Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys,

I have had these baby pigtailed alligator snappers for about 3 weeks now. I keep them at about 80 degrees as that is what I was directed to do so on the website of a couple of your all's recommendations. I have tried crappie minnows, and trout worms. Nothing seems to work. I have prekilled the crappie minnows and allowed them to sit in the tank for a full day just in the event that they wanted to get them at night- no go. I have put a couple trout worms in there and tried that and they won't go for that either. I have tried hanging them in front of their faces and it doesn't appear to have any effect- not even a snap. The water is just deep enough to cover their backs, and I also have a peice of slate in the tank so that they can climb on top of if they don't want that deep of water. I donot have any special lighting as turtleman.com claims that since these turtles donot bask it isn't necessary.....so why waste the money and electricity? Do you guys happen to have any ideas that can get my guys to eat?

Thanks and much appreciated.

Chris
-----
Chris Law
U.A.P.P.E.A.L. (Uniting a Proactive Primate and Exotic Animal League)
Herpetoculture Element Representative

View my website: www.herpfanatic.com

welp ima just tell u what yaakyar told me to do and it worked. get a small container or something of the sort like i used a big gulp from the 7/11 works great put like 5 minnows in there and just wait he'll aventually come around i swear if not then i dont know im no expert i just have 1 reg ally snapper and 3 pig tailed snappers peaces

Hi Chris, I have no experiences with pigtail hatchlings. I would call John Richards or Turtlesox to find out what depth of water to keep them in. Just covering their shells seems kinda shallow,but I would hate to see them drown. My pinkskin I got 3 weeks ago went a week or so before finally eating live guppies but he wouldn't eat in a small cup like others have had luck with.He is in a small 5 gal. aquarium with just a heater in it. You can tell something is wrong if they're not"fishing". ( luring} If they're not then they are not ready to eat or something else is wrong. Try a different water level but not too deep.

Thanks Steve,

I tried deeper water, but I dont think they can do anything in it. I gave them an extra half-inch of water, and then placed a piece of slate rock in the tank so they have a way into shallower water if necessary. I have not seen them "fishing" at all. I always watch for that, but dont see it. I dont have any experience with snappers other than these, but I dont think they can use their back legs. Their back legs barely move. I thought about adding gravel or something, but the more stuff in the cage, the more their is to clean and the harder it is to keep it that way once it's done. I like all my cages to stay clean. Thus far I have tried Rosie reds, trout worms, and mazuri turtle diet. The rosie reds and trout worms were live, but the obviously the mazuri turtle diet was not. They didn't seem to interested.

Thanks for the response, if you have any other ideas I would be glad to hear them. Oh I did check with that John guy, he replied but didn't give me much information and wasn't too friendly on top of that. Do you have contact info for the "turtlesox" that you mentioned?

Thanks,

Chris
-----
Chris Law
U.A.P.P.E.A.L. (Uniting a Proactive Primate and Exotic Animal League)
Herpetoculture Element Representative

View my website: www.herpfanatic.com

I don't have any experience with the pig tails.
But they're all pretty much the same I think.
You might try raising the temp to around 85. Might stimulate them a bit.

They really don't like change at all...even the big ones. If I do even a water-change it can be enough to make them stop eating for a while.
So whatever you set-up...leave them alone for a while.
My experience with the little guys was they had a harder time catching the guppies. Stick with the rosies...not a lot of water circulation or turbulence.
Good luck

Mike,

Thanks for the insight! I will definitely use that advice.

Best Wishes,

Chris
-----
Chris Law
U.A.P.P.E.A.L. (Uniting a Proactive Primate and Exotic Animal League)
Herpetoculture Element Representative

Any luck?
Eating Yet?
Mike

yeah... what's the word??
*fingers crossed*

CJ

But no they haven't eaten yet. So I am going to try your suggestions with a different approach. I had to put them in a 10gallon tank with a low level of water. Warm them up a bit and just provide a couple of things that they could grip to, so they could get air if they wanted. I didn't want to put alot of obstructions in the water so they wouldnt get their curly tails caught on anything, so I managed to make some "cave-like" structures. I also have to aerate(sp?) the water so that I can put some feeders in there for them to eat when they finally feel like it. I also tested multiple ways to ensure that the things weren't causing any major disruptions in the water. I tried leaving them alone for a while, and I also saw one of them "fishing" the other day, but none of them ate. So I am taking a bit of a different approach and seeing how that works out. I will certainly keep you updated.

Thanks again!

Chris

Well at least thats a start.
They don't fish if they don't feel well.
So thats real good.

Keep us updated.

Any luck with your pigtails Chris? By the way,how many do you have? Steve

Hey steve,

So far, it seems like one of them is at least eating. I have only been noticing one of them fishing. I did see a torn up fish in the water that only had it's head remaining. I have three currently. I might try splitting them up so they are easy to keep tabs on as to who is eating and who is not.

Thanks,

Chris

>>Any luck with your pigtails Chris? By the way,how many do you have? Steve
-----
U.A.P.P.E.A.L.
Uniting A Proactive Primate and Exotic Animal League

Sounds like you're doinmg everything OK.
Remeber they are mostly nocturnal.
I bet they're eating

Hi Chris, How are the pigtails doing? Did you try any of the thing that we talked about? Anyway I hope that they are are eating and doing fine by now.

Hi Martha,

Actually it appears that they are all eating fine now. I tried them on Rosy Reds and they will work with those and they are eating Mazuri turtle diet. I split them up into separate containers as well so that it would make it much easier to monitor them.

Thanks for all of your help, I will keep you updated!

Best Wishes,

Chris

>>Hi Chris, How are the pigtails doing? Did you try any of the thing that we talked about? Anyway I hope that they are are eating and doing fine by now.
-----
U.A.P.P.E.A.L.
Uniting A Proactive Primate and Exotic Animal League

GREAT NEWS! I had a feeling Martha could help. She knows turtles!Keep us updated.