Cuban Crocodiles

Captive care and husbandry.

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Barry R
Posts: 463
Joined: March 16th, 2011, 11:27 am
Location: Shawnee Hills, IN

Cuban Crocodiles

Post by Barry R »

I recently visited some old friends....

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Image105_5436 by Paleosuchus, on Flickr
Crocodylus rhombifer at Louisville

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Image105_5441 by Paleosuchus, on Flickr

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Image105_5457 by Paleosuchus, on Flickr

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Image105_5476 by Paleosuchus, on Flickr
This is an older pic of juveniles that hatched a few years ago
VICtort
Posts: 691
Joined: July 2nd, 2010, 6:48 pm
Location: AZ.

Re: Cuban Crocodiles

Post by VICtort »

Dear Barry,

I don't recall seeing this species before, hence thank you for posting it. I have heard zoo keepers say this species is a real hand full, they can jump amazingly high when lunging at food etc., not for the timid. Anyone know their status in the wilds of Cuba? Are you personally caring for the specimens in the photos? If so, tell us about caring for them, are they substantially different from other crocodilians? Fish eaters or mammals/birds or all of the above?

Vic
Kfen
Posts: 413
Joined: June 17th, 2010, 5:51 am
Location: CT

Re: Cuban Crocodiles

Post by Kfen »

Those things are pretty cool!
VICtort wrote:
. Anyone know their status in the wilds of Cuba?
Vic
I think they are limited to only 1 or 2 locations and hybridization with American crocs is a pretty big problem. Not sure how much the hybridization is caused by anthropomorphic reasons.
Barry R
Posts: 463
Joined: March 16th, 2011, 11:27 am
Location: Shawnee Hills, IN

Re: Cuban Crocodiles

Post by Barry R »

Thanks for your replies,
I worked at Louisville a few years ago, the ectotherm curator is the Species Survival Plan (SSP)
Coordinator for Cuban Crocodiles in North American zoological collections.
The species has bred once at Louisville and Miami, that I know of.
The captive diet is primarily rodents.
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JEDDLV
Posts: 69
Joined: April 28th, 2013, 1:54 pm
Location: Las Vegas, Nv.

Re: Cuban Crocodiles

Post by JEDDLV »

This is interesting. I was in Cuba about 10 years ago & made it a point of my trip to go to the southern part of the island to see wild cuban crocs. I did find them & along the way passed a rather large, government run, place where they were being farmed for their meat & skins. There were hundreds if not thousands of crocs of all sizes there. I stopped in a small village, on the edge of a swampy area where I stayed for a few days, people are very nice & accommodating in Cuba. No problem finding the wild crocs, a young man took me down in the swamp, & within an hour I was looking at wild Cuban crocs everywhere I looked. They were quite plentiful in that area. As it would happen, the first night I was there, guess what was for dinner? It is very against Cuban law to take the crocs there, but the people have very limited food items to choose from. I have to admit it was unexpected, but quite good meat and very tasty. I am sorry that I cannot share the pics here with you all. But do not have pics in a forum that I can transfer here to share. Really enjoyed seeing these, thank you.
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