matamata turtle

[king nick]

for the last little while i have been really looking into getting a turtle, the matamata really struck my eye and i was wondering if any one of you own one? does anyone know a supplyer of matamatas? what price range do they run at?
thanks, nick

[Brock]

I saw two at the Vancouver aquarium last week, definately my favourite of all turtles. I wish I had the space to make a huge aquatic enclosure right in my wall or something. There was a guy selling one of them about 6 months or so ago, so there are a 'few' around in Canada. Goodluck they are awesome, but if I recall, the guy who bought one had a really hard time getting rid of it, so you'll definately have to be committed to keeping them. You could contact the Vancouver Aquarium by your own means and see if they breed theirs, or any other zoo/aquarium you know has them. They aren't in high demand so I reckon you'll have a hard time finding a supplier. If you live close to the border, you might want to go across and pick some up in the US, there was a thread on it somewhere recently.

Goodluck, they are nice, I'll definately want to get some later on too.

-Brock

[anacondaman]

matamata do not do well in captivity. ive never herd of any people actually breeding them in captivity. they are very expensive. ive seen one at port credit ppet centre but it was not for sale. if youve never owned a turtle before i strongly disagree with you getting one (if you can find one any way). but if you have the experiance with turtles and really want one...ill loook around for breeders or wild cought ones. if i find anything ill shoot you an email.

good luck

adam

[Cloudkicker]

As anacondaman said, matamatas are really tough to get established in captivity and require specific conditions to keep them alive and healthy... definately not for beginner turtle keepers. They usually grow around 18'' and will need at least a 100gal tank for a single adult. Captive breeding is hard as well and sometimes the only way to do it is to have them outside year round(ie:Florida) and obviously you cant do that up here. I've only seen a couple for sale and they were somewhere in the neighborhood of $800each. Anyway, if you're still seriously considering one I recommend researching a lot and saving up.
Good luck,
-Andrew-

[The Gawd]

"If you live close to the border, you might want to go across and pick some up in the US, there was a thread on it somewhere recently."

I just wanted to say that it is highly illegil to import turtles into canada, and if you try dont get caught. you see canada looks at it the same way the us dea looks at pot smuggling.... seriously.... and its supposed to be like a $5000 fine possibly jail or somthing like that..... I just woulnt recomend it. its fine to bring any other animal into the country just as long as you have the proper licenses and all the lovely paper work, ei cities... I think its the combination of the salmanale issue combined with the ever growing population of released res, ah well just my two cents, oh and one other thing theres not a wholw lot of turtle breeders up here, I only know of one hard core breeder, and im not to sure if i can say her name or not, but you can find her at the ontario reptile expo.... shes got a few diff kinds, all a lot of money....

[Cloudkicker]

"If you live close to the border, you might want to go across and pick some up in the US, there was a thread on it somewhere recently."
(originally posted by "Brock")

Yeah...don't do this. Smuggling an animal can end up with you paying a fine anywhere from $5000-$25000, spending some time in jail, temporary or permanent restriction back into the U.S, confiscation of your car and obviously the animals and when/if you are permitted back into the States, both sides can and most likely will pull you over everytime and rip your car apart searching for more animals or anything else. You're much better off waiting for any animal on the cities list to come around in Canada unless you become an importer, or tag onto an existing importers U.S order there-by reducing the importers cost as well as your own. Oh and if anyone can give me directions to the thread at the top of mine and "The Gawd's" posts, I would like to read it. Thanks.
-Andrew-

[The Gawd]

Oh and if anyone can give me directions to the thread at the top of mine and "The Gawd's" posts, I would like to read it. Thanks.
-Andrew-

what do u mean man????

[Cloudkicker]

"Brock" originally posted:"If you live close to the border, you might want to go across and pick some up in the US," and then stated that there was a "thread on it somewhere recently"...and I would like to read that thread. I wanted to know if any one can send me a link(directions) to that thread. We both quoted that line ("If you live close to the border"...etc) at the top of our posts hence the: "directions to the thread at the top of mine and "The Gawd's" posts".
-Andrew-

[The Gawd]

oh k i didnt see that ya i want to read it to......
c-ya

[krokodile]

I currently have a 9 inch WC matamata. I purchased mine for 250 euros last year at a reptile show in Houten, Holand. WC imports are very hard to establish in captivaty, but ones they have been established in theyr'e new enviroment they tend to thrive, but still require very specific conditions. Iv'e also seen an increasing number of CB specimens available. Although Ive no idea what sort of price you woud expect to pay for them in Canada

[Gibbus]

Hello

If anyone is serious about getting mata mata in canada. i can get them. The only problem is i have to order a 100 of them.

