Yeah don't get one. They are cool at first when they are small for about 1 year and after 2 years they make a mess in their tank and are dirty turtles. I had one for 3 years but managed to sell it on Craigslist lol
Really appreciate your transparency on taking care of snapping turtles. It's very refreshing to hear a specialist such as yourself talk about the downside/difficulties of snapper care. Too many handlers say, "Oh, they're the best! You need to get one" whenever it comes to whatever turtle they are discussing.
Think about this? Do any turtles make good pets? No are they ok display animals, yes. Bottom line, no sugar coating it, most people do not have the means to care for aquatic turtles in general.
Stick with Smaller turtles as Suggested ! and Yes Some turtles make great pets ! I’ve had 3 box turtles For 27 yrs ! That were on a Highway in Jersey ! Diet is important !
The means? It is often more about the discipline and the loyalty. Anyone can pick up a turtle and do a trial basis with him or her and put them back in the wild. I disagree with your bottom line. Could you buy a kiddie pool and put a few turtles in it and make a habitat for them really inexpensively? Yes, you can. Education comes with confidence, and that too often overshadows the creativity that should be encouraged. Creativity and possibilities can ease the comfort level and budget experience.
Yes the means as in enough water volume to dilute it's own waste for example. Theres little excuses for poor husbandry with turtles. And the best way around it is to keep a box turtle if you really have to have one. People keep Oscar's in 60 gallon aquariums minimum filled to the brim with 10x filtration because of water quality issues. If you think water quality doesn't impact turtles like fish you definitely should be sticking to leopard geckos and beardies. I stand by what I said and anyone with an ounce of compassion gets it.
We had a common snapper lay her eggs in our garden once, got to assist the babies to the nearby pond and away from our dogs too. It was a fun and beautiful experience and probably the only snapper experience I'll have, looks like were team musk turtle..such a great video!
I used to have this 45lb Beast. He'd never bite(except when first caught)I'd catch him every year. I had this huge old hotel bath tub. Called the "turtle tub". Any leftovers/frogs/road kill/My sister's dead rabbit(she never knew)etc. was food. My mom had this huge left over roast beef that sat in the basement cooler for over a month. I decided to give him a huge beef meal. It was gone really quick. Of course mom went down one day to get the roast & have me take it to the butcher for trimming & slicing. "Damn, where's that roast? I put it down here last month." In less than 2 min. my hair was blowing in the wind from my mom's screaming at me. I can't print it, but it was still funny to this day.
@@keithm1138 I was just kidding my mom rip had all these sandwiches from a get together with her friends won't say they will be passed off gave all off it to a mother staff terrier and pups under the porch my mom didn't know got the hell beT out of me when she heard those pups crying that night she went down and saw them called her friends they all came they took them all home happy ending some time you gotta take one for the time 586 cypress ave still there go down the alley right side first house on the right Rodriguez family around the corner i and my sister hed the crown and flowers for Becky at her quinsera she was crowned princess I was 4 my sister 6 T divine savior church idel and cypress ave love that family all ways and flaco he wS a mentor to me at that age respect and blessings 🙏 ❤
We rescued a snapping turtle (alligator) from a ditch where some kids were throwing bottles at it. We got there just in time, and it wasn't seriously injured. We had a section of land not far outside of town, but we couldn't go out there every single day. The land had a nice little creek running through it which we hadn't been channelized and always had plenty of water in it. We had seen snappers out there, and we figured we could turn it loose out there as soon as we had time to get out there. In the mean time, we kept in the bathtub for the two weeks it took until we were able to get out there and turn him loose. We fed him on fish we had caught out there and had in the freezer. He ate quite well during those two weeks. I like to think every time I see a big snapper poke his head out of the water out there that maybe it was our guy that we rescued and then turned loose out there as soon as we could. There's plenty of habitat and food for it out there. That was probably about 50 years ago, and since I don't know how long they live, I may not be seeing our guy, but I like to hope things went well for him. And every now and then we will see a real gargantuan turtle poke his head out of the water now and again. We wanted him to be free and wild with only the standard risks of nature to deal with.
We get huge common snappers in my area in Minnesota. They’re fun to help across the road. I often keep a shovel in my car during the summer for that reason because they’re not the most cooperative animals.
I saw a humongous one while driving to Woodbury MN. We were driving through miles and miles of corn and out in the middle of nowhere we see a good sized dog in the road. It turned out to be a humongous Common Snapping Turtle , I didn't think that they got that big. It must have been at it close to the limit for the species. I got out and made sure that it made it across the road safely.
Definitely an impressive and tempting species, but all my research keeps telling me that it’s not the right turtle for me. I’ll stick to my Reeve’s turtle and my musk turtles! Thanks Greg!
Looking into an alligator snapping turtle and found this. I've owned common snappers and can't wait to get an alligator snapper. Thanks alot for putting this up bro
I have an AST. It took years of planning and preparation before I got him. He turns 4 this September. He was recently upgraded to a larger custom tank and I plan to build an indoor pond for him in a few years. (temps get to low in my area to keep them outside year round) I am VERY fortunate that a local bait shop carries live blue gill that his tank remains stocked with and fed a premium diet so he gets only the best. Crayfish, catfish, tilapia, silver-sides, cod, and shrimp are routinely cycled as part of his diet. Great video, very educational and I respect your ability to appreciate these animals without sensationalism. A no nonsense realistic level of expectation is what any animal deserves when it comes to educating people about their care. great job!
As a "turtle fan" and care taker for 11 Tortoises , I really enjoyed your take on The snapper Family. Loved your honesty and approach to this pet topic. Very much enjoyed this video sir :)
I had a common snapping turtle for about 5 years before giving him to a friend when moving away. It never tried to bite me and loved getting it's shell brushed and head rubbed. It would follow me around the yard, was a awesome pet.
At exactly 11:32 in this video. Tilt your screen and look closely behind his shoulder. A lil bush just slowly but randomly begins to disappear. Lol like it literally got dragged down and out of view but something. 😂😂😂
I love my alligator snapper. He is easily the best pet I have ever owned, while he is a handful and while he requires alot of space, I'd recommend everyone look into getting one.
Great vid and really informative. Grabbing a snapping turtle is not something I'd want to do for laughs. A few years back, driving through Ontario, I stopped to shoo this moss covered monster with a 12-15 inch shell off the highway and he/she surprised me with its ferocity. It hissed really loud...more like a growl really.... I thought, "With a little more amplification, is this how dinosaurs sounded?" I was also impressed at the length of its tail, very alligator-like.
