# Keeping Crocodiles



## childreni_440 (Jul 11, 2006)

Hi all,

I've decided to get myself a freshwater crocodile in the near future. Im having all sorts of problems finding care sheets etc on them if anyone has any info could they please let me know. Ive done a search on this site and couldnt find any old post.

For all you people with croc's already this is what i was going to do.... 6FT x 2FT x 2FT tank with a 2FT x 2FT platform dry area. I was going to have the water heated and have a 4ft fluro globe over the tank. Do they need a hot spot ie basking lamp? and it would be a huge help if people could post pics of thier croc tanks 

Cheers Rhys


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## MoreliaMatt (Jul 11, 2006)

really have no idea, but the gully reptile centre in adelaide have a croc setup instore simmilar to what your saying, and they have a basking light in there, so i dont know if they need it, but reptile shop near me has one in there.... hope someone on here can clarify this for you....


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## Lurk (Jul 11, 2006)

Roy Pails has one and maybe he can help with any info you may need..


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## josho (Jul 11, 2006)

iv seen a few setups with them and they all had basking lights on the dry area they do spend alot of time out of the water to so i guess they would need one


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## Mysnakeau (Jul 11, 2006)

:shock: Holy duly. Now you're really playing with nature's roughest . Good luck
Kathy


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## blair (Jul 11, 2006)

can you keep crocs as pets


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## josho (Jul 11, 2006)

sure can blair fresh and salties


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## blair (Jul 11, 2006)

i belive you about the freshys but not the sailties


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## munkee (Jul 11, 2006)

Sounds similar to what a bloke I met has. I cannot help with the conditions for the animal except that australia reptile zoo (Irwin's) has water temps at 28C.

Have a backyard ready for it though.


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## Earthling (Jul 11, 2006)

How 'friendly' can they get? I guess jennies are going to be a bit more trainable yeah?


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## childreni_440 (Jul 11, 2006)

yeah i have heaps of room i live on a 20acre farm so space aint the issuse. thanks for all the replys keep them coming.


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## josho (Jul 11, 2006)

fresh water arnt normaly agressive but salties are i know that


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## Pyror (Jul 11, 2006)

blair said:


> can you keep crocs as pets





josho said:


> sure can blair fresh and salties



Hey blair, unfortunately in NSW you cannnot legally own crocodiles (yet)...


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## childreni_440 (Jul 11, 2006)

thats why i love victoria.


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## josho (Jul 11, 2006)

man its funny how different these states operate in regards to animals and reptiles ect


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## Retic (Jul 11, 2006)

Yes it's ridiculous. I want a freshwater croc and they are found in this State and I have kept Caimans before but I can't have one. I can have a Perentie or Lace monitor but not a freshwater crocodile, can someone tell me how that makes any sense at all ?


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## Pyror (Jul 11, 2006)

josho said:


> man its funny how different these states operate in regards to animals and reptiles ect



Yep it sux. Down in Vic. you guys can't own vicious, human eating, highly venomous, plague inducing Rough knob tailed geckos (_N. amyae_) but Salt Water Crocs.... no worries (?!)


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## josho (Jul 11, 2006)

yeah its got me stuffed and somebody was telling me that in QLD they cant have pet rabits or ferets


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## Retic (Jul 11, 2006)

Don't even try to make any sense out of what is and what isn't included on the various States list of accepted species.
I have several friends in Victoria with freshwater crocs but I can keep one in my backyard because of our good weather but I'm not allowed. I know in Victoria you can ask to have a species included on the schedule, how does that work up here ?


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## Retic (Jul 11, 2006)

I think the upside outweighs the downside but there are some weird things up here. No rabbits and ferrets, weird.



josho said:


> yeah its got me stuffed and somebody was telling me that in QLD they cant have pet rabits or ferets


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## yommy (Jul 11, 2006)

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/cnhc/

Good on ya childerni_440 Freshies can make great pet the link above will send you to a crocodile site.
Click on the icon : crocodilian captive care FAQ. When i was looking into it this site had all the answers.
Hope this helps


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## yommy (Jul 11, 2006)

All else fails come to the NT you can have freshies and salties no problem. They're in every pet store that stocks all other reptiles species


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## childreni_440 (Jul 11, 2006)

Thanks Yommy.


