Alligators are the most dangerous of the
exotic pets. It is a crocodilian, which comes from the family of
Alligatoridae. The name was derived from Anglicization of a
Spanish word, which was used by Spanish explorers who were
settled in Florida, United States. Alligators are found mostly
in America and China.
There are two species of alligators, Alligator Mississippienis
or the American Alligator and Alligator Sinensis or the Chinese
Alligator. The American alligator weights around eight hundred
pounds and is thirteen feet long. The record for the longest
alligator is of nineteen feet two inches, from Louisiana.
Comparatively, the Chinese alligators are smaller in length and
measure not more than seven feet in length. Alligators live for
more than fifty years. The oldest living alligator was of
seventy years, at the Belgrade Zoo, Serbia.
There are many features of alligators that distinguish them from
crocodiles and both of them belong to different taxonomic
families. Alligators have a broader snout and their eyes are
located near the upper side. When light is flashed over the
eyes, bigger alligators have a red glow and smaller alligators
have a green glow. This can be of help, when searching for
alligators in dark. When looking in daylight, it is also
observed that alligators have brown eyes and crocodiles have
green eyes.
When alligators close their jaws, only the upper teeth are
visible where as in crocodiles, the upper as well as the lower
teeth are visible when they close their jaws. The shape of an
alligator’s mouth is like a “U” and that of the crocodile is
like a “V”. Although both the animals have a darker hide, almost
black, the color depends on their habitats. The Chinese
alligators have a light pattern, alligators living in algae
growing water are greenish black and waters with high tannic
acid released from hanging trees have a darker hide.
Alligators can eat anything they can find because of the
gastroliths (stomach stones) present in their stomach. Young
alligators feed on crustaceans, fishes, snails, and insects. As
they grow so does their need for larger prey. Bigger alligators
feed on turtles, bigger fishes, birds, and, other reptiles and
mammals. They even eat deer, razorbacks, small alligators and
carcass of animals when they are extremely hungry. Few attacks
on humans have also been reported, but the number is on the
rise. People get overconfident about this fact and enter
alligator habitats without much care, resulting in provoking
their aggression. But alligators do not immediately attack
humans, like crocodiles.
The alligator farming industry is seeing a rapid rise in
Florida, Louisiana and Texas. The purpose of such farms is to
get alligator hides and nearly forty five thousand hides are
distributed annually from these farms. The hides are very
expensive and a seven-foot hide costs as much as $300, but the
prices vary every year. The meat of alligator also has great
demand, which is approximately three hundred thousand pounds
every year.
Alligators now have become very protected and regulated animals.
Special processing is to be undergone to get the custody of an
alligator. Usually baby alligators can be bought from Florida.
Owners are given a special license and must be aware of their
responsibilities. It’s against the law of many states to remove
an alligator from its natural habitat. Alligator pets should be
provided with large and wet habitat, similar to the subtropical,
to live in.
Alligators are bound to get aggressive and dangerous at times,
which can prove fatal to people around. Owners should be
prepared as their pet can grow more than twelve feet. Some
owners panic when they start getting bigger and longer and
decide to free it from the captivity. But this can be extremely
dangerous to residents of that locality because by then the
animal would loose its natural fear and will attack humans. When
decision is taken for adopting an alligator as a pet, the owner
should be firm enough to make a lifetime commitment.