[Cloudkicker]

Okay, how do you go about getting a 100 lot of matamata's especially in Canada? Keep in mind these are animals that cost anywhere from $400-$800 U.S each. Are you positive it was a 100 lot of "mata mata's" and not another species? -or- is that a typo and you meant to write a 10 lot of mata mata's? Also, I'm going to assume these are imported turtles. Are they coming up from the states or from across seas and do they come with the required paperwork? And lastly how much is this 100 lot of mata mata"s going to cost? Keep us posted, you've sparked my interest.

-Andrew-

[chris09]

i'm sorry but i had to speak up and say its probably better to NOT encourage people to smuggle these turtles, which, if they don't breed in captivity are obviously TAKEN FROM THE WILD...at least a hundred matamata turtles, many of which will surely die during capture and transport, not to mention how many will die at the hands of inexperienced people who want a weird looking pet

how can anyone say they like reptiles if they support the trade in wildlife, thats why many of them are threatened and endangered.

nobody needs a matamata. if they don't breed or do well in captivity then they should be left in the wild. get a captive bred turtle of another species, please

[Piers]

Tortsrme, matamatas arn't $400- $800 U.S. they are usually $200-$300 U.S.
Gibbus, I don't know why you would have to order 100 of them in to make a profit? Getting them from a good importer/exporter from the U.S. I'm sure you could get them under $200 U.S. and sell them for twice that here in Canada and only have to buy less than 20 of them.
If you were to get them from the country of export, you could get twice the animals for half the price shipping included.
Still not a turtle for beginners!
Piers

[Gibbus]

Sorry for the late reply. They are from a friend of mine. Who mainly deals with public zoos and aquariums and has traveled thought south america. They came with CITES. I dont know where they are coming from. My friend is doing all the importing.

[chris09]

who cares if they came with CITES, its pretty revolting that people actually want wild caught turtles of a species that is too large and specialized for most people to keep. apparantly no one cares about how many die though during the whole capture/transport process. you think they just go out there, gently pick turtles up, put them in a box and send them on their way? hell no. a lot of animals in south america have to die just so someone can have a pet matamata turtle. DO NOT ENCOURAGE THE TRADE IN WILDLIFE, BUY CAPTIVE BRED ANIMALS ONLY. Doesn't anyone else find this somewhat disturbing/sickening?

I can understand taking a few wild caught animals for zoos and serious EXPERT keepers who intend to seriously pursue captive breeding...but having hundreds of turtles ripped from the wild just to be pets for the casual owner...ugh...

[Cloudkicker]

First off let me start by saying I am also completely and totally against taking an animal out of its natural environment to serve the purpose of being a pet. I believe animals, especially species on the brink of extinction in the wild, should only be introduced into captive conditions to reproduce and re-populate wild populations. This can now be seen happening with most if not all the asian(and surrounding areas) turtle/tortoise species, several species of sea turtles and countless other critically endangered species. Unfortunately adult specimens and the re-introduced offspring are still being exploited to serve food, pet and medicine markets around the world with no regard to the animals themselves or the future of their existance in the wild...

chris09: I can honestly say I feel the same way you do about the wildlife trade.... My original post in response to Gibbus's was supposed to come across as sarcastic, I was by no means trying to "encourage" gibbus to bring in a 100 lot of wc mata mata's, I was simply waiting to see the response, give my opinion and point out basically everything you already have. Also, in response to your "how can anyone say they like reptiles....." quote in your initial response, since I know that comment was directed at me, all I can say is, out of 156 reptiles I own, only 8 are long term captive wild caughts, those being russian tortoises and my pair of forsten tortoises. I plan on keeping the offspring from both species to establish small colonies... you could almost say I "intend to seriously pursue captive breeding". The point I'm trying to get across is that I DON'T support the trade in wildcaught animals unless they are being put into a captive breeding program.

Piers: You're right, I meant $400-$800 Cdn, $200+U.S.

Cheers,

-Andrew-

[Piers]

Well I say captive all the way, when you can get it!
Chris09,sometimes getting animals from the wild is your only choise. Some captive animals are too inbred or no one has bred enough of them to be made to the public.
Also I always try to get people to pair up the animals they buy. I think reptiles,amphibians and fish too should be paired up and bred. One reason is its great to see the whole thing from mating to birth and another reason is more you breed the less is taken out of the wild.
Do you realize most firsts in reptile breedings come from privet breeders not zoos?
If we all waited for captive bred animals, nobody would have anything.
Piers