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## Reptile City (Jul 11, 2006)

Hi Rhys
We have keeped &amp; sold Freshies before they are easy.
Send me your email adress &amp; I will send you a heap of info on keeping crocks.
They are in word files.

Jason


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## childreni_440 (Jul 11, 2006)

my email is [email protected] That would be great jason i want to do as much research as possible


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## Crocboy (Jul 11, 2006)

Dont be fooled that freshies are friendlier than salties. I have kept a crap load over the years and the nastiest one was a freshy! Just get what ever you want. Clean water, 28c temperature, room to get out and dry off and a basking light is good too. Go for one of those purple ones so you can leave it on all the time.


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## junglepython2 (Jul 11, 2006)

> I know in Victoria you can ask to have a species included on the schedule



Boa how does this work and what are the chances of them letting you keeping animals of the schedule? i havnt heard of this before and it opens up plenty of possibilities!?!


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## childreni_440 (Jul 11, 2006)

is bore water ok or is just normal tap water best and what about rainwater?


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## Retic (Jul 11, 2006)

Basically from what I understand you are able to ask for a species to be considered to be added to the schedule, it's obviously no guarantee of anything but they do add species every now and then.


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## junglepython2 (Jul 11, 2006)

do these species that get added go onto the updated schedule or are they left off and only kept by those who asked?


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## Crocboy (Jul 11, 2006)

Hatchlings can be very sensative. Go the rain water if you can. Stay off the live food to if you can avoid it. Feed it off on pinkies. If you go for meat you have to put calcium powder and stuff on it.


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## alby (Jul 11, 2006)

i want a aligator hehehe there the friendly ones the guy up at gosford kisses his hehehe


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## childreni_440 (Jul 11, 2006)

yeah rain water will be easyist for me. Now are there any reputable people to buy from and what age do you recomend? and how long will a 6x2x2 last approx?


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## Crocboy (Jul 11, 2006)

Do you want a big croc or do you want to keep it small for as long as you can?


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## elapid68 (Jul 11, 2006)

boa said:


> I know in Victoria you can ask to have a species included on the schedule,



Don't know who you've been speaking to but they're kind of over simplifying things. Yes, you can ask but there's an extreamly good chance you ain't getting it. There's some fairly high ranking Victorian Herpetologists that have been trying to get certain _Nephrurus, Varanus_ and _Pseudechis_ species onto the schedule. They have even suggested swapping these animals for stuff already on the schedule. And to date, it doesn't look like it's going to happen.


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## junglepython2 (Jul 11, 2006)

Thought it sounded too good to be true


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## Retic (Jul 12, 2006)

I didn't say the animals would be added I said it is possible in Victoria to ask to have a species added to the schedule. 



elapid68 said:


> boa said:
> 
> 
> > I know in Victoria you can ask to have a species included on the schedule,
> ...


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## JasonL (Jul 12, 2006)

Yes you can Pyror, but you will need a exibitors Lic from the Ag Dept. You can keep both types and salties are generally calmer than the freshies (Less nervous) they are quite cheap to purchase, roughly $200 bucks, but the Lic to keep them isn't cheap.and when they get to big they make a nice pair of boots!


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## tyrone (Jul 12, 2006)

Yeh freshies in captivity get small man/croc syndrome and tend to be more snappier than salties


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## Lurk (Jul 12, 2006)

childreni_440 said:


> thats why i love victoria.



Canberra too


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## childreni_440 (Jul 12, 2006)

> Do you want a big croc or do you want to keep it small for as long as you can?



i would like to start with something small. which heat globe do you recomend?


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## Crocboy (Jul 12, 2006)

If you keep the temp at 26c and feed it once a week it will stay small for a long time. Me personally i feed every second day and the temp doesnt get below 28c. Big and nasty.


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## Oof (Jul 12, 2006)

Cripes! Having a croc as a pet. That's really taking it to the extreme.

"You're a bigger man than I, i'll give you the tip!"


