Raising Gators for Table Fare

I have always wanted to own an alligator, however I know that eventually one would become far too big for me to handle and take care of safely. I have considered buying a couple at some point down the road and raising them up to about 6' in length before slaughtering and butchering them to put some gator meat in the freezer. Now before anyone jumps out of their socks and calls me a heartless killer, this is no different from buying spring lambs and raising them through the summer only to slaughter them come fall. Most people that do this name their sheep and even play with them, but they always know that someday soon the animal will become food on the table. I love lamb and mutton, and I also love gator, from steaks to sausage to gator boudan. To me this seems reasonable. Given my explanation are there still those out there that would call me a monster? My main reason for asking is to know whether or not I should post about it if I do in fact end up doing it.

However you feel about this, let's please keep the discussion civil.

I really see no problem with raising an animal for food. Its the same thing with : Turkeys, Lamb , Cow, Pig, Chicken... The list could go on.

Gator is good eating if it's prepared right.

I don't know if they're raised differently for food, though. Seems like if you make sure they're fed only healthy, organic prey, then they should be good to eat. But is there an ideal size/age to butcher them?

So long as it's legal where you live, the research is done, and steps taken to make sure they're cared for properly, I wouldn't have an issue with someone choosing to do that.

And at least with the gator you would get a nice pair of boots out of it too!

I agree with both above. There is nothing wrong with raising your own food for your table as long as your care for the animals properly.

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Originally Posted by reptiliachnids

I really see no problem with raising an animal for food. Its the same thing with : Turkeys, Lamb , Cow, Pig, Chicken... The list could go on.

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i am a hunter so as far as killing goes i have no problem with it, as long as its being used for food. now if you were just gonna kill it and throw it away then buy another i would have a problem for sure. i myself have thought about this exact same thing (if i lived in a state that allowed gators). i have always wanted one and at some point in my life will own one. i am 15 minutes from the border of pennsylvania which does allow them. so even if i have to buy a small plot of land to do it i will.
adam jeffery

I think it would be a good idea. No i dont like killing animals but i certainly eat meat lol. If you raise the gators you would know whats going into them. Like free range chickens and all that hooblah. If you do it, just try and used as much of them as possible so its not a waste. You could probably get some decent money for the hides if you find a tanner or whatever.

I'm cool with it. My question is where would you keep it? They are really cool to watch, when I go to our river camp I get up early in the morning and watch them swim down the banks after they have been feeding all night. What is crazy is when you are swiming in the river and they pop up about 20 yards from you.:O true story!
Since I am in the Insurance business I always look from a different view before I act on stuff. You need to think about a couple of things: 1)what happens if it bites someone, or yourself, or kills someone or yourself. 2)does you current insurance policy exclude any "exotic" animals. Just a few things to think about.

I was a vegetarian for about 16 years of my life, and my family raised me that way. One thing I never understood is why do people discriminate against certain animals that are raised for meat? As bad as it may sounds, I don't see a difference between raising dogs for meat and with cows. Same could go with reptile meat, as long as it's raised and put down in a humane manner, I see no difference in it.

So, back to the original topic, as long as it's raised in a humane manner as well as put down in the same manner, I see no shame. Heck, make some profit by selling the skin, some money in your pocket!

I'm in agreement with everyone else here. There is nothing wrong worth raising animals to be a food source as long as they are kept correctly and slaughtered humanely. Everyone should have the rights to raise/grow their own food. We'd be in a better place if we did!

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I have no issue as long as proper care is given and has humane death as possible. I'm not very fond of gator meat though, at least what I've had. It's too greasy for me. Also where would you keep them? If some ignorant person finds out you have them they'll try to mess with then cause it's "cool" or "dangerous". Then you'll have a lawsuit because their family will blame you not the ignorance or the individual.

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Originally Posted by theReptileGuy

As bad as it may sounds, I don't see a difference between raising dogs for meat and with cows.

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No, thats where i draw the line. Theres a reason cows arent known as mans best friend. My german shepherd is smarter than some humans ive met. The difference is there are GSD's that are soldiers and police officers that risk their lives for you everyday. gsarchie is a soldier, should we slaughter him for food? So no i wouldnt be able to eat one and raising one to be slaughtered and eaten is wrong imo.

