Terrarium

cocodril d'estuari

jsangenis — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 10:04:42 +0000

Estuarine crocodile

This species can tolerate saltwater extremely well, and is found in estuaries, saltwater marshes and even on the open sea, which is why it is also called the marine and saltwater crocodile. Its area of distribution is extensive in all of Southeast Asia. The young feed on insects, amphibians, crustaceans and small reptiles, while adults eat all types of vertebrates. This crocodile obtains the largest size of all species, with lengths of six to seven metres and weights of over 1000 kg.

jsangenis Tue, 01/14/2025 - 11:04

Crocodylus porosus

Coasts of India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, northern Australia, New Guinea and small islands of the Pacific.

Degree of risk

Least Concern

Class

Reptilia

Order

Crocodylia

Family

Crocodylidae

500-1200kg

3-7m

40-50 years

Habitat

Fresh water

Social life

Solitary

Feeding

Carnivorous

Oviparous

Days

75-100

Baby

40-90 eggs

Description

This crocodile, with a large head and a very long muzzle, has ridges running from the eye orbits and along the snout. Its armour is not very ossified and a significant trait is the absence of large post-occipital scales. Colouring is highly variable, with four or five black bands that usually disappear on older individuals. The abdomen colour is solid, cream or golden yellow.

Habitat

They live in estuaries, marshes, lakes and saltwater bodies and are sometimes found at open sea.

Feeding

This opportunistic carnivore captures prey when they approach the water to drink. Then the crocodile surprises them, gripping them in its powerful jaws, then dragging them into the water to drown them. The young feed on insects, amphibians and small fish, while adults eat fish, amphibians, eggs, reptiles and mammals, both small and mid-sized. If there is no living prey around, it will also eat carrion. This species kills and devours several people every year.

Reproduction

The breeding period takes place during the wet season, between November and March, when the males defend their territory against other specimens. After mating, the female normally lays 40 to 60 eggs, even though this number can reach 90, in a nest buried underground and made with mud and plant matter. Given that the eggs are laid during the rainy season, the nests must be built at higher areas to prevent their loss from flooding. The female watches over the nest to protect it from predators during incubation and, after the babies hatch, she carries them to the water in her mouth. The gender is directly related to the temperature of the nest. Males are produced in the range from 30 to 32 degrees centigrade, while females are born if the temperature is higher or lower.

Conduct

This is the largest living reptile in the world, with specimens up to seven metres long and weighing over 1000 kg. It is closely related to the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) and has many similarities to this cousin, including their danger to humans. This crocodile can be exceptionally agile in the water, with swimming speeds up to 43 km/h and can launch itself up to four metres with a single switch of its tail. It is also quite fast on land, but only for short periods of time. This crocodile goes into the sea more often than any other, and has been spotted many times at large distances from firm land. A translucent protective membrane over each eye protects it while swimming, so it can see perfectly underwater. It can remain underwater for up to two hours, during which its metabolism slows down and its heartbeat changes, as this animal can direct blood almost exclusively to the life centre—or brain—while submerged,

Status and conservation programs

They have been intensively hunted throughout their area of distribution, because their skin has the highest quality. Thus, they appear to be at the point of extinction in Australia and other regions. However, with rational control of hunting and the establishment of breeding grounds to produce skin, not only has the species been saved, but today it is an abundant animals in certain regions of Australia and New Guinea, where the largest and most aggressive specimens are regularly controlled.

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Cocodril de Siam

atenea — Sun, 11 Dec 2016 21:23:28 +0000

Siamese crocodile

This crocodile lives in lowland topical fresh water environments in south-east Asia and Indonesia.

It is medium-sized, although males can reach up to 4 metres long, and is not generally considered dangerous for humans. It is one of the most endangered crocodiles in the wild, although it is quite populated in captivity, as it is bred to obtain its valuable hide.

atenea Sun, 12/11/2016 - 22:23

Crocodylus siamensis

Tailandia, Laos, Camboya, Vietnam, Malasia y algunas islas de Indonesia como Java y Borneo.

Degree of risk

Critically endangered

Class

Reptilia

Order

Crocodylia

Family

Crocodylidae

60-70

3-4 m

40 - 50 years

Habitat

Fresh water

Social life

Gregarious

Feeding

Carnivorous

Oviparous

Days

70 - 80

Baby

15 - 50 eggs

Description

The Siamese crocodile is not a large animal, as its size usually does not exceed 3 metres long, 4 at most. It has a large head in comparison to its body, and protruding eyes and nostrils, as proof of its aquatic lifestyle. Its limbs are similar to other crocodiles’, with five fingers on the front legs and four on the rear ones, albeit longer.

