The caimans habitat size would be just over the size of the WTE 240m2 vs the 295m2 maximum habitat size yes hitboxes change that slightly but not too much I have comfortably fit a caiman into a habitat 310m2 in size. The bigger issue is the deep diving since that needs multiple meters of water depth that combined with the huge enrichment items and plants makes small habitats in general hard to build for.
I do agree I have never seen anyone do the caiman justice because everyone builds for it like they would any crocodilian also most people in general build habitats close to double the recommended area.
I want to add a note here that every real life example of a dwarf caiman habitat I see would be significantly smaller that the WTE like less then half the size. The WTE are way too big in general.
Even half the WE would be enormous seeing how they are usually housed in real life.
I know this differs from country to country but where i am there are minimun requirements set by officials for the keeping of reptiles. For crocs these are a 4x3 times the snout-vent lengths sized land area and a 5x4x water area for a pair, with an additional 10%land and 20% water for every additional individual.
Going with a snout vent length of 70cm for the average dwarf caiman you would get a 2,8m x 2,1m land area and 3,5m x 2,8m water area for a pair, which funnily enough at 15,6 square meters is pretty much the exact size of the standard exhibit at 16 square meters.
Ofcourse these are minimum requirements and especially zoos should strive for something larger and ive definetly seen them housed in much bigger enclosures, especially when housed with other animals like turtles and fish.
But even if you like double or tripple the size your only at an 1/8 or 1/6 the size of the WE
