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Post by Shawn(snakebite) on Nov 12, 2006 17:02:06 GMT -5
:)If you don't know , I have a tremendous love and passion for turtles and tortoises.My collection includes a nice variety and finally after much time and searching , I have finally got the ultimate turt that I have longed for. I am very privileged and honoured to have obtained a Matamata.This turtle inhabits the waters of the Amazon and is quite the looker.Truly a treat to have this guy part of my collection and I am enjoying it immensely.Heres a pik for those of you who don't know what I am talking about.It is not a pik of mine but nonetheless....  Not the average husbandry requirements for this guy.I would not advise this turt for the beginner.It lives in very acidic water coming from the amazon, meaning the water should have a PH of 4-6 , even as low as 3.It needs shallow water just enough to be able to submerge and stik it's head out while laying on the bottom.The water needs to maintained at 80 degrees or 82.Also the ambient air temp must be 80 as well , for I have read that respiratory infection can occur if only the water is heated.It would be breathing in too cool of air if this is not maintained.It is a fish specialist and it uses it's long neck and wide mouth to suck fish in like a vaccuum.It has skin folds or flaps on it's neck and most people beleive that they are used as sensory apendages to feel out vibrations and such from the water. Much to be learned from this guy , for they are rare in captivity and not much is known about them.They are very seldom bred in captivity and by no means consistent.I hope to track down another in the future and devote an extensive effort in producing these in captivity.This is my holy grale of turtles and I am truly blessed to have this guy.It will be a welcome addition and challenge . ........  ?2012 Avaialble offspring.....MATAMATA TURTLES...  |
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Post by kaley on Nov 12, 2006 17:44:03 GMT -5
Congrats! That's very cool!! Post some pics of yours ASAP - I'd love to see it!
Best of luck with the breeding operation!
Kaley
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Post by Shawn(snakebite) on Nov 12, 2006 19:18:13 GMT -5
Thanks Kaley , I hope to have some piks soon.I am still digital camera less, so I have to do it the old fashioned way still........  |
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Post by Shawn(snakebite) on Nov 13, 2006 21:07:49 GMT -5
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Post by Ryan Wunsch on Nov 13, 2006 22:18:43 GMT -5
Very cool!!! I never kept one of those, you don't see them available very often up here at all.
I also remember being told by a few people that the warm and humid air issue is really important (while keeping the air fresh), as is keeping the water very clean and feeding live fish.
What are your plans for the dealing with the air issue?
Ryan
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Post by joeysgreen on Nov 14, 2006 7:19:16 GMT -5
He's still a little tyke eh, very sweet though. Mata's are not just your holy grail, I"ve been waiting to get room for them forever! I do keep it's anuran counterpart, the pipa pipa toad. I wouldn't get the pH any more acidic than 5 for starters, try 6 to be safe. 3 is approaching stomach acidity, so I'd question those resources you heard that from. Look up cichlid water quality, as they are very common in the pet trade, are finicky, and come from the same area... thus the same water issues. Good luck and have fun  Ian |
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Post by Shawn(snakebite) on Nov 14, 2006 7:52:37 GMT -5
Thanks Ryan,As to the air issue I have the matamatas tank in a room with all my other turtles.There are 4 other tanks in there and it is a contained room which makes the whole room heated and humid .
Ian- I read in a Reptile Magazine article that they found blackwater conditions in the amazon to be as low as 3.2.Sorry , I said 3 before.Interesting to know that this is approaching stomach acidity.I have not got it that low.At the moment I have been keeping it at 5.
Thanks for all your input, let me know what else you know on the spcies.There is not a whole alot of info on them.
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Post by Shawn(snakebite) on Dec 11, 2006 23:02:15 GMT -5
This turtle is quite the delight.Just a little update . Thia turtle eats like crazy and it's appetite seems to have no end.It has acclimated better than any other turtle I have ever got.It recognizes me as the food giver and evrytime I enter the room it comes from the back of the tank and does it's trademark head wiggle indicating it wants to eat. It seems to do thid evrytime I offer food to it.My guess is that it does this either to detect food with it's skin flaps on it's neck by making motion or another idea is that it is mimicing maybe a leaf swaying in the water as to disguise itself.I know in a community tank , where there are a few matamatas that inhabit the same waters , they are known to herd prey.It's possible maybe this is a gesture used in such a predicument.It is a treat to watch by any means and is by far a prize in my collection as of now. |
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Post by vanderkm on Dec 14, 2006 13:10:06 GMT -5
That is just so neat to hear about the behaviour and how they recognize you as a food source!! Will be great to see pics of this guy!
mary v.
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Post by Shawn(snakebite) on Dec 22, 2006 16:55:32 GMT -5
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Post by vanderkm on Dec 23, 2006 15:53:21 GMT -5
Very cool - love the long toe-nails!! He really does look like a leaf - especially his head. Fascinating!
mary v.