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Originally Posted by ChrisS

. It's too greasy for me.

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Must have been prepared by cooks that like to use extra grease:D...alligator meat is nearly as lean as boneless/skinless chicken breast.

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

gsarchie is a soldier, should we slaughter him for food?

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Let's not try to get carried away here...

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Originally Posted by RobNJ

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Let's not try to get carried away here...

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Not getting carried away, just making a point. Dogs who are part of the K-9 unit are treated as officers too. If they realease the dog on you and you punch it then its considered assaulting an officer. I think they need to be treated with the same respect.

Now if were talking about Paris Hilton's teacup chihuahua.. Then by all means light the grill lol

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

Not getting carried away, just making a point. Dogs who are part of the K-9 unit are treated as officers too. If they realease the dog on you and you punch it then its considered assaulting an officer. I think they need to be treated with the same respect.

Now if were talking about Paris Hilton's teacup chihuahua.. Then by all means light the grill lol

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You sir, are a dogsist! :p (totally making words up at this point)

Now, because I personally see dogs and cats in a "pet" light, I couldn't eat one. But I would never deny someone else the right to do so with the same respect I give those that would eat gators, snakes, lizards or frogs.

The whole situation is a little weird in my mind because I too enjoy gator but would also keep one as a pet.

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

No, thats where i draw the line. Theres a reason cows arent known as mans best friend. My german shepherd is smarter than some humans ive met. The difference is there are GSD's that are soldiers and police officers that risk their lives for you everyday. gsarchie is a soldier, should we slaughter him for food? So no i wouldnt be able to eat one and raising one to be slaughtered and eaten is wrong imo.

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You should definitely hang out with some cows. They might not be 'dog smart', but man, I've worked with some insanely intelligent livestock in my life. Chickens, not inbred mass produced chickens, are amazingly intelligent. They're fun, haha. Goats are too. I knew a set of goats that we could -not- keep locked up, because they always found a way out. The only thing that worked was a padlock and key. And even then, one of the buggers managed to climb the fence. Brats.

I don't think we can really bring intelligence into the discussion, however. It's not fair. What some people believe are just 'stupid animals', other people argue are actually intelligent. Some people think reptiles are 'just reptiles' and 'why would you want them as a pet'. So it goes both ways! Haha.

As long as it's raised for food, with the intention of being food, and is treated well and given a good death, then I see no problem with it. We did it with cows. They knew their names, they were very sweet animals, but we went in knewing they were meat. We did kill them ourselves, to make sure it was done right.

So I'd say as long as you're prepared for the work that goes into them, go for it. Goodness knows we have enough people illegally poaching animals for food in the off-seasons. I'm happy to see someone wanting to go about it in the correct way.

Seems like you were expecting some very different responses :D I have no issue with it, assuming everyone is kept humanely, and slaughtered humanely. I've begun raising ducks and chickens . They are for eggs first, pets second, and meat third. I'm more attached to one of the chickens than any of the others, and would prefer not to eat her. If we ever get ducklings, I will post them up for sale, and if they don't sell, I plan on viewing them the same as the rats used for the snakes - they will be for food, and will be harvested. Regardless of their status on my pet-egg-food hierarchy, all will be treated well and raised on great food. :)

If I had the means and property to raise other forms of meat, I would do so. Nobody should look forward to killing another animal, but if raised humanely and slaughtered humanely, you have the peace of mind knowing that they likely had a much better life than a pre-packaged mass produced animal you may get somewhere else.

I wasn't trying to provoke anyone by stating that, and I apologize. But, to make my point, once again I don't intend to offend anyone, pigs, are supposed to be just as smart as some dogs, and there are people who are trying to use them for their sense of smell and such. A few years back, after talking to some zoologists (local zoo), they even stated that they (pigs) were just as smart as dogs, and can be trained to do the same things, if not more. Does that mean we shouldn't slaughter pigs either? In my view, we shouldn't have one species higher than others, no matter how much we idealize it. There are dozens of other countries that idealize animals that we in the states eat. India - cow, Some parts of Africa - sheep, etc.

It seems a bit unfair that someone would pick one animal to be a higher rank than others, sure dogs save lives, but, if you look into account, pigs have been known to do the same. Heck, even cows in some other countries do protect people. Yet, they don't discriminate against eating them.

