Reptiles: The Things You Should Know On Alligators and Crocodiles

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.

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.

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.

On Crocodiles

These reptiles are often underestimated, but they are very strong and fast. Lots of practice should be done before handling a crocodile. In fact, the larger the crocodile, the more the number of people required for handling it. If untrained or inexperienced team handles a crocodile, they are prone to getting serious injuries and might even die on the spot. No amount of training can tame the crocodile. Most of the owners are in delusion in this regard. A lot of hard work and many years of time would have be invested to tame a crocodile.

Crocodiles eat both vertebrates and invertebrates. For example, they eat mammals, reptiles, fishes, crustacean and mollusks. They can live up to minimum of thirty years and can even cross hundred years of age. Owners should be certainly aware of this fact and make preparations in advance because there is larger possibility that the pet outlives the owner. Crocodiles can grow from five feet to six feet and can weigh nearly three thousand pounds. At birth they measure twenty centimeters only. This is also one of the factors, which tempts owners to keep them as pet and when they begin to grow, the owner panics and starts thinking of abandoning them.