I have a small Alligator Snapping Turtle , he's active for a little while in the afternoon , once he catches his fish he goes back in his cave and sleeps until about 10 PM , at night I can see him swimming around by the LED bubbler and the LEd Volcano bubbler , he surfs the glass in the tank for a while and I presume that he also hunts. He's usually back in his cave before I get up in the morning. Every now and then he will bask in the daytime. One thing that I did to make things a little more interesting was to put some really pretty fish in his tank. Some Mollies , Rainbow Sharks , fancy guppies, and some others that I forget the names of. I have s separate tank to raise the fish babies in. I also have a bunch of shiners for him to eat. The shiners keep him from eating the pretty fish for the most part. Every now and then he will get a guppy but not so much. I put some pretty snails in for interest and to help clean and I have a lot of filtration , My Turtle is still a baby , I handle him regularly for a couple of minutes at a time and it seems like he enjoys having his head scratched. He's never opened his mouth when I handle him , I make sure to be gentle , move slowly , and put him back in his tank before he gets stressed out. Hopefully he will stay cool and mellow as he ages. I say " he " , for all I know it could be a girl Turtle.
you really love your little guy (or girl :). that’s so great. i guess, you treat them like any pet. they all need patience and calm. cats really do. the only pets you can play rough with are dogs, but even they need patience and calm a lot of the time. have fun with your turtle and give him a little head scratch for me. :) 🐶 🐕 🌷🌱
@@feralbluee , Thank you ! Just like with my Rottweilers, I have to respect him for what he is . He's never going to be a lap dog , and they are always going to be guardians. I love them for what they are.
Everyone: only downside is their size Me: the only downside is they take so long to get massive Great stuff, love to see some well cared for snappers :D
Greg, dude, you had me rolling @6:21 🤣 Excellent video loaded with some valuable information that I hope lands on the right ears. You also did a great job at conveying why you’re a likable personality with obvious passion for these animals. Wrapping up the video with the musk turtle suggestions was top notch. All in all, this is a really really good video that fits well with the message of your channel. Cheers my dude!
I had snapping turtles as a kid thru out my adult life from hatchling to the size of 25lbs! Honestly if I didn’t have these turtles as a kid! I would be terrified to start having them while I’m an adult!
That’s crazy! SAME here!! my dad kept small & baby ones since before I was born, & thus I have literally had them my entire life!!! I LOVE THEM …. I started keeping ALSO getting Alligator Snappers about 10 years ago. & I LOVE them so much!!!🙂🙂❤️🐢 I am VERY glad I am not the only one!!
trying to make my own TH-cam channel mainly geared towards how beautiful reptiles are. Ive uploaded 3 videos so far and I currently own fresh and saltwater tanks, turtle tubs and just recently added two Stigmachelys pardalis Babcocki to my family. You are such an inspiration and I love the passion for the turtles (that are also my favorite species) in your videos!! Keep up the good positive work!
We have a creek behind our house with a deck which extends out over the water. We have two snapping turtles which have taken up residence near us. Along either side 13 other hard shells plus two lager heads ( they are so fast it's unbelievable) we enjoy the presence of these magnificent creatures.
My sister had a snapping turtle... my sister wanted to release him into the wild but couldn't part with him He later got sick and passed away. He was only 11 years old. We hoped he would live 30 or 40 years so that time we had felt too short. RIP "Big Foot" 🐢
I, too, AM a Snapping Turtle Person, & it is a true honor to share my life with them. (I also live on a retired farm, & am ready for more stock tanks!) 💚💚🐢
Hey Greg! I haven't been keeping up with my TH-cam subscriptions for a super long time so I haven't seen your videos in a while! Watched this while I clean out my dubias, and man, I was just reminded of why I subscribed to you in the first place! Top notch, high quality footage and wonderful and informative commentary. Very, very impressive stuff. I'm definitely proud to have your AST skull t-shirt! Too cool. Best wishes dude! Keep it up!
Hi from France. Thanks for your advice and nice setups. Here the common and alligator snapping turtle requires a certificate of capacity to own them and we find them more and more in nature because of irresponsible release . Very interesting video. I can say a 2inch baby common snapping grows to 10 inch in one and half year if well fed. Very impressive grow rate.
You shouldn't just feed them anything though. Try to give them what they would have in the wild. Just because they will eat something doesn't mean that it's good for them.
You say that they "grow big"? So did you when you were young, but I bet your parents didn't throw you out into the wild when you got a foot or two long.
Another great video Greg! I was wondering if you could do a video (or provide the link if you already did) on the proper setup of a stock tank including filtration. My eventual goal is to build a pond for my common snapper but am curious about proper stock tank setup too.
I have a baby alligator that came up from our pond and was walking across our driveway. I will release the little fellow in a couple of days back into the pond. I have a 17 year old 3 striped mud turtle I’ve raised from a hatchling. He has quite an ornery personality. He can be nice went he wants something tho. Lol
My snapper is very tame he lets me pet his face and neck like he will actually walk up to me, slowly extend his neck and will literally not leave untill I've scratched his itch of gave him head pats.
There is an alligator snapping turtle in a reptile place in East Texas that was on Dirty Jobs that has a musket ball in its shell from the civil war! They are not really sure how old he is but he is awesome!!
Can a common snapper be released into the wild, where they are native, after they have been a pet for 1 or 2 years? Or will they lose their instincts to find food?
I have both and love them so much. They have a lot of needs that are necessary for them to grow. I keep the common in a 200 gallon and the baby alligator snapper in a 75
Great video man, I just bought a snapping turtle I don't know much about them like how many times do I feed them they are 2 baby's about the 2 inches I have them in a 50gallon tank and I own a 5 acer property were I will make their pond but just wonder how many time I should feed them
This channel is awesome. Never seen a bad video since I discovered it, and i've watched almost all of them. Awesome animals. The video so relaxing to watch and is so interesting to listen form me that i cant miss one, since i really like turtles and tortoises. Keep it up and thanks for the great work. Greetings from Italy! (where people is not allowed to keep Snapping Turtles :( )
I saw a huge snapping turtle with a shell almost 2 feet working it's way up a ditch full of water in Oklahoma when I was about 11 years old. I bet that turtle is still alive and now I am 58.
Great video as always. To what extent do you need to provide basking areas for any of the snapping turtles? Does that need change with age? Are there other species where basking needs are less important? Thanks!
@@GregsTurtleHaven I have had one of snappers for 2 years and one of my baby snappers I have is already growing faster. The baby still isn't as big but its growing super fast.
