Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just noticed this forum... Matamatas are sidenecks, right? Sort of an oddball, but a sideneck. 'Cause I have one and I've always got questions!

sure. chelids right?

I'm a by ni means an authrotty but i have one and have had the pleasure/pain of raising several that belong to someone else this year. I have learned a little bit. I'd be happy to talk with you about them here.

All I know is.. when they pull their head in... they move it to the side... so I guess, why not? This forum needs some more traffic anyway.

yeah it does need more. it is good for it to be here when somebody really needs it.
you have one mata mata?
is it male or female?

I've got one.. it's only 9 inches across so I don't know if 'she' should be sexable yet? Her tail doesn't look particularly long.

Matas are Pleurodirans (ie. suborder Pleurodira), so they definitely count as sidenecks.

On that note, I just aquired the first mata baby of my own (previously only worked with adults in a zoological setting), so any comments about Chelus care would be highly appreciated on my part as well.

yeah i said they were chelids right? so that makes them pleurodires automatically. (lasy time i looked in a book anyway)

as for matas in a zoo, your experience could be very valuable to us....was the enclosure large? (we know they are sedentary but i assume it was pretty big)
how did you keep the pH low?
did you worm the annually?
did you get them to eat pre-killed food?
any courtship/mating?

Sorry, missed the Chelid comment before. Little slow on the uptake, my fault.

Baltimore's mata tank was large, but not huge. It held the one pair, and was the same size as the enclosure used to house one small crocodilian (C. johnstoni). I do not remember the exact dimensions, but it is probably in the vicinity of 5.5 ft wide by 7 ft deep. It is also quite tall, with a terrestrial landscaped rear portion, as it also houses frilled basilisks in branches above the water. (thus not all of the basal area was filled with water).

Both adults were enormous; carapace length around 24", and quite sedentary (at least during daylight hours when keepers were present).

I do not know how the pH was maintained, as it did not have to be done by hand very often (water was conditioned while pumped in). The log furnishings in the tank helped introduce some tannins to the water, but I suspect a peat conditioner (perhaps a blackwater product) was added to incoming water.

I do not believe the matas were wormed often after they were established. However, they (and all the zoo herps) had fecals taken on a regular basis, and Panicure was the preferred worming agent for the herps when it was needed.

The matas took mostly pre-killed food. Frozen/thawed fish were used, but only so many species of fish were available, so we used skinned mice for many feedings. Food was offered via 52" long tongs (because the enclosure access was at the rear).

Some courtship occured, but no breeding. At least, not during the time I was there. (The Chelodina, on the other hand, made numerous little hatchlings).

Hope that's somewhat useful, I'd love to hear any thoughts/tips anyone else has as well...

--'Rhemil'