Dwarf Caiman (Paleosuchus palpebrosus) Fact Sheet: Managed Care

Zoos, general

• Regularly bred in zoos and private collections in Europe and the U.S. (Trutnau and Sommerlad 2006; Stevenson 2019)

San Diego Zoo and Safari Park

• First dwarf caimans arrive at San Diego Zoo in 2013 (ZIMS 2020)

(Lawrie Arends, Brett Baldwin, Brandon Scott, personal communications, 2020)

Shelters and enclosures

• Large pool for swimming
  • Water temperature: 79-81°F (26-27°C)
  • Spend more time in the water as adults
    • Commonly rest with head at surface and body vertical in the water
• Tree branches and rocks for hiding, resting, and sunning
• Palm fronds for cover/shelter
• Housed with freshwater turtles and cichlid fish

Social interactions

• Can be housed together, if raised together
• May compete for food (see "Enrichment and training," below)

Diet and feeding

• Diet items
  • Small rodents
  • Croc biscuits
  • Enrichment
    • Fish
    • Worms
• Feeding at San Diego Zoo
  • Younger individuals fed more invertebrates and molluscs, compared to adults
  • Juveniles fed 3 to 4 days per week; adults fed 1 to 2 days per week
  • Females consume more food during breeding

Captive breeding

• Breed easily in managed care

Enrichment and training

• Very responsive to food, especially when young
  • Offered puzzle feeders, such as boomer balls with favorite foods inside
• Target training used for feeding sessions (prevents competition between dominant and subordinate individuals)
  • Respond to name
• Live in mixed-species zoo-habitat spaces
• Rocks or sandy areas available for sunning

Dwarf caiman at the Detroit Zoo.

Image credit: © Joy VanBuhler / Flickr. Some rights reserved; CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. This image has been cropped.