I eat, sleep, dream, & LIVE snapping turtles…. a LIFETIME of commons, literally, & Alligator Snappers for the past decade. I LOVE to share mine & teach folks about them!!😊😊🙂❤️🐢 (I AM an ultimate Snapping Turtle person, too!!! I live in a farm, & already am moving into my stock tanks!!❤️❤️)
Good on you for knowing your situation and resisting! Really, these turtles are best appreciated in the wild and they don’t make good pets for 99% of the public pet keeping crowd. You really have to love them, because your whole life will be dedicated to them
We live in a house in DE that backs on the Christiana River. Across the river is a suburban park we see all kinds of wildlife and lots of turtles. The snappers will be out and about soon…hope to see them. We have some big ole bruisers, too.
I hate when people get turtles, or any animal rather, and don't commit. It's sad when you go on Craigslist at all of the red eared sliders and snappers needed to be rehomed.
I found mine in my yard after a bird dropped him. He was the size of a quarter. Common Snapper. It's been a year and a couple months, and he's about a foot in shell length. He eats SO much, but I try not to let him get tooooo chubby (and he will if I let him). He's friendly and loves to be held and go for walks (being held) and he likes to romp outside when it's warm. I feed him mostly fresh caught local fish and some raw shrimp. When he was young he ate a lot of feeder fish, which he did for whatever reason keep some as "pets" so there are 5 feeder fish in his enclosure that have been there for a year or so. He's been a pretty great pet, honestly. He gets very excited to see me in the morning, and follows me around like a pup. Biggest things to note for others that are thinking of getting one of these... 1) I would not have chosen this pet, without another animal having failed to eat it in my back yard ( I do not live around water, actually in a city) 2) They will likely bite you, I am both lucky and cautious, in that I haven't been bitten. There was a near miss when hand feeding, but that was my fault for being dumb. 3) There is a very very high chance they won't take to you like mine has. So you'll likely have a grumpy gus (Mine gets very fussy sometimes with bath time after playing outside) 4) They grow SO fast be ready to invest in new enclosures. 5) Make sure you have a good set up and keep a nice place for them to hide. 6) If they're bulging out of their shell they're eating too much, feed them slightly less on the next meal. 7) Favorite foods - Early was mealworms for sure, then crickets (I tried keeping crickets, and never again) and dried river shrimp, now Fish for sure (I use local perch) and Raw whole shrimp 8) They spend ALL their time underwater. I really thought he would bask more, but he never ever comes out of the water on his own, unless he wants to be held. This could vary, I do not know. 9) Respect them, and don't stick your hands where they can get chomped (Basically the front half, even above the shell, they have LONG necks and will reach you) 10) Last thing... They have razor sharp claws, capable of decapitating small animals in a single swipe (watched it, was gross and awesome) so be aware. Wash after handling. Handle rarely, and they'll be most happy just hanging out in their enclosure. Hope this helps.
We had a super dry summer, 4 months no rain, a few years back in the North East so many of our steams were no longer running and pond water levels were way down. I was walking the dog on the weekend and discovered a hatchling in a school parking lot in peril. after looking around some more I found 14 more. Unfortunately 5 had succumbed to the heat. I had water and the dog's bowl with me so the remaining 10 went in there for the journey home. I was concerned these little guys were too weak to just release. My plan was to had them recup over the winter and release in the spring. So after a little research I made a home for them in my house using a concrete mixing trough, aquarium pump, stones, a few plants and proper lighting. They were fed greens, root veggies, shrimp and "pinkys"(baby mice), they didn't like tilapia. They also had a choice of live food small crayfish and minnows to satisfy their hunting instinct. I kept track of their size by using a laminated sheet with a 1 inch grid printed on it. So as stated in the video it can be pricey, I was fortunate enough to be able to put several hundred dollars into these guys for about 6 months. They all grew became strong and were released in the spring. I took pictures of all their plastrons so I can identify "my babies" if found in the future.
i used to be really scared of these guys, but when you showed their smaller ventral shell, it made sense why they would show their jaws. if course, makes them look bigger, but they’re being defensive! i actually went “aww” that’s so cute. complete flip :) 🐢🌷🌱 you are a really great guy. i loved how you talked about these turtles and how you handled them - chuckling at their huge jaws hanging open. thanks so much for this vid. i really enjoyed it :) 🌷🌿🌼🌱🌷
I just rescued an approximately 1.5 year old snapping turtle that was being kept in abysmal conditions - an inch of cold water, 1 small rock to climb on, no lighting of any sort. Neglected and starving. It's only been a day but he or she has been much more active, has enough water to swim for the first time in its life, and ate like royalty. I'm so happy I've saved him or her
There's a wild common snapper that lives in a marsh near an old folks home in Glenwood City WI. Every year she lays eggs near the road at the end of my grandparents' driveway. She's frickin huge!
Yes, their biggest display of stupidity is that they always lay their eggs in the loose gravel next to a busy highway, then leaves them. The eggs hatch. The hatchlings attempt to cross the street. Squish - goodbye baby turtle.
Good video. So glad to hear that the grow quite fast cause I just found a hatchling at my work. I am going to release it once he gets a little bigger so it doesn't just get gulped up by a small carp. Whew, I was thinking I was going to have to keep it for a while. Thanks
With a lot of handling and attention, they can become surprisingly tame. My 10 inch(carapace) female is quite handlable. I had a 5 foot Nile that would calm down after a mini wrestling match(me straddling his back) , then he would then cling calmly from my shoulder down to my waist as i walk around. My Alligator snapper is 16 inches(carapace), always ready to eat my hands. Quite easy to pick up though. Awesome vid dude!
Keeping them indoors with daily foot messages and head rubs has kept mine (17 yrs old) as friendly as any house pet. My 14 year old "youngster" once emerged with the dog's lost tennis ball from under a sofa. The dog went nuts when she saw the turtle with her tennis ball. To my amazement, the turtle used her beak to roll the ball to the dog. The dog rolled it back to the turtle, who in turn, rolled it back to the dog. They kept this up for about 10 minutes, until the dog picked up the ball and ran away with it. The turtle chased her to the farthest corner of the house, then they abruptly turned around, and the dog chased the turtle back to the sofa. I kid you not. I believe you lose that friendly interaction when they are kept outdoors with outdoor wildlife. They have proven their usefulness. My wife had a stroke a couple of years back and can no longer climb stairs. We sleep on sofas in opposite ends of the living room with the turtle aquariums in the middle. I always fear that my wife will fall during the night when she gets up to use the porta potty. My fears were quickly put to rest when the "youngster", (Frimson), loudly bangs her boney beak against the glass aquarium whenever my wife stirs at night alerting me to the fact that she is up and I need to assist her. The lazy dog claims "off duty" during these ... events...and sleeps thru it all.
