Florida Aquarium Animals Treated To Pumpkins For Halloween

TAMPA, FL — Some animals at the Florida Aquarium in Tampa celebrated Halloween with a festive treat — their very own pumpkin.

The pumpkins, shared with the animals by the animal care team, encouraged their natural foraging behaviors, and provided them with a healthy snack, as well as an activity, the aquarium said in a news release.

Cayenne, the tamandua, which is a type of anteater, tore into the pumpkin with his claws and and savored the treat using his long tongue.

Salvator, the Asian water monitor, got a pumpkin with a dragon carved into it that was made by one of the aquarium’s staff members. The lizard got two additional treats on top of the pumpkin — crabs, which he grabbed right away, the aquarium said.

A pair of American alligators, White and Blue, who live in the Wetlands Dome, also each got a pumpkin.

One submerged it, giving guests an underwater view of how a gator handles its prey, and the other chomped into the pumpkin with a bite force of more than 2,000 pounds per square inch, about 15 times stronger than the human bite, the aquarium said.