They are extremely difficult to handle and house and the expense to keep one as a pet is very large. Even small juvenile crocodiles become hard to handle after they reach one year of age. As they grow older, they become stronger and more dangerous. It is only after this that owners realize the harsh truth and release the crocodile illegally into the wild. This creates a very dangerous situation because the crocodile does not fear humans because of it past association, so it will become more confident and will attack humans whenever it gets the opportunity.
These reptiles are frequently underestimated. Until you have dealt with one, you cannot believe how strong and fast they are. You should have a lot of practice dealing with reptiles before attempting to handle a crocodile, and even then only when being supervised by an experienced crocodile handler. In fact, the larger the crocodile, the greater the number of people required to handle it. If an untrained or inexperienced team attempts to handle a crocodile, they will probably be seriously injured and possibly even killed. No amount of training can tame a crocodile. Unfortunately, most owners don’t realize this until they are attacked by their supposed pet. Each year owners of pet crocodiles are bitten and many pets are either killed or illegally let loose by owners who can no longer handle them.
Crocodiles have a streamline body, which facilitates swimming. While swimming, they tuck their limbs to the side of their bodies, which helps them to swim even faster as that decreases water resistance. Their webbed feet help them to make fast and sudden turns. The muscles that are involved in closing the jaw are so powerful that the jaw can shut with a pressure of five thousand pounds per square inch. Their teeth are very sharp and they use these to tear the flesh of their prey. In addition, they also have very sharp claws.
Fortunately, the muscles that are used to open the jaws are extremely weak. Therefore, in case of an attack, the victim should hold the jaw closed. That is the reason why, when the crocodile is being transported, the jaws are kept shut with big rubber bands made out of automobile inner tubes. The lateral movement of the neck is restricted by nature in this reptile, so when a human faces an attack on land, he can save himself by getting behind a tree and keeping the crocodile on the other side.
Crocodiles eat both vertebrates and invertebrates. For example, they eat mammals, reptiles, fish, crustaceans and molluscs. They can live from thirty years to more than one hundred years of age. Owners should be aware of this fact and make preparations in advance because there is a large possibility that the pet will outlive the owner. Full grown Crocodiles are from five feet to six feet in length and weigh over two thousand pounds. At birth they only measure twenty centimetres. This is one of the factors which tempt owners to keep them as pets. However, when they begin to grow, the owner panics and starts thinking of abandoning them with the above mentioned tragic results.
My recommendation is to leave crocodiles in zoos or in the wild and pick smaller more docile reptiles as pets.
Until next time,
Teia
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