Caimans?

[abandonallhope]

Originally Posted by ViperLover

Just a quick question..

Are caimen really that dangerous? They are the smallest of the Crocodillian species, am I right?

Stick your hand in ones mouth and find out.....

[ViperLover]

Originally Posted by abandonallhope

Stick your hand in ones mouth and find out.....

Um...I don't think so.

I've seen pictures of Crocodillian bites.

I'd rather not do that....

[abandonallhope]

Originally Posted by ViperLover

Um...I don't think so.

I've seen pictures of Crocodillian bites.

I'd rather not do that....

So thats answers your question.

Anything with big sharp teeth is dangerous.

[mad martin]

The bite is the least of your worries. That "rip and grip and roll" is the painful problem

[Saedcantas]

Originally Posted by ViperLover

Just a quick question..

Are caimen really that dangerous? They are the smallest of the Crocodillian species, am I right?

"Smallest" is relative, 5' doesn't equal literally small...

They are much more agile than you will ever have imagined, they are lightening quick and can come for you in a variety of directions, a powerful muscular tail helps with that.

Any bite no matter how glancing is likely to be slashing, there was a picture thread on here a while back of someone's thumb all but shredded by a quick bite (keeper took their eye off the animal for a split second).

They can be highly defensive of their enclosure and particularly dangerous when hungry, during their breeding season and especially during and increasingly so after nesting...

A 4' female Cuvier's defending her nest (even 8-12 weeks after you removed the eggs for incubation...) can be very intimidating and a physical struggle to work with.

[Genseric]

People always seem to think that because they are smaller, they are small... they actually aren't that small fully grown, and certainly a lot bigger than the lizards that most have kept.
I worked in St Augustine Gator Farm as a youngster (well newly married, early 20's), and nearly got the arm ripped off me by an adolescent one.. I still have that football shirt somewhere (Jax Jaguars) to remind me of how close I came to learning to use a hook to eat dinner.... liberties are something we as a species always seem to take, and animals never do.. and it is that that gets us hurt.