All animals should be treated equally, and not one should be put above any other. But, that's just my philosophy, I'm not forcing it onto anyone, it's just the way I see things.

I don't mean to offend you Mike or anyone else, not in any way slightest. And I apologize if I have.

Nature you didnt offend me at all bud, im just a passionate lover of most breeds of dog. Especially GSD's.

To people trying to convince me that cows and pigs are smart too, thats fine if thats your opinion. My opinion is; when the military or police forces start regularly using cattle or swine to assist them ill gladly admit that theyre intelligent creatures. Until then dogs, and only dogs, will remain mans best friend. :)

EDIT: i should also add that this is my opinion as an American. I realize other countries have different beliefs and i respect them. If i was in China, where i believe they eat dogs, i wouldnt freak out on everyone there for eating them. Same way if i was in india i would never joke about killing cows and eating steak. Im not trying to sound pompou and say that american beliefs are the best. In other countries if you wanna raise GSD's for food thats fine, just dont do it in the US bc thats animal cruelty. Once again, this is all my opinion. Not forcing it on anyone. I apologize if i offended anyone by sounding rude! :)

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

Nature you didnt offend me at all bud, im just a passionate lover of most breeds of dog. Especially GSD's.

To people trying to convince me that cows and pigs are smart too, thats fine if thats your opinion. My opinion is; when the military or police forces start regularly using cattle or swine to assist them ill gladly admit that theyre intelligent creatures. Until then dogs, and only dogs, will remain mans best friend. :)

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The police probably can't use Swine for their units because there would just be way too many jokes to deal with if they did :8:

i find that interesting trying to raise gators for food. but i dont see anything wrong with that either it's for food purposes it's like talking about raising a cow except it's a 6ft gator. keep us updated

I think if I would eat something or not comes down to how it was classified. I have no issues eating a burger or bacon however if I knew the cow or pig was someone's pet I wouldn't be able to eat it. That being said if I was in China and someone offered me dog that had been raised to be slaughtered I wouldn't be able to eat it because I would be thinking of my own dog the whole time. Pretty much anything I have seen as a "pet" I wouldn't be able to handle eating personally but wouldn't be opposed to other people eating. (Although I have eaten rabbit before and it was pretty good lol)

Keeping a gator to raise as food ,if kept humanly, isn't any different than a cow, pig, chicken, or any other common food animal.

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

Nature you didnt offend me at all bud, im just a passionate lover of most breeds of dog. Especially GSD's.

To people trying to convince me that cows and pigs are smart too, thats fine if thats your opinion. My opinion is; when the military or police forces start regularly using cattle or swine to assist them ill gladly admit that theyre intelligent creatures. Until then dogs, and only dogs, will remain mans best friend. :)

EDIT: i should also add that this is my opinion as an American. I realize other countries have different beliefs and i respect them. If i was in China, where i believe they eat dogs, i wouldnt freak out on everyone there for eating them. Same way if i was in india i would never joke about killing cows and eating steak. Im not trying to sound pompou and say that american beliefs are the best. In other countries if you wanna raise GSD's for food thats fine, just dont do it in the US bc thats animal cruelty. Once again, this is all my opinion. Not forcing it on anyone. I apologize if i offended anyone by sounding rude! :)

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At risk of detracting even further from the original topic, I wanted to add: As I've grown up with GSDs and also love them dearly, I'm guessing that pigs have saved more human lives than GSDs have. Emphasis on guessing. My aunt's heart valve was replaced with a pig valve. It could not have been replaced by a dog's. Pigs are used very frequently in medical research regarding human health, and medicine/sciences has advanced to the point where human organs can be grown within a pig, for use in humans.

I'm not saying pigs are better than dogs. Just reiterating your point about ethnocentrism. I would eat dog out of curiosity, if in a seperate culture and environment where is was legal and accepted. I would also not go to India and boast about how much I miss steak from home. As you mentioned, different cultures have different morals and expectations, I try to live comfortably within the expectations of whichever culture I'm existing in at the moment, while trying to minimize my own personal biases, or criticisms, which are based off of the American culture in which I was raised. I quite like that gsarchie can safely post about keeping herps as livestock, on a forum where they are primarily kept as pets, without fear of being ridiculed :)

You should see how some of the gators raised for meat/leather are kept, I'm sure you can provide a much better home than 90% of those so I see nothing wrong with this idea.

