In pet stores across the Nation, it has become sadly common to find alligators being sold as "pets". For the small price range of $50.00 to $150.00, you can walk out with a hatchling to yearling alligator.  But how suitable is an alligator, caiman, or crocodile as a "pet"?  As hatchlings, they seem reasonably easy to care for. In a large aquarium, a young alligator seems to be dwarfed by its enclosure. However, that view won't last for too much longer.

Alligators, in ideal environmental conditions will grow approximately 12" per year.  After two feet in length, even some of your largest aquariums are no longer suitable as housing.  Ah, but the pet store owner told you different, didn't they?  Let us guess, they told you to keep it in a small tank and it won't grow beyond the means of that aquarium? How about, "If you cut back on its food intake, it won't get that big"?

I bet at least one of those rung a bell didn't it?  Interestingly, these are common selling points for baby alligators in pet stores being that the most common concern of a purchaser is, "How big will this animal get"?  Now, the question is, just how truthful are these claims made by the pet store?

Let's revisit these pet store claims and break them down into a greater detail:

1.) If you keep the alligator in a small tank, it will stay small.  They can't outgrow their environment.

Fact: Reptiles, including all crocodilian species, grow according to caloric intake and temperature.  The environment the animal is housed in has no bearing on the growth of an alligator.  However, it DOES have a bearing on it's physical and mental development.  Alligators, as with all other crocodilian species, are quite intelligent animals and need stimulation to thrive in a captive environment.  One must not forget that life in the wild, while not always pleasant, is also never stagnant.  Furthermore, limiting enclosure size simply limits the animals' potential for proper physical development.  Much the same as humans need sufficient activity and exercise to work out minds and bodies, so does that hatchling alligator!

 

2.) Cut back on the animal's food and it won't get that big.

Fact: This statement is actually, partially true.  However, not in the aspect that the seller wants you to believe.  Even with humans, if we don't get proper nutrition and fed according to our bodily requirements, we can get thin and malnourished.  We can't build muscle, our strength and durability is limited.  Many things rely on good nutrition to enable proper development.  Calcium for proper bone development, protein for muscle development and various other vitamins and nutrients supply fuel for proper maintenance of the organs and to help build the animal's immunity to illness, etc.  Failing to provide a proper diet and on a regular and proper feeding regimen will only lead to deficiencies in one capacity or another in the animal.  Poor muscle tone, splayed or poorly growing teeth, underweight, skin issues, etc. can all result from the failure to provide sufficient nourishment.  Pet stores like to maintain simplicity.  If they informed you of the actual quantity of food required and the complexity of the diet, they realize they would lose a variety of sales.  Subsequently, they make them sound as easy as possible to care for. 

Don't fall for pet store sales pitches.  They have very little interest in placing these animals in good  homes, but more interest in lining their own pockets well.  The end result is generally, unintended animal cruelty due to the fact that the owner was misinformed.  Don't be one of those people.  Stand up for animals and DON'T buy Alligators or other crocodilians as "pets" from pet stores.