Its body has stripes alternating its colour between olive and brown. Young crocodiles have a golden or brownish hue, with black stripes and spots all over their body.

Habitat

Lakes, streams, slow current rivers, swamps and fresh water lowland marshlands.

Feeding

It mainly feeds on fish, but it can also capture reptiles, amphibians, birds and small mammals. It also eats carrion. Young crocodiles feed on arthropods, insects, crabs and amphibians. As in all crocodiles, they are unable to chew, so they have to shake the prey in order to tear it to pieces with their teeth.

Reproduction

The reproductive season takes places during the rainy period. Females build a kind of nest, several meters from the water, where they lay fifteen to fifty eggs. The nest is shaped like a mound, consisting of a mixture of soil, leaves and other plant material, reaching 150 cm of diameter and 30 cm tall. Females visit their nests regularly until the eggs hatch, and then they carry the babies to the water, on its mouth.

Conduct

It is medium-sized, although males can reach up to 4 metres long, and is not generally considered dangerous for humans. Its habits are generally sedentary and during the rainy season, it scatters across several flooded areas of its habitat. This species has been spotted up to 600 m high.

Status and conservation programs

It is one of the most endangered crocodiles in the wild, although it is quite populated in captivity, as it is bred to obtain its valuable hide. From animals in captivity, some introductions have been carried out in its native environment, where it had become almost completely extinct. The main threats to this species are the conversion of its habitat into farming land and poaching for its hide. In some regions of its distribution area, the native population protect these crocodiles, for they consider them to be sacred animals.

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Al·ligàtor de la Xina

atenea — Sun, 11 Dec 2016 16:04:35 +0000

Chinese alligator

This small caiman is rarely longer than two metres, inhabiting only the lower regions of the Yangtze River in China. It feeds primarily on fish, snails, water bivalves, invertebrates, small mammals and aquatic eggs.

Its area of distribution is shrinking quickly due to the development of agriculture and human expansion. Today it is one of the Crocodyladae in greatest danger of extinction in nature.

atenea Sun, 12/11/2016 - 17:04

Alligator sinensis

Breeding program

EEP

Lower regions of the Yangtze River in the Pacific coastal provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, in China.

Degree of risk

Critically endangered

Class

Reptilia

Order

Crocodylia

Family

Crocodylidae

30 - 45

1,4 - 2,2 m

More than 50 years

Habitat

Fresh water

Social life

Solitary

Feeding

Carnivorous

Oviparous

Days

60 - 80

Baby

10 - 40 eggs

Description

With regard to its general appearance, the Chinese alligator is a smaller version of the Mississippi alligator, although it also differs in several ways: the snout is slightly raised and tapered, the eyelids have a bone plate, it is totally armoured, even on the belly, as the ventral scales have osteoderms, and the eyes are a light-chestnut colour, in addition to other smaller differences. It is dark coloured with lighter areas along the body and its maximum size is some two metres.

Alligators and caiman differ from other crocodiles mainly due to the teeth on the lower jaw being inserted into small cavities in the upper jaw, so that they are not visible when their mouths are closed.

Habitat

It inhabits lagoons, swamps, marshes, ponds, and banks of rivers and streams in the lower basin of the Yangtze River that are temperate or subtropical.

Feeding

It feeds primarily on fish, snails, water bivalves, invertebrates, small mammals and aquatic eggs, and can even capture and devour aquatic turtles.

Reproduction

The mating season takes place shortly after the rainfalls start, normally around June, when the two sexes make a type of braying sound that is audible even at considerable distances. Females lay eggs in a nest built with vegetation and mud on the shore near water, and they are protected by the mother during incubation. When the eggs hatch, around September, the mother helps break the eggshell and carries the babies to the water, holding them delicately in her mouth. This species’ eggs are the smallest of all crocodiles’.

Conduct

They hibernate in holes close to the river between October and March or April. In spring, they abandon them, but do keep using them occasionally throughout the year. They spend most of the day sunbathing, then go out hunting prey at night.

Chinese alligators are considered the most docile and least aggressive of all in the Crocodylia order.

Status and conservation programs

This species is in serious danger of extinction in its natural habitat. The total wild population is estimated at some 300 animals, with very little breeding success.

The most significant threats to which they are submitted are the degradation of their water habitats from pollution, the construction of river and industrial infrastructures and the transformation of lands in rice paddies. Hunting is a further threat, which continues to reduce their number for use as meat for human consumption and the internal organs for use in traditional Chinese medicine.

Luckily, they breed easily in captivity at different zoos around the world and even some zoos in China, which are engaged in several projects to reintroduce the species to their natural habitat.

The Barcelona Zoo participates in the EEP for this endangered species.

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