They are found in rivers and large lakes of South America’s Amazon basin (pampas of Santa rosa de Yacuma). During the rainy season, they walk into forests. They eat fruits, weeds, fish, and small worms.

The females lay eggs two times each year. Each time they lay between four and thirty-five eggs. They make their nests in sand near rivers. The eggs are laid in the dry season so that the nest will not be washed away by the floods of the rainy season. They usually live from sixty to seventy years.