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## childreni_440 (Jul 12, 2006)

is it safe for the croc to be kept 26 and feed weekly? how do i regulate temp of a water heater?? so in this case no basking light?


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## Crocboy (Jul 12, 2006)

Heres an old shot of my freshy. Hes no longer around.


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## childreni_440 (Jul 12, 2006)

Crocboy just a couple more Q's sorry

Can/How do i regulate water temp if im using a water heater? can you get thermps for water?
to keep it at 26 does that mean no basking light?
What tank furnishings if any could or should i use?


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## Crocboy (Jul 12, 2006)

For cleaning purposes leave bare as possible. If you gonna have just one croc, put some of the aquarium gravel, a decent pump, a heater, basking spot with some hide logs or something. Fish look nice but it will eat them and probably nothing else so dont get him in that bad habit. The size of the basking light will depend on the spot you have for it and the distance away you are going to put the light. Just put it all together and you will know just by looking at it. Let it run for a while to check the heating levels and then go croc shopping. 
I got a stainless steel heater the other day, it has a control that sits out side the tank for easy adjustments. Its good for these little critters.


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## childreni_440 (Jul 12, 2006)

yeah thanks crocboy u have been an enormous help... where 2 go croc shopping? and male or female?


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## Crocboy (Jul 12, 2006)

Sex is only an issue if its over a couple of metres. Where? Herp trader is the go, dont pay to much for one though. $100-$200 around that. Ive seen them in there a few times a bloke up north was selling them. They come down in a peice of pipe on the plane. Crocodylus park or Darwin croc farm should be able to help you.


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## Crocboy (Jul 12, 2006)

Heres one of my first tanks.


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## Ricko (Jul 12, 2006)

hey crocboy havent seen you on here for ages. hows things? What happened to that first freshie you posted a pic of and said he was no longer around? you should show you pens to everyone mate they are awesome. i remember them from last time you posed the pics. and some saltie pics would be good if ya got any nowadays?


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## Luke_G (Jul 13, 2006)

just a Question. Can you keep freshwater crocs in QLD. I no you can only keep them on display licences in NSW.... is it the same up here.


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## Retic (Jul 13, 2006)

No we can't.


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## Luke_G (Jul 13, 2006)

Dammm, i was afaid you would say that. Looks like i gotta move interstate lol.


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## Retic (Jul 13, 2006)

Like I said earlier I can't really understand why we can't have an animal native to our State but they can have one in Victoria but I can have a Perentie.


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## junglepython2 (Jul 13, 2006)

We can't even get rough knob tails in vic!


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## Crocboy (Jul 13, 2006)

The freshy has passed on. Not sure exactly but the ol boys gone.


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## junglepython2 (Jul 13, 2006)

How much damage can one that size inflict?


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## Crocboy (Jul 13, 2006)

Old photo, taken 18months ago. Hes bigger now. Might take some shots on the weekend. Im destroying the old pens to build my new herp room so i will have to make some new enclosures.


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## Crocboy (Jul 13, 2006)

Tear you up pretty bad. Gets the blood going. If your having a slow day just come home and get one of these out.


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## junglepython2 (Jul 13, 2006)

Haha how much do you handle them? And can they be semi-trained at all? Roy Pails said a mate had one almost house trained is there any truth to this??


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## viper208 (Jul 13, 2006)

in nsw you can legally own them but not on a reptile license from the NPWS you need to apply for an exibitors license through the dept of agriculture.


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## Crocboy (Jul 13, 2006)

Junglepython2, heres house trained for you. 

Ricko, Things are good here, im down to 8 saltys now. Are these the pens you were talking about?


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## Ricko (Jul 13, 2006)

yeah mate they are awesome. were they individual ponds? as in single black liner thigns? hope u understand what i mean.


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## Crocboy (Jul 13, 2006)

Yep. They are poly sheep troughs. From memory they were $230 each from Team Poly. They are all plumed up to a gas hot water system on a thermostat. Gets cold it goes on.


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## Luke_G (Jul 13, 2006)

WOW. Great croc setup. I hope i will have something like that one day.......


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