Right on, good to know that so many folks on here are so open minded. Not sure how soon I'll be doing this but my intent is sooner rather than later.

And Mike, you had me cracking up when you made the comment about eating me. LOL It is very clear that you have a passion for canines. Thanks for the input everyone.

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Originally Posted by gsarchie

And Mike, you had me cracking up when you made the comment about eating me. LOL It is very clear that you have a passion for canines. Thanks for the input everyone.

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Cool man, glad you didnt take it the wrong way. But it is true!

Just outta curiousity, you have any dogs at your base or anything?

I would like to point out that the western view of how canines fit into our society is very....errr...western. Many eastern cultures take a far different view, and they are no more wrong than we are right. I've eaten dog in both Korea and the PI. It's just how they roll. It's not wrong, just different.

Being from Florida, I strongly support gator farming as long as it's done with the best interest of the animal in mind. Gator meat is excellent and the skins have a variety of uses.

I wonder if people would be so open-minded if the OP were asking about raising ball pythons instead of gators?

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Originally Posted by Wh00h0069

I wonder if people would be so open-minded if the OP were asking about raising ball pythons instead of gators?

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Bps wouldnt offer enough meat and since snakes in general have so many ribs it wouldnt really be easy or efficient to raise them to eat. Theyre also chunky snakes so i imagine alot of that would be fat deposits.

They can gain weight pretty quickly so if the weight gain wasnt mostly fat then they would be a pretty good snakes to raise and eat. I wouldnt really have a problem with this.

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Originally Posted by Wh00h0069

I wonder if people would be so open-minded if the OP were asking about raising ball pythons instead of gators?

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I would. Otherwise I'd be playing a hypocrite. "You can eat those, but I'll be offended if you eat those!" Doesn't quite jive. I love horses. I've worked with them almost my entire life. To say they mean a lot to me is an understatement. But, I know people eat horse meat. As long as the animals are treated humanely, then I have no problem with it. What's worse? An animal not being eaten, but suffering in a field from neglect, or being raised properly and eventually put down for meat? I've seen 'happy cows' that we eventually put down for food. I'd much rather see that than see those mass-production farms where animals don't ever see daylight and are pumped with anti-biotics to avoid disease from being so confined :gj:

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Originally Posted by Vasiliki

I would. Otherwise I'd be playing a hypocrite. "You can eat those, but I'll be offended if you eat those!" Doesn't quite jive. I love horses. I've worked with them almost my entire life. To say they mean a lot to me is an understatement. But, I know people eat horse meat. As long as the animals are treated humanely, then I have no problem with it. What's worse? An animal not being eaten, but suffering in a field from neglect, or being raised properly and eventually put down for meat? I've seen 'happy cows' that we eventually put down for food. I'd much rather see that than see those mass-production farms where animals don't ever see daylight and are pumped with anti-biotics to avoid disease from being so confined :gj:

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I hate horses. I would love to eat them but idk if i even could bc they freak me out so much lol...

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

I hate horses. I would love to eat them but idk if i even could bc they freak me out so much lol...

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Weirdo! Haha. Joking ;)

Nah that's fair enough. I work mainly with 'problem' horses that are considered dangerous to humans for whatever reason, so it's totally legit to be freaked out by them. They definitely are a different kind of animal. Whole different set of behavior triggers, mannerisms... Not to mention most are around 1,000lbs of muscle.

But you'd love to eat something you hate? I hate crickets and I have no desire to eat those :rofl:!

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Originally Posted by Vasiliki

But you'd love to eat something you hate? I hate crickets and I have no desire to eat those :rofl:!

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I hate politicians...

I don't have a problem if the animals are kept humanely, but the government might. If you are raising animals for slaughter and are in the US, you might need to get special commercial permits or agricultural licenses. Be sure to check this out first, or else you could get a nasty fine.


And Vasiliki, what about these? I ate one once and it was pretty bad...

http://store.offbeattreats.com/merch...crickettes.jpg

likely cheaper to buy gator meat than the years of feeding them.