I’ve got one but not on purpose. It found its way into my small pond about 10 years ago and over time ate everything. The pond is now a muddy mess and it’s a challenge to keep it out of the koi pond. I need to find a good home for it. Trying to clean the pond with it in there is impossible for me. Wouldn’t mind a musk turtle…. Once the pond is restored.
I think you live in Georgia like me. I have 2 common snappers I rescued my big one from walking across the street in the hood. It almost got hit by a car. I have had it for a year now. I have a pond and brought him in for winter cause I didn't think it live in my pond over the winter. Not sure of the gender. It is very aggressive but it loves chicken breast and raw shrimp and water Hyacinth is that ok to feed it. I have a few picks of its underneath can you tell me the gender?
I remember the last time i saw a snapper, all i saw was its head. It was HUUUGE!!! And i wasnt even close to it!! It was as big as a boulder! I wish i was being dramatic! He was gorgeous tho!
I've had my alligator snapper for 2 years now found it with a group of 5 red ear slider babies and its my fav pet he is so cool and amazing to watch him grow went from size of a quarter to bigger than my hand and he is chunky lol
Taking care of two little common snappers, they hatched two weeks ago. They still have the little egg yolk sack ( very tiny now). I bought the buffet blend food for aquatic turtles for now. Any idea when they will start to eat? Freeing them next spring.
Awesome and THANK YOU FOR YOUR KNOWLEDGE, I have some questions and would like some insight from a non biased opinion if at all possible.. THANK YOU AGAIN
Great educational post, a lot of great advice on why not to get a snapping turtle 👍 I learnt the hard way, when I committed to keeping a tiny handed into my local zoo as a rescue common Snapping Turtle, 18 years later I now have a 46.35cm Carapace 63lb monster, but I am OK with being the 1% you mentioned, willing to give him a 3000lt Aquarium to be able to move around and swim in comfortably. But I advise others not too, they just get to big🤔
Greg, I have a 10 month old common snapping turtle and he is already 5 to 6 inches. He is shedding scoots to the bone, but within a couple weeks the dark black scoot/skin grows back. I have had C.S.T's before but never saw this. I did give the water a wonder shell just before this happened, is that why? Have you ever seen this? B.T.W. I have him in a 125gal now but I have a 1,000 gal stock tank ready for when he gets bigger.
Very informative thank you. I just found a baby snapper in the middle of a parking lot on a cold rainy day in Michigan. I brought him home, watched a bunch of videos and have been doing the best I can with him. What should I do? Should I wait until he is a little bigger and release him in the wild? I don’t think he would survive on his own yet. I read that he may have been a late hatch since he was less than a month old in late October in Michigan.
Do you have land to make it a pond? I would kill to have a huge snapping turtle in my backyard to feed during barbecues . I would also kill for a backyard to barbecue in
Ya I started out 20 years ago with a new born snapper 10 gallon tank. Now 220 gallon tank for the last 5 years is to small .. You can't just let them go if you raise them since hatching . ITS A LIFE LONG COMMITMENT! If you can't do that don't get a turtle. Mine are in my will. I have 3. A 20 year old an 18 year old and a 13 year old ..560 gallons total 3 tanks. Next is a small pool in the garage.
My cousin surprised me one day with a baby snapper I just thought was all gangsta looking , the size of quarter but a little bigger. My mom was so deathly afraid of it that at that age it could bite my finger off that she forced me to give it away. And wow, where you live they sell them? In NY you can’t get shit out here!
65 years ago, growing up in NY, you could go to Woolworths. Right at the very front of the store, next to the large window, would be a huge turtle tub with hundreds of baby turtles. The state law changed since then because too many kids would buy them just to eat them whole! Also, too few people would properly take care of them.
When I was a little kid (60 years ago), I had a babysitter who had a snapping turtle. Coincidentally, the babysitter was born without a lower right arm. At 2 or 3 years old, I only knew...snapping turtle and arm missing below the elbow.
We found a turtle crawling across our garage floor a few years ago we still have him he has grown fairly slow. He was the size of a quarter when we found him now triple that size. I’m wondering how to winter turtles?
I don’t plan on getting a snapping turtle, but I still really enjoyed watching this video 👍🏻
Yeah don't get one. They are cool at first when they are small for about 1 year and after 2 years they make a mess in their tank and are dirty turtles. I had one for 3 years but managed to sell it on Craigslist lol
Me too I stumbled upon this and a great video cool responsible mostly enjoyable brother
Instead an owner, you become a zoo keeper.
Really appreciate your transparency on taking care of snapping turtles. It's very refreshing to hear a specialist such as yourself talk about the downside/difficulties of snapper care. Too many handlers say, "Oh, they're the best! You need to get one" whenever it comes to whatever turtle they are discussing.
A lot of folks want to be told it’s ok to get the cheap reptile, and do the minimum to keep it, but that’s not a real life for the animal
Completely agree, & I really appreciate offering up ALTERNATIVE turtles, like the musk turtle!!🙂🙂🐢
Think about this? Do any turtles make good pets? No are they ok display animals, yes. Bottom line, no sugar coating it, most people do not have the means to care for aquatic turtles in general.
As a snake guy who's pondering turtles I really appreciate this.
Stick with Smaller turtles as Suggested ! and Yes Some turtles make great pets ! I’ve had 3 box turtles For 27 yrs ! That were on a Highway in Jersey ! Diet is important !
The means? It is often more about the discipline and the loyalty. Anyone can pick up a turtle and do a trial basis with him or her and put them back in the wild. I disagree with your bottom line.
Could you buy a kiddie pool and put a few turtles in it and make a habitat for them really inexpensively? Yes, you can. Education comes with confidence, and that too often overshadows the creativity that should be encouraged. Creativity and possibilities can ease the comfort level and budget experience.
Yes the means as in enough water volume to dilute it's own waste for example. Theres little excuses for poor husbandry with turtles. And the best way around it is to keep a box turtle if you really have to have one. People keep Oscar's in 60 gallon aquariums minimum filled to the brim with 10x filtration because of water quality issues. If you think water quality doesn't impact turtles like fish you definitely should be sticking to leopard geckos and beardies.
I stand by what I said and anyone with an ounce of compassion gets it.
Yeah you're white
Great educator which shows the respect you have for the animals!
We had a common snapper lay her eggs in our garden once, got to assist the babies to the nearby pond and away from our dogs too. It was a fun and beautiful experience and probably the only snapper experience I'll have, looks like were team musk turtle..such a great video!
