Do you want to own a pet that loves to play but is unique? How about a crocodile?

According to Vladimir Dinets, crocodile loves to play games such as playing ball, giving piggyback rides and surfing waves. Dinets is a research assistant professor in psychology at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville crocodiles love to play. He spent the last 10 years studying the ancient amphibious predators.

During his previous studies, Dinets said he already observed the playful behavior of crocs but doesn’t want to jump into conclusion hence he conducted his a research about it.

The result of his study revealed that crocs engage in three types of play as classified by behavioral specialists. The types of play behaviors they have are locomotor play, play with objects and social play.

In addition, the study report said that crocs love to play with noisy ceramic bits, wooden balls, streams of water, floating debris and their prey. For locomotors games, they do riding currents of water, surfing on waves and reports of young alligators repeatedly sliding on slopes. Crocs also engage in social games such as piggy pack rides and playful courting behavior.

There were isolated cases as well the Dintes reviewed including a man who saved a crocs and play with it for 20 years, until the death of the amphibian.

“The croc would swim with his human friend, try to startle him by suddenly pretending to attack him or by sneaking up on him from behind, and accept being caressed, hugged, rotated in the water and kissed on the snout,” said Dinets.

“Hundreds of thousands of crocodilians are now kept in captivity in zoos, commercial farms and breeding centers set up for endangered species. Providing them with toys and other opportunities for play makes them happier and healthier,” Dinets added.