Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just curious, these guys don't seem to be very popular for some reason. Must be their sparkling personalities or their good looks. I've got a Chiapas giant (S. salvinii). He's about a year old and 5 inches, I think he grows every time I turn around. His favorite hobby is trying to eat my fingers.

I had a S. triporcatus in the past and he was one of my favorite turtles ever.
I got him as an innocent looking little hatchling and after a couple of years he became a perfect maniac! What a great turtle! He was very responsive and interesting to watch. Also, despite the fact that imports can be pretty bad looking, mine was beautiful and had a flawless shell.
I eventually had to move and could no longer keep him but I highly recommend them.
For me the reason they are not popular as captives (although they are in Japan) is twofold. One, they get big and need to be kept alone. Second, hatchlings have been very overpriced for the past several years. Even now, many breeders are asking up to $100.00 for hatchlings--that's a ridiculous price in my opinion.

Mine was CB (or so I was told) and only 50$, so I guess I got lucky. I think of him as a 'mini-snapper', he's always had a cantankerous personality. It's cool that they're popular in Japan.
The idea of buying him feeder sliders just popped into my head. I must be evil. I wouldn't really do that, of course. He might get parasites.

$50.00 is reasonable for a captive hatched Staurotypus.
Does your salvinii have any hint of orange on it's head? I have seen a few that were really nice with orange flecks all over the head and neck. These were all captive raised adults.

There is a VERY COOL Japanese website that is all about Staurotypus and Claudius with a lot of really neat photos. Of course, the text is all in Japanese and you have to click on everything to hunt down the pictures but it's worth it.

BTW.......I used to feed my triporcatus frozen/thawed mice. It was messy and I didn't do it often but I felt the occasional mouse was OK for him.
You have to be careful that they don't get too fat on you---which they will if you let them.

http://www.h3.dion.ne.jp/~kame3/index.htm

No orange on his head, he's pretty colorless. I'll have to try the pinky thing at least once.
Do you think a giant musk could catch live fish? I haven't tried yet. I think I'm going to start giving him the dead fish I get in with the live ones I buy for my matamata. He's mostly on pellets right now.

I fed mine mostly feeder fish and he had no problem inhaling them. Or, if they were two large to swallow whole he would grab and munch them. They are very aggressive feeders when they get about half grown.

Mine's never seemed interested, it would be nice if I could fill him up on something low-fat.
Sorry for all the q's, but you're the only former or current starotypus owner I've found.

Plant matter? Mine did-- he took the occasional piece of banana or cantalope as I recall. Can't say that he really went for it though like other foods. Snailsand cooked shrimp were also favorites.