I used to have this 45lb Beast. He'd never bite(except when first caught)I'd catch him every year. I had this huge old hotel bath tub. Called the "turtle tub". Any leftovers/frogs/road kill/My sister's dead rabbit(she never knew)etc. was food. My mom had this huge left over roast beef that sat in the basement cooler for over a month. I decided to give him a huge beef meal. It was gone really quick. Of course mom went down one day to get the roast & have me take it to the butcher for trimming & slicing. "Damn, where's that roast? I put it down here last month." In less than 2 min. my hair was blowing in the wind from my mom's screaming at me. I can't print it, but it was still funny to this day.
You didn't think she knew lol 😆 😂 🤣 😅 💀 🙄 😆
@@angelchavez458 That roast was in the cooler for a very long time. It was turtle food as far as I was concerned.
@@keithm1138 I was just kidding my mom rip had all these sandwiches from a get together with her friends won't say they will be passed off gave all off it to a mother staff terrier and pups under the porch my mom didn't know got the hell beT out of me when she heard those pups crying that night she went down and saw them called her friends they all came they took them all home happy ending some time you gotta take one for the time 586 cypress ave still there go down the alley right side first house on the right Rodriguez family around the corner i and my sister hed the crown and flowers for Becky at her quinsera she was crowned princess I was 4 my sister 6 T divine savior church idel and cypress ave love that family all ways and flaco he wS a mentor to me at that age respect and blessings 🙏 ❤
We rescued a snapping turtle (alligator) from a ditch where some kids were throwing bottles at it. We got there just in time, and it wasn't seriously injured. We had a section of land not far outside of town, but we couldn't go out there every single day. The land had a nice little creek running through it which we hadn't been channelized and always had plenty of water in it. We had seen snappers out there, and we figured we could turn it loose out there as soon as we had time to get out there. In the mean time, we kept in the bathtub for the two weeks it took until we were able to get out there and turn him loose. We fed him on fish we had caught out there and had in the freezer. He ate quite well during those two weeks. I like to think every time I see a big snapper poke his head out of the water out there that maybe it was our guy that we rescued and then turned loose out there as soon as we could. There's plenty of habitat and food for it out there. That was probably about 50 years ago, and since I don't know how long they live, I may not be seeing our guy, but I like to hope things went well for him. And every now and then we will see a real gargantuan turtle poke his head out of the water now and again. We wanted him to be free and wild with only the standard risks of nature to deal with.
🐢❤️
We get huge common snappers in my area in Minnesota. They’re fun to help across the road. I often keep a shovel in my car during the summer for that reason because they’re not the most cooperative animals.
Thankless
I saw a humongous one while driving to Woodbury MN. We were driving through miles and miles of corn and out in the middle of nowhere we see a good sized dog in the road. It turned out to be a humongous Common Snapping Turtle , I didn't think that they got that big. It must have been at it close to the limit for the species. I got out and made sure that it made it across the road safely.
I live in Woodbury and one was literally knocking on my door with its shell. It was huge. I carried it back down to Powers Lake.
Definitely an impressive and tempting species, but all my research keeps telling me that it’s not the right turtle for me. I’ll stick to my Reeve’s turtle and my musk turtles! Thanks Greg!
Musks are all you need 😂👍🏼
I did not know Christopher Reeve had his own turtle species named after him. RIP superman turtle
Looking into an alligator snapping turtle and found this. I've owned common snappers and can't wait to get an alligator snapper. Thanks alot for putting this up bro
I have an AST. It took years of planning and preparation before I got him. He turns 4 this September. He was recently upgraded to a larger custom tank and I plan to build an indoor pond for him in a few years. (temps get to low in my area to keep them outside year round) I am VERY fortunate that a local bait shop carries live blue gill that his tank remains stocked with and fed a premium diet so he gets only the best. Crayfish, catfish, tilapia, silver-sides, cod, and shrimp are routinely cycled as part of his diet. Great video, very educational and I respect your ability to appreciate these animals without sensationalism. A no nonsense realistic level of expectation is what any animal deserves when it comes to educating people about their care. great job!
As a "turtle fan" and care taker for 11 Tortoises , I really enjoyed your take on The snapper Family. Loved your honesty and approach to this pet topic. Very much enjoyed this video sir :)
Thank you for watching!
I had a common snapping turtle for about 5 years before giving him to a friend when moving away. It never tried to bite me and loved getting it's shell brushed and head rubbed. It would follow me around the yard, was a awesome pet.
At exactly 11:32 in this video. Tilt your screen and look closely behind his shoulder. A lil bush just slowly but randomly begins to disappear. Lol like it literally got dragged down and out of view but something. 😂😂😂
Definitely a turtle.
Dude! 😮 what the…???
I love my alligator snapper. He is easily the best pet I have ever owned, while he is a handful and while he requires alot of space, I'd recommend everyone look into getting one.
WE LOVE SNAPPING TURTLE VIDEOS!!!
Great vid and really informative. Grabbing a snapping turtle is not something I'd want to do for laughs. A few years back, driving through Ontario, I stopped to shoo this moss covered monster with a 12-15 inch shell off the highway and he/she surprised me with its ferocity. It hissed really loud...more like a growl really.... I thought, "With a little more amplification, is this how dinosaurs sounded?" I was also impressed at the length of its tail, very alligator-like.
I have a small Alligator Snapping Turtle , he's active for a little while in the afternoon , once he catches his fish he goes back in his cave and sleeps until about 10 PM , at night I can see him swimming around by the LED bubbler and the LEd Volcano bubbler , he surfs the glass in the tank for a while and I presume that he also hunts. He's usually back in his cave before I get up in the morning. Every now and then he will bask in the daytime. One thing that I did to make things a little more interesting was to put some really pretty fish in his tank. Some Mollies , Rainbow Sharks , fancy guppies, and some others that I forget the names of. I have s separate tank to raise the fish babies in. I also have a bunch of shiners for him to eat. The shiners keep him from eating the pretty fish for the most part. Every now and then he will get a guppy but not so much. I put some pretty snails in for interest and to help clean and I have a lot of filtration , My Turtle is still a baby , I handle him regularly for a couple of minutes at a time and it seems like he enjoys having his head scratched. He's never opened his mouth when I handle him , I make sure to be gentle , move slowly , and put him back in his tank before he gets stressed out. Hopefully he will stay cool and mellow as he ages. I say " he " , for all I know it could be a girl Turtle.
you really love your little guy (or girl :). that’s so great. i guess, you treat them like any pet. they all need patience and calm. cats really do. the only pets you can play rough with are dogs, but even they need patience and calm a lot of the time. have fun with your turtle and give him a little head scratch for me. :) 🐶 🐕 🌷🌱
@@feralbluee You can play rough with bears, big cats, monkeys and apes. I wouldn't. But you can.
