Fly River / Pig-nosed turtles

[Meg90]

Darn! I was hoping FL! But I do have my passport

 

[gummybearpoop]

Hi GBP

I breed them so have had about 200.

Cheers

Slickturtle

Yeah right. Even zoos have problems breeding them.
I only heard of 3 documented occassions where they bred in captivity and none of these captive bred PNTs were ever sold
Would sure love to see documentary proof from you.

Btw Gummy Bear, 1 of them for about 8 years, the other about 5 years. I'm not sure what is their age as I did not get them as a hatchling.

They're on a steady diet of Hikari Algae Wafers. I don't give them anything else. Zero health issues. Right now both of them are housed in a 5 x 2.5 x 2.75 ft tank. It's a little small for them but this is just a temp housing till the pond is ready.

Oh btw both are about 10inch in carapace length

Hello Malefic

Well, you have caught me out big time. You are quite right - I haven't bred 200 Pig Noses. This was a flippant throw away statement which was just thrown 'out there' but, of course it will not be read by others as an off the cuff one liner. I won't do that again!!

So, in truth I have only bred about 50. But it seems like 200 considering the work involved in keeping them out of little turtle heaven! I am interested in your comment that you have not had problems with yours. Although in my experience it is the first 18 months that is the hard part. After that they tuffen up it seems.

Have a look at http://s780.photobucket.com/albums/yy90/Slickturtle/Trials and tribulations of a turtle tamer/

I have recently found out that Rottedam Zoo and New York Bronx Zoo have bred them. Rotterdam had to chemically induce the female and the Bronx only occasionally have some success.

There is also a guy in New South Wales (south of Sydney) who has bred them in a huge indoor setup. He also induces.

Cheers and I apologise for my sloppy earlier statement.

Slickturtle

Slickturtle,

Thank you for the clarification and an EXTRA thank you for sharing your photos. Lots of cool pics! Your pics of the turtles makes me want to work with them even more, but then your pics of your setup kinda makes me change my mind due to the size of the setup. I think you are doing a great job with them! Congrats and keep up the great work!

 

[Slickturtle]

For sure! Me too! I would LOVE it if you could post them all on this page. If you use the IMG tag, they will show up right on the page. To get more than the 10 or so images on the same post, I always put them all on (in this case, all 30 of yours) and then edit so that they all show up.

With your permission, I will do it, if you don't want too. I LOVED the photos! This is my FAVORITE aquatic species. Do you do tours of your facility? Where are you located? I'd love to come and meet the crew.

Hi Meg90

You are most welcome to copy the pics onto your gallery page. I don't know how to do that. I have left that album open so that you can copy and use any or all of those pictures.

You and your friends can come and visit anytime. But it might be a fair way from your place to mine. I am 1 hour out of Darwin which is the capital of the Northern Territory of Australia.

Cheers and enjoy

Slickturtle

---

He's in Australia Meg

Awesome set-up How wet do you need to get a nest to get the eggs to hatch? How many days incubation before you wet them down?

Danny

Hi Danny

The sand in the nesting beach regulates its own moisture level. I don't have anything to do with that. The hard part was designing the beach during the construction phase. The foot of the beach had to be in water so that the turts can swim straight onto the sand of the beach. This is tricky if you don't want to lose all your sand by slumping into the bottom of the pond.

Incubation time depends on the temperature. In my setup they take much longer to hatch that the research shows in the wild. This becomes very difficult if (as in my case) you often don't know how old the eggs are. This is the downside of natural breeding setups, you have no control of who lays and where or when.

Cheers

Slickturtle

 

[Spawn]

Hello:
Fly River Turtles are completely aquatic, only coming to shore to lay eggs. After they settle down they can become very aggressive feeders. Because they swim all the time they should be given plenty of room to do so and when breeding they should be supplied with a sandy beach type area to come up to lay eggs. A couple sight barriers should be offered so they can stay out of each others way.
I had one of these guys for about eight years and in my opinion they seem to be fairly easy to keep and raise. One thing you must be very careful of is that these turtles are very cold sensitive and can succumb in temps lower than sixty degrees so you have to be monitor them if they are to be kept outside.
Hope this info helps. Have a Great Day!!!

 

[Jozzep]

Hi GBP

I breed them so have had about 200.

Cheers

Slickturtle

Yeah right. Even zoos have problems breeding them.
I only heard of 3 documented occassions where they bred in captivity and none of these captive bred PNTs were ever sold
Would sure love to see documentary proof from you.

I thought the same exact thing when i read his post, but you asked for proof, and he brought it
By living in their natural territory, he has a definite advantage over the zoo's in our country.
Great work, and great pics.

 

[Tom]

Slickturtle, I am SOOOOOOO coming to see you if I ever make it to Australia! Great pics and a great set-up. I used to swim like that with my water monitors, but that was in a pool, not a natural looking pond. I envy you. What a great experience!

 

[Slickturtle]

Slickturtle, I am SOOOOOOO coming to see you if I ever make it to Australia! Great pics and a great set-up. I used to swim like that with my water monitors, but that was in a pool, not a natural looking pond. I envy you. What a great experience!

Hi Roachman

Yes, they are great animals. I have other species of shortnecks in the ponds as well. But what I have found with other spp. is that the pond is so large and naturalistic that they all convert to their wild behaviour - that is being frightened of humans. But not the Pig Noses. They swim up anytime you walk in and demand to know what is going on. Also, they are almost equally active by day as at night. This makes them a much more rewarding animal to keep than their more timid relatives.

Cheers

Slickturtle