Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Been quiet here lately !

Any of you snapper guys ever keep a mata mata ?
I only have alligator snappers and I was thinking about getting a small one. They look very cool. Know absolutely nothing about them.
Any thoughts?

I have always liked them as well. They basically require the same kind of care as a common snapper, but with shallower water. They are 100% aquatic, but they are terrible swimmers from what I understand. I was told a 16" adult shouldn't be in more than 12" of water, although the one at the Shedd Aquarium is in much deeper water than that. They basically cruise the bottom of thier tanks all day. Like alligator snappers they have a really unique way of eating. They suck up their food like a vacuum. All my friends that have them seem to like them and keep them in stock tanks or large aquariums.
-----
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

Thanks, Thats sort of what I heard. The only drawback I heard was that they can go through huge amounts of live fish.
My mid-size alligators go through a lot , and its hard to find a cheap source all the time.
It can add up

Well there are several people who have matas who use kingsnake with some regularity and there is some discussion about them on the side neck turtle forum.

In general its true that there are some similarities between mata husbandry and that of ally snappers....but i think they do need some space to roam around (despite the fact that thye may sit on one place for hours or even days). They do best in warm water, being intolerant of cold spells. They definitely seem to need a hide and generally darkened encloures; they shun bright light. There seems to be a requirement of a low pH and pretty soft water to avoid frequent outbreaks of fungal problems. Most of us use 5.5 - 6.2 as a range for pH.

As for water depth I think all or some of the tank should include water which is pretty shallow, less than the length of tha carapace in depth. They prefer to stretch their necks from a resting place to breathe and seem to prefer not to swim if posible. (so i don't know what's going on at the zoo you mentioned)

As for the feed issue, there are many that seem to eat only live fish and others that can be acclimated to frozen fish and even strips of meat. I have talked to a few people who have several though, who have said that they have some matas that never adjusted to pre-killed food while others did. All this live food seems to add to the parasite problem and so most keepers de-worm them annually.

My m.m. is only about 9 inches long and can eat 8 dozen inch long fish in 24 hours. I try to feed rosies and platies to avoid goldfish. At any rate, if you have the tank in your bedroom, never feed them right before you try to go to sleep. The feeding action makes a noise on it's own.. bam! bam! bam! It's cool to watch, but it's kept me up before.
-----
Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

I keep common snappers and have a matamata. The care is quite different. You have to pay close attention to the pH balance of the water with a matamata. The need a low pH (around 5). The also prefer it if the water is dark. I use Blackwater extract in mine.

Water depth is pretty important. They just need to be able to sit on the bottom and reach the top of the water with their snorkel. The water shouldn't be deeper than their neck is long.

The only eat fish as well. With snappers, if you through anything into thier tank it will get eaten. I have fed my matamata defrosted and live fish. The defrosted ones I have to drop in right infront of him and he'll suck them up right away. I feed him about a dozen large (6-8 inches) a week. I have also had luck feeding him tadpoles. I've heard some people say they can get theirs to eat mice. Mine never has.

I keep mine (17 inches) in a 100 gallon stock tank. Only about 1/3 of it is filled with water (needed the height to keep my dogs out!)
The Matamata Page