@@feralbluee , Thank you ! Just like with my Rottweilers, I have to respect him for what he is . He's never going to be a lap dog , and they are always going to be guardians. I love them for what they are.
@@rottweilerfun9520 well said :) 🐕🦺🐕🌷🌱
Everyone: only downside is their size
Me: the only downside is they take so long to get massive
Great stuff, love to see some well cared for snappers :D
My common snapping turtle is almost 3 yrs old and weighs 17lbs but i feed her large turtle pellets salmon and shrimp
Greg, dude, you had me rolling @6:21 🤣
Excellent video loaded with some valuable information that I hope lands on the right ears. You also did a great job at conveying why you’re a likable personality with obvious passion for these animals. Wrapping up the video with the musk turtle suggestions was top notch. All in all, this is a really really good video that fits well with the message of your channel. Cheers my dude!
same here 🤣
I had snapping turtles as a kid thru out my adult life from hatchling to the size of 25lbs! Honestly if I didn’t have these turtles as a kid! I would be terrified to start having them while I’m an adult!
That’s crazy! SAME here!! my dad kept small & baby ones since before I was born, & thus I have literally had them my entire life!!! I LOVE THEM …. I started keeping ALSO getting Alligator Snappers about 10 years ago. & I LOVE them so much!!!🙂🙂❤️🐢 I am VERY glad I am not the only one!!
@@turtlejeepjen314 👍🏽
trying to make my own TH-cam channel mainly geared towards how beautiful reptiles are. Ive uploaded 3 videos so far and I currently own fresh and saltwater tanks, turtle tubs and just recently added two Stigmachelys pardalis Babcocki to my family. You are such an inspiration and I love the passion for the turtles (that are also my favorite species) in your videos!! Keep up the good positive work!
Thanks for watching and glad I can help light the creative fire! 👊🏼
need a tame adult female?
We have a creek behind our house with a deck which extends out over the water. We have two snapping turtles which have taken up residence near us. Along either side 13 other hard shells plus two lager heads ( they are so fast it's unbelievable) we enjoy the presence of these magnificent creatures.
My sister had a snapping turtle... my sister wanted to release him into the wild but couldn't part with him
He later got sick and passed away. He was only 11 years old. We hoped he would live 30 or 40 years so that time we had felt too short.
RIP "Big Foot" 🐢
great video as usually i am about to finish my 300 gallon stock tank pond for my snapper
It’s fun to build up a stock tank
@@GregsTurtleHaven it really is so fun
I, too, AM a Snapping Turtle Person, & it is a true honor to share my life with them.
(I also live on a retired farm, & am ready for more stock tanks!)
💚💚🐢
Hey Greg! I haven't been keeping up with my TH-cam subscriptions for a super long time so I haven't seen your videos in a while! Watched this while I clean out my dubias, and man, I was just reminded of why I subscribed to you in the first place! Top notch, high quality footage and wonderful and informative commentary. Very, very impressive stuff. I'm definitely proud to have your AST skull t-shirt! Too cool. Best wishes dude! Keep it up!
might have to catch up on your other vids!
There are common snapping turtles that have bonded with their Hoomans. They the act like puppies 🤣
I had one for 15 years that climbed on my bed and walked through the house. I have to give him up when I moved :'(
Ny gator snapper is like thay
Like Roger on TH-cam.
@@frostbitetheannunakiiceind6574 post a video
Yes! My baby doesnt open his mouth like this when held. I love on him and talk to him. Had him for 5 years.
Hi from France. Thanks for your advice and nice setups. Here the common and alligator snapping turtle requires a certificate of capacity to own them and we find them more and more in nature because of irresponsible release . Very interesting video. I can say a 2inch baby common snapping grows to 10 inch in one and half year if well fed. Very impressive grow rate.
First time ever hearing about your channel really enjoyed the video, very knowledgeable and professional
Thanks!!
great explanation of what is required and the commitment needed
snappers are are perfect imo, easy food u can feed them pretty much anything, the only down side is they grow so big :")
You shouldn't just feed them anything though. Try to give them what they would have in the wild. Just because they will eat something doesn't mean that it's good for them.
You say that they "grow big"? So did you when you were young, but I bet your parents didn't throw you out into the wild when you got a foot or two long.
Another great video Greg!
I was wondering if you could do a video (or provide the link if you already did) on the proper setup of a stock tank including filtration. My eventual goal is to build a pond for my common snapper but am curious about proper stock tank setup too.
I have a baby alligator that came up from our pond and was walking across our driveway. I will release the little fellow in a couple of days back into the pond.
I have a 17 year old 3 striped mud turtle I’ve raised from a hatchling. He has quite an ornery personality. He can be nice went he wants something tho. Lol
My snapper is very tame he lets me pet his face and neck like he will actually walk up to me, slowly extend his neck and will literally not leave untill I've scratched his itch of gave him head pats.
*turtle* PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me get in at least ONE BITE!!! 🙂❤️🐢
i have had a common snapper for about a year and half now. it has become pretty good to handle and is still a super aggressive eater. love it as a pet
I have an alligator snapping turtle hatchling. He’s beautiful.
There is an alligator snapping turtle in a reptile place in East Texas that was on Dirty Jobs that has a musket ball in its shell from the civil war! They are not really sure how old he is but he is awesome!!
Never saw that
Fantastic video, man.
i went into this video knowing the answer but i just wanted to watch anyways LMAO
Great video Greg!
I jumped when he snapped at the camera lol
That was a great video. Thanks for sharing.
Great video I am going to get a snapping turtle soon
Gotta love snappers, I love my common snapper, I can't wait till I can get an alligator snapper
Great video!
thanks for watching!
Can a common snapper be released into the wild, where they are native, after they have been a pet for 1 or 2 years? Or will they lose their instincts to find food?
I have both and love them so much. They have a lot of needs that are necessary for them to grow. I keep the common in a 200 gallon and the baby alligator snapper in a 75
Great video man, I just bought a snapping turtle I don't know much about them like how many times do I feed them they are 2 baby's about the 2 inches I have them in a 50gallon tank and I own a 5 acer property were I will make their pond but just wonder how many time I should feed them
so helpful 🙏
Very interesting, very informative, very good video, thanks for the education.
This channel is awesome. Never seen a bad video since I discovered it, and i've watched almost all of them. Awesome animals. The video so relaxing to watch and is so interesting to listen form me that i cant miss one, since i really like turtles and tortoises. Keep it up and thanks for the great work. Greetings from Italy! (where people is not allowed to keep Snapping Turtles :( )
I saw a huge snapping turtle with a shell almost 2 feet working it's way up a ditch full of water in Oklahoma when I was about 11 years old. I bet that turtle is still alive and now I am 58.
