Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone, I had a couple questions about caring for baby allys. I had got my first one a couple months ago. When it arrived at my house it seemed to be alright, after the first day it ate two turtle sticks. It didn't go right after them like I'd expect, like a common snapper hatchling. Later in the week it ate a piece of krill and a feeder fish. I think that was all it ever ate in the two weeks I had it, then it died. It was in a 10 gallon tank, half filled, with gravel, driftwood, fake plants, and a buble up filter. The water stayed between 78-80 degrees. He did the open mouth worm lure thing all the time. At the end he looked like he was getting a fungus on his front feet. I called the company and they sent me another for free. I had the same experirience all over again only I had switch him into a 20 long. Now I just got 2 more from a different place yesterday, I have them in the 20 long, with the water filled only a quarter of the way up and a small fluval interenal filter. I tried offering them worms and turtle sticks but they wouldn't have any of it. Theres also a bunch of guppies and ghost shrimp in with them. What should I do if they don't eat soon? What could I have done wrong before? Any foods they can't resist? I also tried feeding them in a small container but that didn't work. Should I try putting them, or one of them, in a small tank like a 2 1/2 with nothing but a rock to climb out of the water. I didn't expect them to be this difficult to care for. If anyone can answer any of my questions or has any other suggestions please respond, thanks.

Do you think if there water was warmer it would help? If so whats the best way to do that. submersible heater, undertank, or heat lamp. Also now that the weather is starting to change a little, when do you think I should bring Bowser in from his stock tank?

It sounds to me like you bought from a bad dealer before I dont know for sure though. There could have been many problems though. I bought from a bad dealer and they told me it was my problem that the turtles died. Later I took it to the vet and he said it had a fungus in its mouth long before I got it.

If fungus was your problem from the same dealer then you probably are buying from a dealer with bad stock. Yours sounded like they were eating fine until the fungus thing. I wouldn't worry much about the temp. Water that is too warm can cause fungus to grow more. Alligator Snappers don't really need warm water anyway.

Maybe the tank is too big for the size turtles you have now. I was always told that Alligator Snappers like to feel secure in their tanks and that large open areas tend to stress them out. You can have a big tank, just as long as there is plenty of stuff for them to hide around.

To make sure that mine was eating I kept him in a really small sterite shoe box for the first week with about 20 feeder items (guppies, rosies, ghost shrimp, food sticks). I changed the water every day with purified tap water that I let sit for 24 hours. So I basically kept him in a temporary feeding container for a week before moving him into a larger tank. I also gave him a piece of driftwood to hide under for stress. So your idea of a 2.5 gallon might not be a bad one.

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1.0 Woma
1.0 Australian Water Python
1.0 Australian Olive Python
1.0 Albino Green Burmese
1.0 Lereh Green Tree Python
1.1 Loxocemus bicolor (New World "Pythons" )
1.1 Hog Island Boas
0.0.1 Chinese Thread Turtle
1.0 Alligator Snapper
0.0.1 FL Red belly
0.0.2 Leopard Tortoises
0.0.4 "Flame" Crested Geckos
1.0 Yellow Ackie

I would bring Bowser in towards the end of this month or the beginning of next month.