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Originally Posted by Wh00h0069

I hate politicians...

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They smell too much like B.S. likely to ruin your apatite for dinner.

I wouldn't see the point to raise balls for food (snakes, not rocky mountain oysters). They grow too slowly and even full grown wouldn't provide much meat. Gators at farms, on the other hand, will grow up to 4' in their first year. I wouldn't tell someone that they shouldn't eat anything but some things to me wouldn't make sense.

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Originally Posted by gsarchie

I wouldn't see the point to raise balls for food (snakes, not rocky mountain oysters). They grow too slowly and even full grown wouldn't provide much meat. Gators at farms, on the other hand, will grow up to 4' in their first year. I wouldn't tell someone that they shouldn't eat anything but some things to me wouldn't make sense.

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+1

Just watched a silly video on why we don't ride zebras... talked about the 7 characteristics an animal must meet to be considered 'domesticated' or 'domesticatable' (might have made that word up, doesn't look right in text)... there are lots of things that probably taste great, or would be worth eating if you were out in the wild and needed a meal, but don't make sense to farm or raise as a regular food source. People will pay a lot more for a living breathing breedable ball python, than one on a plate :)

EDIT: BTW.. the answer to why we don't ride zebras, is that apparently, as they get older, they also get really mean. :( I wish we could ride elk around. Tell me that wouldn't be awesome.

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Originally Posted by apple2

I don't have a problem if the animals are kept humanely, but the government might. If you are raising animals for slaughter and are in the US, you might need to get special commercial permits or agricultural licenses. Be sure to check this out first, or else you could get a nasty fine.

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^^^^ This.

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Originally Posted by Wh00h0069

I wonder if people would be so open-minded if the OP were asking about raising ball pythons instead of gators?

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I would have no problem with somebody raising any type of snake for meat, including ball pythons, if done so humanely/legally :)

Now I've started wondering... what have I eaten?

- Horse
- Lamb/Sheep
- Goat
- Mealworms
- Crickets
- Chicken (meat, egg)
- Rabbit
- Snake
- Gator
- Cow/Veal
- Venison/Deer
- Elk
- Turkey
- Pig
- Duck (meat, eggs on the way)
- Bison/American Buffalo
- Assorted seafoods/crustaceans/snails, cooked and raw (mmmmmmm sushi)

Most seem pretty tame imo.. but there are lots on my list I'd like to try, just for the experience, and because I've yet to eat a meat I don't like at least the flavor of. Only texture issue I've had were with some seafoods.. but still delicious. Doesn't matter what animal or if it is seen as a pet by one culture and not the other... If it's meat raised ethically/responsibly/humanely, it's on my list. I avoid certain types of fish, or brands I know don't raise or harvest or fish responsibly. I don't want to contribute to a declining population if I can help it, but if the species is doing well, and collected/harvested/raised/slaughtered to my standards, why not? (As Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre Foods would say, "If it looks good, eat it!")

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Originally Posted by Anatopism

EDIT: BTW.. the answer to why we don't ride zebras, is that apparently, as they get older, they also get really mean. :( I wish we could ride elk around. Tell me that wouldn't be awesome.

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Przewalski horses fall under the same category. They cannot be ridden. Even as young animals, they freak out when something is on their back and will do anything to get it off, haha. Zebras are the same way. There is one case I know of where a zebra is considered 'almost' tame. This gentleman can ride it. It obeys commands from the reins and legs. BUT.... Every now and then it has a bad day and will not continue with it. The zebra is also said to require daily interaction, otherwise it will progressively get more and more 'attitude'.

However, they've realized that it only takes four generations for foxes to tame down enough to be household pets. So that's pretty cool!

It's not exactly that foxes 'tame down in 4 generations'. The Fox Farm experiments were HIGHLY intensive, involving brutal selection among a very large number of animals. Only the least aggressive and stressed animals were bred. The end result was a domesticated fox, that's been nicknamed the 'sibfox'. Sibfoxes are not tame wild foxes. Their behavior and appearance are different. The domestication process took about 40 years, NOT 4 generations.
Animals captive bred, to captive-bred parents, do tend to be much calmer and easier to tame, but they are not domesticated, and I don't think anyone would be happy with a fox as a house pet, in the long run. Sibfoxes are a different story, but even they still need some selection to work out a few kinks (such as housebreaking).