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Post by Shawn(snakebite) on Dec 23, 2006 16:28:48 GMT -5
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Post by joeysgreen on Dec 24, 2006 12:18:29 GMT -5
I sure love turtles, but can't use yet another forum :l
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Post by Shawn(snakebite) on Dec 30, 2006 18:52:21 GMT -5
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Post by joeysgreen on Dec 31, 2006 3:11:13 GMT -5
Fabulous |
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Post by Shawn(snakebite) on Dec 31, 2006 15:02:53 GMT -5
I just got a little vidoe clip of feeding this guy. I hope this works. I was feeding and filming at the same time , myself , so sorry for the poor angle.  Click on the image and it should take you to photobuckett video viewer |
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alex
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Post by alex on Jan 7, 2007 19:53:43 GMT -5
Congratulations on the matamata
For some reason, the part of the US I was briefly living in this year seemed to be CB matamata central.... I swear, any herp petstore had them. So go find whoever it is in Chicago area who has such good luck breeding them
Out of curiousity, what're you feeding it? I have a lot of obligate live fish feeders, and Saskatoon sucks for feeding them. Their diet is unfortunately almost all goldfish, so I'm reduced to supplementing regularly with thiamine (easier to give the snakes by mouth than intracoelomic in the fish)... it seems difficult to find cheaper aquarium fish of a decent size, and any native fish from around my area is too highly contaminated with mercury, let alone the parasite issue....
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Post by joeysgreen on Jan 8, 2007 7:27:20 GMT -5
Isn't there a big als or pj's, or even petsmart in 'toontown? They usually carry feeder minnows on a regular basis. Not as large as comets but it has worked for me. An aside, as it won't help for your snakes, unless perhaps you have a queen snake, is that I'm trying to breed crayfish to supplement my turtle diet. Not an easy thing so far, but I've made progress. Does anyone else breed feeders of some sort beyond the usual mice and bugs?
Ian
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alex
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Post by alex on Jan 8, 2007 15:17:41 GMT -5
No, the closest big al's is in Edmonton. I actually go there a fair bit during the summers, it's not feasible during the school term when I don't get weekends and the weather sucks. Ditto PJ's
Petsmart doesn't carry them and won't order them in
And Petland is so abhorrent every time I got there I've given up... plus the few times they tried, they never actually succeeded in bringing in fish and never have a reason why. I kind of need fish at least an inch long for the interest of the adult snakes.
Saskatchewan really blows for support of exotic pets. I got spoiled before I moved here.
The U of S actually has quite a thriving crayfish colony. It's quite cute to go see. I won't feed them to my turtles just due to parasites unless they've been cooked, so I just buy frogs and crayfish and stuff like that at the asian markets...
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Post by joeysgreen on Jan 9, 2007 23:28:36 GMT -5
A long time crayfish colony wouldn't likely have parasites that would affect herps IMO. If herps are the end host and the crayfish intermediates, then the lifecycle would eventually end after a generation or so of crayfish. Actual shared parasites between verts and inverts is kinda rare, don't you think?
Ian
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alex
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Post by alex on Jan 10, 2007 19:09:31 GMT -5
I wouldn't really be tempted to risk it. I know a lot of parasites can continue to replicate in the host, and intermediates can be infective for other intermediate hosts if consumed (think of the amazing resistance of pentostomids, for instance). As well, a lot can be passed on via reproduction of the host (i.e. the eggs infected with other eggs thing that seems common) and if your pet had been fed from an infected intermediate, it could act as a fomite to potentially reinfect your feeder colony or potentially reinfect itself... if you think about it, a lot of domestic crickets who should be parasite free after many generations in captivity aren't all that free of parasites...
So I feel much safer freezing and boiling everything before feeding it to my guys.
How do you have yours set up?
The U of S has everyone individually housed outside of breeding.
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Post by joeysgreen on Jan 10, 2007 22:23:27 GMT -5
Well, I'm not overly successfull yet. I have a 50 gallon with two crayfish in it (started with 5, but the losses have stabalized ) Lots of hiding places and fed mysis shrimp and trout chow. I like the idea of keeping them seperate until breeding, but I don't want my feeder tanks matching my herps in number! Ian |
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alex
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Post by alex on Jan 11, 2007 21:29:59 GMT -5
Theirs are kept in the individual mouse cages on a rack system with some sort of flow through. Doesn't take up too much space, but I know what you mean
I much prefer cultivating food for herbivores. Sprout seeds, feed, repeat. I'll quite happily buy most of my feeder animals.
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Post by kaley on Jan 11, 2007 22:05:45 GMT -5
When I looked after all the animals in the Biol building one summer a few years ago, the crayfish were just in a rack of mouse cages, like Alex said...But there was no flow through at the time...We just dumped out the ~2 inches of water once a week and refilled with what I recall was distilled water. They were fed reptomin and the odd meal worm. They each had a little PVC pipe sawn in half for a hide...Pretty simple, and there were often babies...
Kaley
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?2012 Avaialble offspring.....MATAMATA TURTLES...
