Veterinary Aspects of Cuiabá's Secret Caiman, the Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman

Today I came across my first World record - I examined a Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman.

It has several alternative names, namely:

• the Musky Caiman
• the Dwaf Caiman
• Cuvier's Caiman
• Smooth-fronted Caiman
• Wedge-Head Caiman
• Paleosuchus palpebrosus
• Jacaré urbano
• Jacaré paguá
• Jacaré Ferro

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) classiefiedthe species as of Least Concern, and stable.

The one I examined today was just a juvenile.  They grow over a metre long.  This one had a head measuring 11.2 cm and body length of 68 cm.  It weighed one kilogramme 760 grammes.  Its cloacal temperature was 33.c, the heart rate was 52 beats per minute and the respiratory rate was eight movements per minute.  

I taped its jaws and took care of other physical containmnent procedures.  

There was nothing clinically wrong with the aninal, and it was taken to the Federal University of Mato Grosso.

A great photograph by my assistant.