Eels...

[sxereturn]

A few questions...

1. Is it illegal to take them out of the wild (not national park)?
2. Anyone ever kept them?
3. How often should they be fed?
4. Can you freehandle them?

 

[instar]

1 dont know
2 yes
3 once a day...they scavengers
4 with gloves ..slimy slippery can bite dont hurt much

 

[instar]

ive seen them caught and eaten raw..yucko
p.s. thats the freshwater variety.

 

[sxereturn]

5. Reckon they would give turtles (min. 8cm carapace length) a bit of trouble? The eels are 2.5-3 foot long and will have plenty of goldfish etc to snack on.

 

[instar]

those turtles would be too small. eels that size have large mouths and strong bite..dont risk it. they eat everything avail they dont stop till theres nothing left. I kept a big 3 ft one in an old bath for about 3 weeks once, ate just about anything. it pushed up a weighted flyscreen an escaped an i found it dead on the lawn. dont think you could keep them in a tank. pond would be ok but goldfish will disappear real quick.

 

[Ricko]

also there dorsal fin or spine hurts like a massive paper cut if they get you.

 

[Magpie]

You can catch and keep freshwater eels in NSW, they are considered an angling species.

 

[sxereturn]

I might have to get some bigger turtles...or smaller eels...I want some eels in my pond...

 

[africancichlidau]

problem is that they are unlikely to stay there long unless you properly escape proof it

 

[sxereturn]

It will be inside my lizard enclosure, which is fully enclosure with 12mmx12mm wire.

 

[Fuscus]

Macintosh park on the gold coast and the Brisbane botanical gardens both have ponds with big eels and big tortoises so they can exist, but I don't think the tortoises can breed there anymore. If you are going to keep then with lizards then you will lose the lizards.
Personally I don't think freshwater eels are good pets, you will hardly see them and they are excellent escape artists

 

[Rina]

Gotta say the appeal of eels escapes me but each to their own.
Rina

 

[peterescue]

Eels can take lizards that get in the water or drink from the pond. If you want nature dont build an enclosure. You have a responsibility to all the animals you hold captive to maintain their safety and well being. You appear very sensible in most of your posts but this enclosure seems to be stretching your rational thinking. You seem to be more interested in the enclosure and what you can put in it than the creatures you will be keeping in it.
Peter
Peter

 

[Fuscus]

Do freshwater ells feed out of water, say on rainy nights? I know that they will travel but do they try and feed?

 

[peterescue]

I dont know if they feed out of water. doubt it somehow but Ive seen a duckling get taken at the Botanic gardens in Sydney while sitting next to a pond.
Peter

 

[instar]

http://www.ifc.tas.gov.au/fact_sheets/short_finned eel.html
http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/fishfacts/fish/areinhard.htm
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?ID=35&genusname=Anguilla&speciesname=anguilla