Has anyone kept Mata Matas?

[Kristina]

Looking for any hands on info, and any tidbits you might find pertinent to keeping these guys.

I have always been intrigued by Mata Matas. I usually get myself a "treat" or two at income tax return time, and I am starting to do research already, lol. Just exploring options

 

[dmmj]

No I have not but it is one I definitely want to keep, but they are very expensive and right now I can't justify spending like 600 on a turtle, I have been researching for a long time when one comes along at a good price I will jump on it.

 

[Kristina]

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=204244

Those are only $250

 

[Jacqui]

My main piece of advice would be to get two of them. That way, they can do their herding behavior with catch fish.

 

[harris]

I've had two, both at seperate times. They were both hatchlings when I acquired them. The first one made it to 5 years and the 2nd one to 4 years. Each of them died out of the blue. They were active and eating great, then overnight, poof, their gone. Come to find out afterwards I guess that is a known issue with the captives. Don't know why.

 

[Tortuga_terrestre]

My friend owns a Pet Shop; he owns 2. Im not a fan of water turtles, but these turtles are AWESOME! They are lightning fast when feeding.

 

[Kristina]

I've had two, both at seperate times. They were both hatchlings when I acquired them. The first one made it to 5 years and the 2nd one to 4 years. Each of them died out of the blue. They were active and eating great, then overnight, poof, their gone. Come to find out afterwards I guess that is a known issue with the captives. Don't know why.

I have heard from someone else that they had the same type of issue, both of his died at 7 years old. That is a major bummer.