Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've noticed on the classifieds and with some dealers like Mark M. Lucas that young Captive Bred (CB) Matamatas are being sold. Is this the real deal or are people just selling wild caught 4 inchers as CB? If its the real deal, then I'm excited... this is coming from a herper that only keeps CB in his collection. Could any tell me anything else about this CB Mata trend, I'd really appreciate it. As soon as college allows it, I'm getting one of these suckers.

They are most likely farmed and not bred in the US.
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Michael
http://turtletracker.com

Some years back, a Florida dealer (Tom Crutchfield ) with large ponds (old alligator farm)thought he could CB matas for a good profit, but nothing came of his efforts. Perhaps they breed them in SA, however.

Phil Draeske (spelling?) a turtle specialist in the Chicago area bred them sucessfuly once in large stock tank with a nest box attached years ago and published his experience but I don't believe he had much more additional success. It just might be findable on a search engine, but I doubt it - it was well pre-internet era (mid-eighties).

I think CB (Captive Bred) is more like CB (Capitive BORN). More than likely (as Erico mentioned) they may be breeding the in SA,
They are just hatched from eggs laid by gravid wild caught females.

Steve

Like a lot of people I have gotten a few of these "CB" matas because of their sudden availability. They appear to be healthier than some definite w/c ones that I have seen and they're also in perfect condition. No scars, missing toes, etc.