Anyhow, if you want both the experience of keeping a pet alligator, and alligator meat, why not? It doesn't matter what the animal is 'raised for'--if it's raised humanely, then where it winds up is irrelevant to that. I'm sure your alligator steaks will be unusually expensive, but then, you're not doing it to save money on meat. :)

I believe farmed alligators are fed on a pellet diet, or a mix of pellets and meat.

By the way, the last I read, pigs actually score higher on average in intelligence tests than dogs do. They're really VERY bright animals. They don't look to humans for direction, the way dogs have evolved to do. However, a pig's nose rivals a bloodhound, and they are in fact used by the military, in many places around the world. They're also used by the police force. They're particularly skilled at sniffing out land mines, and locating contraband.

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/at...security-r.jpg

They also do search and rescue work. So, there are some actual pig officers out there, too.

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

It's not exactly that foxes 'tame down in 4 generations'. The Fox Farm experiments were HIGHLY intensive, involving brutal selection among a very large number of animals. Only the least aggressive and stressed animals were bred. The end result was a domesticated fox, that's been nicknamed the 'sibfox'. Sibfoxes are not tame wild foxes. Their behavior and appearance are different. The domestication process took about 40 years, NOT 4 generations.
Animals captive bred, to captive-bred parents, do tend to be much calmer and easier to tame, but they are not domesticated, and I don't think anyone would be happy with a fox as a house pet, in the long run. Sibfoxes are a different story, but even they still need some selection to work out a few kinks (such as housebreaking).
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Very interesting. The documentary I saw that featured that tidbit was far too short to cover the topic extensively, so I admit I was not well versed on the topic. Not something I really delved into, as I'm not a fox person. But that's something that's quite interesting. Thanks for the information :gj:

The process of domesticating does change the original appearence, however. Pigs are still pigs and directly related to boars. However, their appearence obviously changes to reflect the process. The same rings true for many species of dogs, which originated from much more robust examples of their wild counterparts. So the fact that the sibfox is an alterated appearence and behavior of a wild cousin makes sense. Same as wild wolves and dogs are still linked, but different. The sibfox makes sense too. It's still a 'fox', but it isn't a true 'wild type fox'. We could also use Ball Pythons. Morphs that exist now are in direct relation and alteration based on specific breeding by humans and are different from 'wild type' ball pythons (pattern and color, not physical or structural changes).

Gosh this is a fun topic. Haha. Always something to learn.

I have seen the study on "domesticating" foxes in the past, very cool stuff. As for laws regarding raising livestock for food, the government only has a say in it if you are going to be selling the meat, otherwise there aren't any government agencies that can tell you what do (so long as your animals are treated and slaughtered in a humane manner). And yes, riding an elk would be AWESOME! I will have pet deer someday, though I won't eat them as I will always be a hunter and will hunt whatever venison I need. I also plan to have buffalo as well, however they will be raised for meat. Right now my dad ranches longhorns but I have no desire to keep cattle, I want buffalo.

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Originally Posted by gsarchie

I also plan to have buffalo as well, however they will be raised for meat. Right now my dad ranches longhorns but I have no desire to keep cattle, I want buffalo.

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YES i had buffalo jerky and buffalo burgers like 10 years ago when i visited family in Colorado. It was very good and it is supposedly much better for you bc its lean. I would buy some of that from you! :gj:

Also i take back what i said about pigs. I always had heard they were pretty smart but i guess i didnt realize how smart. I still would take a german shepherd over a pig anyday though lol.

Pigs are so smart, they can use a mirror to find hidden food (without being taught--they figure it out). They fail the mirror test, but there's a very high suspicion that this is because they couldn't care less about marks on their faces, lol.

Sibfox cub: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hXvLAAf95K...ver_fox_01.jpg

Sibfoxes at play: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/...lver-foxes.jpg

Sibfox cuddling: http://kpbs.media.clients.ellingtonc...d38a6025dcea0e

(Just thought folks might be interested, lol).

Now, back to alligator steaks... ;)

I also agree that this is no different from buying a steer calf, or a spring lamb, to raise.