Uncooperative Croc Tests Reptile Keeper

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – What do you do when a 1,250-pound crocodile doesn’t want to cooperate to get his daily feedings? Retrain him. Officials at the St. Augustine Farm and Zoological Park said for about a month Maximo has been refusing to cooperate for his daily feedings of guinea pigs and quail.

"He knows what he wants to do. He’s testing us," Kevin Torregrosa, the senior reptile keeper, told The St. Augustine Record.

Torregrosa stopped Maximo’s public feedings recently to retrain him.

For his first snack, Maximo is supposed to get out of the water and walk on a small beach in his exhibit. For a second treat, Maximo is supposed to return to the water, jump up and reach for the food, which is dangled above him on a pole.

The crocodile’s routine is not about entertaining visitors, it’s about fitness.

Crocodiles like Maximo, who are more than 15 feet long, are prone to obesity and need exercise to keep them trim, officials said.

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Information from: The St. Augustine Record, http://www.staugustine.com