Does anybody on here have a Turtle?

[rizzy]

I have a little snapper and his name is Speedy. We've had him for a few months now.



The rest of the pics are blurry.

I was just wondering, because i dont here about any.

[Dogz]

Nope, I don't have any turtles.

Julie (GoldenRetrLuver) has six desert tortoises, but not turtles.

I am glad that Speedy is doing well, rizzy. Thanks for sharing the pictures!

[BitsyNaceyDog]

I have 3 sulcata tortoises.

[rizzy]

really thats cool, can you post some pics? Do they have names?

[kingrattus]

I'm the only person on here who owns a Common Snapping Turtle as a pet. Welcome to being #2!!!

I hope you understand what your getting into. Feeding them is gross, well as at first anyway.

Axle was no bigger then a Canadian Loonie when I got him. & he's now 4 years old & weighs 15 pounds.

2 months old



& now


Last year he was able to eat 6 full grown mice at one sitting (I don't feed him that much often, only as a big treat)

Ur little guy needs to eat daily & he needs to eat new born mice. He needs the whole body to get all the vitamins he needs. When he gets to about 5 pounds start him on vitamin suppliments. Cause when he gets to about 10 pounds he can start having problems walking. I didn't know this & found out the hard way. Luckly Axle doesn't walk around often so the vitamins were able to build up his bones again, so he could walk around outta water.

I'm starting up a reptile forum. If you ask questions there I'll reply to them.

link is under my pics. just pm me on here if u r gonna post something on my forum.

[kingrattus]

I know the USA has loads of laws about what kind of pet ypu can have. Do u know if u can even have him?? u just might wanna find out before u get into big doo doo.

In Canada u can have Common Snapping Turtles because they r pests. But u cannot have Aligator Snapping Turtles cause they r endangered or something like that.

Remember Play with him ALOT, & Snapping Turtles r Pitt Bulls. Their Jaws LOCK!!! The more u pull, the longer he'll hold on. u'll have to relax & pinch his tail as hard as u need to to get him off. Pinch near the butt or the very tip of the tail. & as soon as he lets go, move ur finger FAST.

Axle has never bitten or any human or pet (the dogs sniff him all the time & Cadeau has licked him.
Do a test, get him pissed, & let him bite something soft. then try pinching his tail & see what works best.

For Axle its his butt, for RB Sniper is was the tip (ice storm killed him, no had power).

[rizzy]

Your guy is only 4 years old! Wow he's big. I feed him turtle food from Wal-mart right now. He has already grown, the pics I have are most recent ones. Thats really cool that Axle doesnt bite. Whenever I clean his cage that he is in now I let him run around and play with him. I have to find out if we can even have a snapper as a pet. I hope because isnt it true if you name something you fall in love with it, I just love Speedy. Well thanks alot for sharing and I will be at your reptile forum.

[Doggirl]

I have a Box Turtle, I can remember how old he is though.

Here are the only two pictures I have of him.



and



His name is Martog.

[kingrattus]

Turtle pellets r not good for a snapper. Hes not getting what he needs, its made for red eared sliders. Its ok for feed him that & new born mice, but he needs all the insides of the newborn mice to start healthy.

I'll get into more detail on my forum

[tatsxxx11]

Zippy and Thelma Lou have turtles have turtles but I'm pretty sure they're not snappers! I know Thelma's isn't In Mass. it's illegeal to keep a snapping turtle as a pet, I believe. Wow, they're huge! Watch your fingers and good luck

[QueenScoopalot]

I have three turtles now, two red-eared sliders, and a common musk turtle. All were rescues from crummy setups of childrens. They weren't being cared for properly by any means. I had a painted turtle I just released a month ago, as she's a native species. I had a baby common snapper five or so years ago. I took it home for the winter, and it grew from the size of a penny (carapace/upper shell) to the size of a cigarette pack by the following July. After doing an exhibit at "Kids Day", we all waved goodbye and released "Ed" back into the pond it came from. Hopefully he/she is doing well, but it was fun watching this critter grow so fast. I don't like keeping native species captive for any length of time though. The sliders, and musk turtle will have to fly south LOL!

[BitsyNaceyDog]

Here is a couple pictures off my guys

"Timmy" is the larger one, he is 5 years old (I think, I can't quite remember)
and the little ones are "Split and Spot", they are about 9 months old.




They reach maturity at 8- 10 years old. Sulcatas are the third largest tortoise in the world. They are the largest mainland tortoise.

[kingrattus]

tatsxxx11: it's illegeal to keep a snapping turtle as a pet, I believe.
-----------------

Not in Canada. I've looked at several websites & all say the same thing, No to: Aligator Snapping Turtle, Box Turtle, Leather Back Turtle. It says nothing at all About Common Snapping Turtles, beacuse they are pests & u can have a pest as a pet. Thats why u can have a Prairy Dog as a pet. But not a racoon Skunks r pets too. I don't understand the difference between a racoon & a skunk, but whatever, the Canadian government is funny that way.

[dogs_4_me]

I've had various painted turtles in my life, one that died about a year ago named Speedy aswell. I've had others that lived in my fishpond to. They are great pets and very cute!

[kingrattus]

QueenScoopalot u released turtles back onto the wild? Why did u do that??

Esp. the snapping turtle?? If u have a turtle since a hatchling & then keep it over the winter, its wont survive on its own! & its stupid to release a dangerous animal back into the wild who no longer fears humans (if it happened to survive).

The only turtles u should release r adult wild caught; brought back to health, & who haven't had lots of human contact & catch food on their own.

& if ur in canada, u cannot release pets into the wild without permission or if u had it a short time (a month or 2). not the whole winter.

Sorry about being so angry, but what I got from ur post is making me angry.