Gator aid
Tigard’s House of Reptiles takes in a stray alligator
Tigard’s House of Reptiles owner Tim Criswell agreed to take in an American alligator that was discarded in a Vancouver, Wash. creek.
Jaime Valdez / The Times
Tigard has a new resident. But watch out. This one may bite.
Living in a 300-gallon trough in the back of the House of Reptiles pet store on 11507 S.W. Pacific Highway is a 2½-foot-long American alligator that was found swimming down Salmon Creek in Vancouver, Wash.
It had presumably grown too big for its previous owners.
After the cold-blooded critter was caught, the Southwest Washington Humane Society ended up with a quandary. What to do with the reptile? They couldn’t let it go. They couldn’t keep it.
They found their answer in Tim Criswell’s House of Reptiles. Criswell, owner of the store, had been known to take in homeless gators in the past (when they are of a manageable size), care for them and pay his own money, at a cost of about $200, to ship them away to a safe place they can live out their lives. So far he has taken in seven alligators. And he has just received word from an unprepared pet owner that another may be on its way.
The Vancouver gator shares its new home with another American alligator of the same size, which was rescued in September, and seven turtles. The animal roommates all seem friendly with one another, and it is not an uncommon sight to see the turtles sitting on the backs of the gators.
It’s a relatively small home for them, but it does the job. In a year or so, when the gators get too big, they will be shipped off to an alligator farm in Florida. These gators can grow up to 14 feet, which Criswell is just not prepared to handle.
“Given the situations that they’ve come from, this is the Hilton,” he said.
Criswell feels compassion for these discarded creatures. People often buy gators as pets when they are tiny, which is a horrible idea, he said. They will grow and grow and get out of hand. This is dangerous for not only the owners, but for the animals as well.
Criswell remembers hearing one story about a landlord in Salem who discovered that one of his tenants had an alligator living in a bathtub in the garage. It was winter so the temperatures were painfully low for the warm-climate-loving animal.
Even if they are discarded in a creek, like the Vancouver gator, there just isn’t the right type of food for them to eat or the habitat for them to live in, “which is a slow death for an alligator,” he said.
This disheartens Criswell, who loves herpetological animals, or “herps.” He started keeping them in 1987 and breeding them a decade later. He eventually opened up Healthy Pet Exotics within a larger pet store in 2004.
When the larger store was sold in 2006, he bought the store-within-a-store, renaming it House of Reptiles and moving it to Tigard.
It will soon be illegal for most people to own or purchase certain exotic animals, including alligators, under a new Oregon law that goes into effect Jan. 1. Those who already own one can file for a permit within a two-year time period.
Although he agrees that gators should not be pets, Criswell believes it is a silly law. As far as he knows, no one has ever been killed by a pet alligator in Oregon.
While living in the House of Reptiles the gators get their own form of room service.
His gators are fed a regular diet of commercial “crocodile chow,” goldfish, frozen fish, chicken parts and dead rodents.
“They’ll eat just about anything,” Criswell said.
While the gators may only be temporary Tigard residents, they still seem like a hit with customers at the shop.
As Criswell shows off the new gator, a group of children walk up to the tub to admire it. But when they start to get too close Criswell has to remind them to back away.
“Don’t stick your head too close,” he quickly said.
Although the gators are small enough that they see themselves as prey, their clenching jaws look like they could still pack quite a bite.
The kids wisely follow Criswell’s advice and walk away. But they still keep their eyes on the tub to get a look at the exotic beast that now calls Tigard its home.