yee haaa!

[Iggy]

We purchased a pair of alligators when we first opened the park. The male was in good nic but the female not so, she had been badly bullied by the male, was badly scarred and was actually too scared of him to even enter the water with him, even with an island in the middle to try to give separate territories. We had to build her a second, though much smaller, pond, which she used with relief. I think she hadn't been in water for a long time, as apparently the water area in their previous enclosure was about the size of the centre island in their current enclosure. It took months to get her eating right - he would eat 1 or 2 whole chickens, or a piglet, she had to have a braai pack of chicken from which she would softly take a couple of drumsticks. Slowly but surely she got stronger and stronger, now eats either a whole braai pack or even small whole chickens. Then around November (I think) we finally saw her in the big pond with the male, and soon they started "gettin' jiggy". Since then, she hasn't bothered to use her little pond. Today the ultimate - we had to battle a fierce mommy 'gator to open up her nest, from which we removed 18 healthy looking eggs, and now the wait (with fingers and toes crossed, and bated breath as well!) begins. I am SO proud of her!!!!

[Warren Klein]

This is great new as there are not many facilities in SA which breed Alligators. What size are the male and female at now? I can imagine your excitement!

[Quintin]

Congrats Iggy!!! Good on you guys pulling her through and taken the animals interests to heart!!

Hope you guys have a successful clutch of baby Gators!!!
Q

[warbot]

What gators are they, if you don't mind me asking? Welldone !

[Bushviper]

That is great. Well done.

Other places claim to have bred them every year but the babies never hit the market so i think they are infertile.

If you are selling I would be looking at a pair.

[Sly]

that is great news, well done...holding thumbs for you guys, keep us posted

[BOOGY]

HEY!!! Congrats mate!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Iggy]

@Warbot, they are Alligator mississippiensis, American Alligators. Now if they were Chinese...... that would REALLY be something special!!!

[Warren Klein]

It's special enough to have bred mississippiensis in SA! Does anyone know of any parks which even keep Chinese alligators in South Africa? I've only seen them in croc parks in the states. The Alligators are the only two species which can handle cold temps well.

[Bushviper]

Nope no Chinese alligators here. I was offered about 500 babies a few years ago which had been bred. This was way more than the entire worlds population at that time. Apparently someone had managed to breed these like chickens. The authorities would not allow him to export them and the whole deal fell flat. I was stunned. I have no idea what ever happened to them. I saw some in Hong Kong and they are nice. I am sure they will do well in South Africa.

[Warren Klein]

Wow BV, 500 baby Chinese alligators! It's almost hard to believe that number, but I'll take your word on that. Did you want to take all 500 because if you did I'm sure we would now have Chinese alligators on display in our parks and zoos, I agree they would do well here. I saw them displayed out doors in South Carolina at the end of their winter. I was freezing my S.A ass off while the gators looked very content out doors in the elements. For what reason did the authorities give for not allowing your contact to export the CB babies? Hopefully those babies did not end up as boots and belts!

[Bushviper]

The Chinese authorities are not eager to downgrade the CITES 1 animals which they breed. Even zoos struggle to get this species exported.

I wanted them all because they were relatively cheap and they would have been able to be re-exported to Europe and the US. I have no idea what happend to them. They could not have been ranched or poached because the wild population would never reach this number.

Every few years I get these offers which are almost too good to be true. I was offered Fiji iguanas about 10 year ago in huge numbers as well. The paperwork to the US was impossible (still is) and as a result I had to pass on the offer. Those same specimens are the founder stock for the hundreds of Fiji Iguanas now being bred in Europe.

[Warren Klein]

Thanks for the explanation. Agreed, some offers do prove to be too good to be true. I wonder how many species of crocodilian are currently in collections in South Africa? I can think of 6 maybe 7 species including our local C.niloticus.

[Iggy]

We're expecting a C.niloticus egg to hatch any day now...they were laid in the dam but by a stroke of luck we emptied the dam for cleaning that day and were able to save this one. Question - normally the siblings call to one another so that they exit the eggs at the same time. Do we have to do anything to stimulate a single baby to hatch as he won't have the benefit of listening for others?

[Warren Klein]

The hatchlings will start to cheep while still in the egg, this would normally call the mother who will even help crack the unbroken shell to release her baby. I think the cheeping sound is more for the mother’s ears than for the other siblings. Assuming you incubated the egg at around 30 degrees, when the egg approaches the 90 day mark I would think about cracking the shell to release the hatchling inside. Being careful not to turn the egg from its original position you can also hold it up to a light to see how far the baby has developed. You could also try cheeping to the egg and listen to hear if it responds, sounds silly but maybe worth a try.