Great video as always. To what extent do you need to provide basking areas for any of the snapping turtles? Does that need change with age? Are there other species where basking needs are less important? Thanks!
I’ve never had any bask, other than a female hauling out after brumation. I provide the young ones things they can bask on, but they don’t use it
@@GregsTurtleHaven common snappers love to bask occasionally.
Common snappers are my favorite species. And I have 3 of them.
Going to be big turtles!
@@GregsTurtleHaven yes sir
@@GregsTurtleHaven I have had one of snappers for 2 years and one of my baby snappers I have is already growing faster. The baby still isn't as big but its growing super fast.
Same
I eat, sleep, dream, & LIVE snapping turtles…. a LIFETIME of commons, literally, & Alligator Snappers for the past decade. I LOVE to share mine & teach folks about them!!😊😊🙂❤️🐢
(I AM an ultimate Snapping Turtle person, too!!! I live in a farm, & already am moving into my stock tanks!!❤️❤️)
Did anyone else jump when that adult male snapped? Lol.
I did!
Your a good man Sir. Great Videos Always
Really cool video! Beautiful animals that definitely command a lot of respect. I subscribed!
Thanks! 👊🏼❤️
At a local flee market years ago a guy was selling baby Alligator Snappers for $35. Glad I didn't buy one though. Could of never kept it long term.
Good on you for knowing your situation and resisting! Really, these turtles are best appreciated in the wild and they don’t make good pets for 99% of the public pet keeping crowd. You really have to love them, because your whole life will be dedicated to them
@@GregsTurtleHaven Thanks bro. Where can I send you a pic of my Razorbacks shell to see if it's mineral deposit or something else? Thanks.
We live in a house in DE that backs on the Christiana River. Across the river is a suburban park we see all kinds of wildlife and lots of turtles. The snappers will be out and about soon…hope to see them. We have some big ole bruisers, too.
I hate when people get turtles, or any animal rather, and don't commit. It's sad when you go on Craigslist at all of the red eared sliders and snappers needed to be rehomed.
Sadly that seems to happen more than people keeping them for life
I found mine in my yard after a bird dropped him. He was the size of a quarter. Common Snapper. It's been a year and a couple months, and he's about a foot in shell length. He eats SO much, but I try not to let him get tooooo chubby (and he will if I let him). He's friendly and loves to be held and go for walks (being held) and he likes to romp outside when it's warm. I feed him mostly fresh caught local fish and some raw shrimp. When he was young he ate a lot of feeder fish, which he did for whatever reason keep some as "pets" so there are 5 feeder fish in his enclosure that have been there for a year or so. He's been a pretty great pet, honestly. He gets very excited to see me in the morning, and follows me around like a pup.
Biggest things to note for others that are thinking of getting one of these...
1) I would not have chosen this pet, without another animal having failed to eat it in my back yard ( I do not live around water, actually in a city)
2) They will likely bite you, I am both lucky and cautious, in that I haven't been bitten. There was a near miss when hand feeding, but that was my fault for being dumb.
3) There is a very very high chance they won't take to you like mine has. So you'll likely have a grumpy gus (Mine gets very fussy sometimes with bath time after playing outside)
4) They grow SO fast be ready to invest in new enclosures.
5) Make sure you have a good set up and keep a nice place for them to hide.
6) If they're bulging out of their shell they're eating too much, feed them slightly less on the next meal.
7) Favorite foods - Early was mealworms for sure, then crickets (I tried keeping crickets, and never again) and dried river shrimp, now Fish for sure (I use local perch) and Raw whole shrimp
8) They spend ALL their time underwater. I really thought he would bask more, but he never ever comes out of the water on his own, unless he wants to be held. This could vary, I do not know.
9) Respect them, and don't stick your hands where they can get chomped (Basically the front half, even above the shell, they have LONG necks and will reach you)
10) Last thing... They have razor sharp claws, capable of decapitating small animals in a single swipe (watched it, was gross and awesome) so be aware.
Wash after handling. Handle rarely, and they'll be most happy just hanging out in their enclosure. Hope this helps.
We had a super dry summer, 4 months no rain, a few years back in the North East so many of our steams were no longer running and pond water levels were way down. I was walking the dog on the weekend and discovered a hatchling in a school parking lot in peril. after looking around some more I found 14 more. Unfortunately 5 had succumbed to the heat. I had water and the dog's bowl with me so the remaining 10 went in there for the journey home. I was concerned these little guys were too weak to just release. My plan was to had them recup over the winter and release in the spring. So after a little research I made a home for them in my house using a concrete mixing trough, aquarium pump, stones, a few plants and proper lighting. They were fed greens, root veggies, shrimp and "pinkys"(baby mice), they didn't like tilapia. They also had a choice of live food small crayfish and minnows to satisfy their hunting instinct. I kept track of their size by using a laminated sheet with a 1 inch grid printed on it. So as stated in the video it can be pricey, I was fortunate enough to be able to put several hundred dollars into these guys for about 6 months. They all grew became strong and were released in the spring. I took pictures of all their plastrons so I can identify "my babies" if found in the future.
Indoor koi ponds they are cheap and affordable plus they are see through
Those look like dragons in the thumbnail.
I just got a baby common snapper. It's in a 75 gallon aquarium. Do I need a tank heater?
Do spiny softshell turtle care next please
i used to be really scared of these guys, but when you showed their smaller ventral shell, it made sense why they would show their jaws. if course, makes them look bigger, but they’re being defensive! i actually went “aww” that’s so cute. complete flip :) 🐢🌷🌱
you are a really great guy. i loved how you talked about these turtles and how you handled them - chuckling at their huge jaws hanging open. thanks so much for this vid. i really enjoyed it :) 🌷🌿🌼🌱🌷
"Should I call you bullet? Tooth?"
"You can call me Susan if it makes you happy"
Awesome video as usually and yes snappers are alot of work
I seen one crossing the road in the middle of the night I turned around so that it would not get ran over
I just rescued an approximately 1.5 year old snapping turtle that was being kept in abysmal conditions - an inch of cold water, 1 small rock to climb on, no lighting of any sort. Neglected and starving. It's only been a day but he or she has been much more active, has enough water to swim for the first time in its life, and ate like royalty. I'm so happy I've saved him or her
Great video
Great video. Very helpful. I love turtles and would love to raise some a snapper or 2. Thank you for the info
There's a wild common snapper that lives in a marsh near an old folks home in Glenwood City WI.
Every year she lays eggs near the road at the end of my grandparents' driveway.
She's frickin huge!
