A new snapping turtle in the family?

[Chilli]

Are you positive its really a tame turtle? Not just a wild caught one used as a pet?
If able, I think it might be best for him to be released into the wild if thats where he came from. Don't turtles learn how to fend for themselves at a young age?
Anyway, if it isn't wild, then I know King2005 can give you loads of info.
Good luck!

[IRescue452]

I'm sure it was once wild caught, aren't all snappers? I don't know of any pet market for snappers, at least not in WI. I'm almost positive she'll decide to let it go, but for now she's going to try keeping it. We are able to handle it without being snapped at at all so its pretty tame.

[king2005]

First off, DO NOT set him free!!! It'll be its death!!! If its been hand raised it will not have the proper imune system that wild snappers have, also no it wont do well feeding its self.. If it use to eating a good quality food, then it wont do well on its own as it will not get the nutrition its use to, causing it to get ill & die. Also if its tame as you say, it'll be an easy meal for a hungry animal, as it wont know how to defend its self properly (as in fast enough).. also if its use to people feeding it, it might go looking for people to get food from & people will think its wild & will think something is wrong with it & kill it. its more then likely illegal to set it free anyways. It might have some health issues & then setting it free could make other snappers or other turtles ill & kill off a huge amount of turtles!

ok for info..

Your right with the food list. Any small animal, fish & birds are good. It might be an idea to buy 1 live hopper & 1 frozen hopper. It all depends on how its been fed before. Axle will eat live & dead. Miss. Turtle will NOT eat live. If her meal blinks she'll fear it, a small crayfish was able to beat her up & shes a 20p snapper & the bug was winning!! So it really does depend oh how it was raised.

Put it in room temp water covering its shell by a couple inches. Keep the water this shallow until you know its healthy & wont drown. Snappers also can ONLY eat under water. They will choak if they try to eat out of the water.

For now, try feeding him cold chunks of hot dog & raw hamburger & raw chicken. After he feeds change its water unless you have a top of the line filter.

ONLY for now, feed him daily as much as he wants for 2 weeks. then go to every second day for a week, then every 3rd day for a week & so on until you get it down to eatting once a week. This is to help save its liver. Since it'll be eatting a good diet, if its over fed you can kill its liver. This is why most snappers in human care die at 20yrs of age. A snapper should live 50+ yrs.

Next you need to find out what sex the turtle is. get photos of his tail + private area for me.. then get photos of it on its back & then pick of its back.. then pics of its head & beak. SO I can check to see if its healthy & what species it is, as there are 3 species.

If its ill it'll be friendly. so BECAREFUL cause it could turn into a monster over night when it gets better!

For light, I just use a regular light as most snappers do not bask. But taking it outside for daily walks is GREAT!! Just set it in a sunny patch in the grass. Don't worry if he doesn't come out of his shell, cause it my not be use to the grass & its scared to death, but the sun is still good for it.. leave it in the sun for an hour.. But a snapper can survive weeks out of water, so do not fear it dying out of water for a few hours.

Do watch its claws. Those things can slice you open like a hot knife through butter!! & the infections you'll get will hurt like HELL! I perposelly didn't treat my infections, as I needed to build up a resistance to it, as Axle will be with me for so many more years.

Keep it away from anyone under 12yrs of age, as the bacteria they carry have a higher chance of harming/killing anyone under 12 & over 60 years of age. There is only 1 guy over 60 that I'll let go near & handle Axle, because he has had snappers for SO many years, he already has his immune system built up for the bacteria. I'm already immune to it to, so raw chicken is less likely to harm me.. take that bacteria!! hehe

oh almost forgot.. go buy 20 feeder goldfish & put them in it water. So if its hungry it can snack on the feeder goldfish & when you get up to feeding it once a week, he wont be over hungry when its meal is due.

Axle is 30p & he eats once every 2 weeks. Except for right now, as hes sick, so hes being fed weekly until better, then he'll go back to every 2 weeks.

If you have to get rid of the snapper, PLEASE go to turtletimes.com/forums & put up an add in there, so he can find a home.

[king2005]

I'm sure it was once wild caught, aren't all snappers? I don't know of any pet market for snappers, at least not in WI. I'm almost positive she'll decide to let it go, but for now she's going to try keeping it. We are able to handle it without being snapped at at all so its pretty tame.

I know MANY snapper breeders, but you more then likely wont see snappers in pet stores as regular people cannot care for a turtle that'll get to 100p easly or 200p as the Alligator snapper will get to.