M. raniceps grow to about 10-11" as adults and start our at as large babies. They are probably 3" or so when they hatch out. These babies hatched out here in May and fed for the first week or two on tadpoles. I now offer them a mix of Reptomin, Mazuri Freshwater Turtle Diet, and Omega One pellets. I still offer them a small redworm, tadpoles, and small feeder guppies once a week. I keep them in a 40 gallon breeder Zilla Turtle Talk with about 10" of water. The tank is loaded with oak branches, oak leaves, live plants, and slanted pieces of slate and other objects that let them get to the surface easily. I have two small Penquin filters attached to the side and a large airstone at the other end. Small feeder guppies and a few snails in there. The water temps are in the 73-76° F range and I don't give them a basking spot as they don't bask. There is a UVB bulb over them for the live plants and they might bask a little bit floating on the surface of the water.
I keep my animal building at 82-84 F most of the year. I cool it down to 60 in December, 55 in January, 50 in February and warm it back up in March. These guys have done very well with this situation and stay in the water during the cooler months but I don't feed them much...
These guys are very rare. I think I am the only guy in the US producing them. Others have them but none of them are getting eggs or getting eggs to hatch so far.
Let me know if you are interested in purchasing them.