Yes, their biggest display of stupidity is that they always lay their eggs in the loose gravel next to a busy highway, then leaves them. The eggs hatch. The hatchlings attempt to cross the street. Squish - goodbye baby turtle.
Up here in the frozen north you can usually nab steep discounts on stocks starting around December/January. 1000g were $280.
Dang! Send those down here 😂
Good video. So glad to hear that the grow quite fast cause I just found a hatchling at my work. I am going to release it once he gets a little bigger so it doesn't just get gulped up by a small carp. Whew, I was thinking I was going to have to keep it for a while. Thanks
I literally jumped back when he snapped at the camera lol. My heart is racing
With a lot of handling and attention, they can become surprisingly tame. My 10 inch(carapace) female is quite handlable. I had a 5 foot Nile that would calm down after a mini wrestling match(me straddling his back) , then he would then cling calmly from my shoulder down to my waist as i walk around. My Alligator snapper is 16 inches(carapace), always ready to eat my hands. Quite easy to pick up though. Awesome vid dude!
Keeping them indoors with daily foot messages and head rubs has kept mine (17 yrs old) as friendly as any house pet. My 14 year old "youngster" once emerged with the dog's lost tennis ball from under a sofa. The dog went nuts when she saw the turtle with her tennis ball. To my amazement, the turtle used her beak to roll the ball to the dog. The dog rolled it back to the turtle, who in turn, rolled it back to the dog. They kept this up for about 10 minutes, until the dog picked up the ball and ran away with it. The turtle chased her to the farthest corner of the house, then they abruptly turned around, and the dog chased the turtle back to the sofa. I kid you not. I believe you lose that friendly interaction when they are kept outdoors with outdoor wildlife. They have proven their usefulness. My wife had a stroke a couple of years back and can no longer climb stairs. We sleep on sofas in opposite ends of the living room with the turtle aquariums in the middle. I always fear that my wife will fall during the night when she gets up to use the porta potty. My fears were quickly put to rest when the "youngster", (Frimson), loudly bangs her boney beak against the glass aquarium whenever my wife stirs at night alerting me to the fact that she is up and I need to assist her. The lazy dog claims "off duty" during these ... events...and sleeps thru it all.
I’ve got one but not on purpose. It found its way into my small pond about 10 years ago and over time ate everything. The pond is now a muddy mess and it’s a challenge to keep it out of the koi pond. I need to find a good home for it. Trying to clean the pond with it in there is impossible for me. Wouldn’t mind a musk turtle…. Once the pond is restored.
I think you live in Georgia like me. I have 2 common snappers I rescued my big one from walking across the street in the hood. It almost got hit by a car. I have had it for a year now. I have a pond and brought him in for winter cause I didn't think it live in my pond over the winter. Not sure of the gender. It is very aggressive but it loves chicken breast and raw shrimp and water Hyacinth is that ok to feed it. I have a few picks of its underneath can you tell me the gender?
I luv my turtles 🐢💜
I remember the last time i saw a snapper, all i saw was its head. It was HUUUGE!!! And i wasnt even close to it!! It was as big as a boulder! I wish i was being dramatic! He was gorgeous tho!
I've had my alligator snapper for 2 years now found it with a group of 5 red ear slider babies and its my fav pet he is so cool and amazing to watch him grow went from size of a quarter to bigger than my hand and he is chunky lol
How can I get a permit for a gator snapper in Illinois? I’ve been looking everywhere to find some information but can’t find hardly anything.
Taking care of two little common snappers, they hatched two weeks ago. They still have the little egg yolk sack ( very tiny now). I bought the buffet blend food for aquatic turtles for now. Any idea when they will start to eat? Freeing them next spring.
Awesome and THANK YOU FOR YOUR KNOWLEDGE,
I have some questions and would like some insight from a non biased opinion if at all possible..
THANK YOU AGAIN
Great educational post, a lot of great advice on why not to get a snapping turtle 👍
I learnt the hard way, when I committed to keeping a tiny handed into my local zoo as a rescue common Snapping Turtle, 18 years later I now have a 46.35cm Carapace 63lb monster, but I am OK with being the 1% you mentioned, willing to give him a 3000lt Aquarium to be able to move around and swim in comfortably.
But I advise others not too, they just get to big🤔
They make great ambassador animals!
Greg, I have a 10 month old common snapping turtle and he is already 5 to 6 inches. He is shedding scoots to the bone, but within a couple weeks the dark black scoot/skin grows back. I have had C.S.T's before but never saw this. I did give the water a wonder shell just before this happened, is that why?
Have you ever seen this?
B.T.W.
I have him in a 125gal now but I have a 1,000 gal stock tank ready for when he gets bigger.
We have a few in our neighborhood. They grow fast if they are fed properly. Proper food gets expensive.
Very informative thank you. I just found a baby snapper in the middle of a parking lot on a cold rainy day in Michigan. I brought him home, watched a bunch of videos and have been doing the best I can with him. What should I do? Should I wait until he is a little bigger and release him in the wild? I don’t think he would survive on his own yet. I read that he may have been a late hatch since he was less than a month old in late October in Michigan.
Release where you found it in the spring
@@GregsTurtleHaven ok thank you very much.
Do you have land to make it a pond? I would kill to have a huge snapping turtle in my backyard to feed during barbecues .
I would also kill for a backyard to barbecue in
Ya I started out 20 years ago with a new born snapper 10 gallon tank. Now 220 gallon tank for the last 5 years is to small .. You can't just let them go if you raise them since hatching . ITS A LIFE LONG COMMITMENT! If you can't do that don't get a turtle. Mine are in my will. I have 3. A 20 year old an 18 year old and a 13 year old ..560 gallons total 3 tanks. Next is a small pool in the garage.
My cousin surprised me one day with a baby snapper I just thought was all gangsta looking , the size of quarter but a little bigger. My mom was so deathly afraid of it that at that age it could bite my finger off that she forced me to give it away. And wow, where you live they sell them? In NY you can’t get shit out here!
65 years ago, growing up in NY, you could go to Woolworths. Right at the very front of the store, next to the large window, would be a huge turtle tub with hundreds of baby turtles. The state law changed since then because too many kids would buy them just to eat them whole! Also, too few people would properly take care of them.
When I was a little kid (60 years ago), I had a babysitter who had a snapping turtle. Coincidentally, the babysitter was born without a lower right arm. At 2 or 3 years old, I only knew...snapping turtle and arm missing below the elbow.
We found a turtle crawling across our garage floor a few years ago we still have him he has grown fairly slow. He was the size of a quarter when we found him now triple that size. I’m wondering how to winter turtles?
You should never take a turtle from the wild.
Well done!
Thank you!
My favorite turtle is the one in front of me. I can watch them forever.