By Harmony Tenney
With Peter Prodromou’s Croc Muzzle Bag©, captive crocs now have less stress from transfer and medical exams!
Insight graces many of us at least once in our lives. Sometimes it comes with enough energy to manifest into the world – sometimes it is so fleeting there is no memory at all of its subject, just a feeling of “I had it.”
Peter Prodromou had that flash as a teen. He nurtured it, brought it into the world and improved upon it. Today, his innovation has the power to change the stressload from human-animal interactions of several species – number one being Crocodiles. The Croc Muzzle Bag© is about to take the reptile world by storm. It minimizes stress and danger to both croc and keepers. The croc’s head doesn’t get as damaged as with current capture methods, it can be used in any water clarity or turbidity level, and to this day, not one of the crocs has rolled during its use.
20 years, 5 continents and 11 croc species have contributed to Prodromou’s current prototype. He’s trained many to use the device, including keepers at Uganda Wildlife Center and the Madras India Croc Bank.
The Beginning
As a boy, Prodromou was interested in his natural environment while living at Islington, England. There were 3 species of newts and many other creatures that captivated his imagination. In secondary school, around age 11, he bought a ribbon snake. As he grew a bit older, his interest was drawn to the local Natural History Museum’s collections, especially large mammals like the Blue Whale and the long-tusked Elephants. And he got to learn about Australia’s marsupials from a TV Show called Zoo Quest.
Peter loved the “prehistoric” reptiles available from his local pet shop. The owner of the shop, Lesli Fuller, had a large variety of exotic species, like cobras and leaf-tailed geckos. She, along with other reptile enthusiasts, taught him how to handle and properly care for these exotic creatures. Peter was soon teaching zookeepers, children and exotic pet owners about handling, husbandry, components of suitable enclosures and how to build for the animal’s health and longevity.
The Muzzle Bag’s Beginning and Adolescence
Because Prodromou had kept alligators, and caught them for keeping, he saw the reptiles, their fear, their injuries, and their handlers’ concerns of working with a wild animal. The accepted handling practice involves using a ‘top jaw rope,’ also known as noosing. It requires attaching a rope noose to the upper jaw or around the neck for either entangling the jaws shut or manipulating the animal to a certain direction for it to be pinned down. Prodromou began to wonder, could there be another way?
For ten years, he worked to make the Croc Muzzle Bag© work better, to work out some bugs, and to make it work so that keepers don’t ever have to physically touch the crocs during capture and release: they can be tracked, restrained, removed from their current body of water, and re-situated/rehomed. This also means the croc’s head doesn’t get as damaged, and it can be calmer – its jaws, eyes and ears are covered, mitigating several sensory stimuli.
Originally, the Croc Muzzle Bag© only covered the croc’s face. Now, Prodromou works with a whole animal version. Size of animal, depth of water, even type of enclosure have all proven successful scenarios for using the Croc Muzzle Bag©.
Croc Muzzle Bag© Rounds the Globe
Prodromou is quick to point out that this innovation only came to its current specifications with immense input from friends, professionals and experts around the world, over decades.
During his time in India, Prodromou was impressed by the senior experts in venomous snake programs, especially their gentle approach to the reptiles. These same experts are currently working to formulate an anti-venom effective for the biochemically diverse venoms across India’s geography.
Prodromou also worked closely with James Musinguzis, Director of the Uganda Wildlife Education Center, and African zoo associations, to scientifically test his Croc Muzzle Bag©. His bag does not cause damage to crocodiles’ bodies nor their jaws. One test was carried out on a very powerful Nile Crocodile. The Croc Muzzle Bag© was tested in a very challenging environment, but the team succeeded and worked together to figure out how this equipment is best used in their setting.
Adaptability
The Croc Muzzle Bag© is easy to use and customize. Each is made from waterproof fabric, tangle-free, washable, and works in both terrestrial and aquatic enclosures. The size of the bags varies, windows can be added for full visibility, and the bag can have a lockable bottom release so the animal does not have to be turned around when the keepers are finished with their medical, cleaning or rehoming work.
Foundation for a Bright Future
Honoring herpetology’s scientific basis, research projects have begun, more are being proposed, and some approved. Bangor University Zoology student, James Szewczyk, came across Podromou’s croc focus on Facebook. He began studying herpetology four years ago, when he was 16 years old. He volunteered for 2 years through the Sparsholt college in their reptile section, working alongside critically endangered animals. Crocodiles have been his burning passion.
Szewczyk proposed to compare the Croc Muzzle Bag© to the common capture practice mimicked globally, the ‘top jaw rope’ (noosing). The act requires attaching a rope noose to the upper jaw or around the neck for either entangling the jaws shut or manipulating the animal a curtain direction for it to be pinned down. This has been the common method of capture in captivity where training hasn’t been possible. The project will require capture of the same individual twice, on different occasions, once via noosing and using the croc muzzle bag. The test will only be carried out when the crocodiles are required to be captured regardless of the Categories of data will be gathered as a tally of behaviors seen per capture; length of time the process is carried out; immediate heart rate and recorded every ten minutes, along with its size measurements of head, circumference of jaw and length from front to the cloaca. If a new capture device is shown to have lower overall values in the three categories, it might cause a complete shift of technique in facilities globally, supporting the changing of the 48 years old capture practice.
Intention
Prodromou also readily shares that Croc Muzzle Bag© is a non-profit endeavor, and that its design and utility are made for both croc and keeper to have smoother interactions. It’s simply more efficient and safer than the current top-jaw noose method, according to the many users to date. This means that there is not currently a manufacturer nor a distributor. You can experience more of the Croc Muzzle Bag© via Prodromou’s Facebook and YouTube videos.
Snake Bag Pro©
Snake Bag Pro© came about when someone asked Prodromou if the Croc Muzzle Bag© could be used on snakes. The flexible design was adapted, and now many snakes and their keepers are living calmer lives.
Adaptations for Snake Bag Pro© include an elbow for holding an iPhone to videotape the interactions, a mount for a torch for darker areas of enclosures, a telescoping handle, breathable areas at bottom and / or sides, a quick-release option and windows.
The Snake Bag Pro© differs from the current general model of snake bags, in that it is stronger, is waterproof, has sturdy, varied frame options, and because it has a locking feature, it does not require a keeper’s hand nor body anywhere near the snake, making envenomation even less likely.
