New member! Needs ton of help with Snapping turtle!

[Brian727]

Hey guys! Brian here from St. Petersburg, Florida. I have a snapping turtle. He's really dope, and he's gotten pretty big. I have him in a 55 gallon breeder tank at the moment with a fluval canister filter. I figured he was getting too big for the tank so I got a 120 gallon short aquarium with sump filter system and *gas heat lights with a ballast including 4 4 ft blue bulbs. I have a ton of questions to ask. From sump filters, heat lights, water heaters, water temp, water depth, aquatic plants, led lighting for the plants, lighting for the turtle, help with design of new tank, ideas, and help with everything. Hope everybody is having a great weekend. Here's a pic of the turtle, his 55 gallon breeder, and the new tank. Sump, lighting, all that jazz. Thanks!

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello Brian

Why don't. Build the poor fella a pond outside in your back yard he will be happier and you wouldn't need the power for lights or lights ? Cause it's a great looking turtle .

 

[pam]

Welcome Great picture's

 

[Pearly]

Hi, and welcome! Your snapper is beautiful! I know nothing about tanks other than that I love looking at them. I've only had couple of small planted tropical fresh water tanks that were easy to keep with simple built in filters. I have tortoises, so no water other then their daily warm soak but I'm sure that someone here will be able to either give you advise or point you in a right direction

 

[Angel Carrion]

One thing I can say is it's a bad idea to have pebbles that he can swallow. Turtles (I don't know if this includes snappers but I err on the side of caution) have a tendency to eat the gravel/pebbles at the bottom of their tanks if they are small enough to fit in their mouths. This can lead to impaction and serious complications.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Hello, Brian and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum.
It's a beautiful snapper and lovely photos, but i agree with grandpa in that an outside pond would be great for the fellah, if you could manage it.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/forums/water-turtles.101/
Will have lots of interesting posts for you to look at.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Brian, and welcome to the Forum!

I also vote for an outdoor pond for this turtle.

 

[Speedy-1]

I think in Florida the pond idea would be great .

 

[Brian727]

Thanks for the pond idea, that's my plan after this 120 gallon. I think he needs to get bigger before I think about throwing down a few grand on a big pond in the back yard. Plus I'm only renting.

 

[Yvonne G]

A 'pond' doesn't necessarily mean spending thousands of dollars. Here's a picture of my snapper pond, costing about $150:



It's a 600 gallon galvanized horse water trough with pond liner that I bought at Tractor Supply for around $100.

Here's the sump pump that I bought for $59 at Harbor Freight:



I had my son in law build a Skippy Filter ( you can Google that for instructions) for around $30:



Then I cut a doorway into a large plastic flower pot and put a brick on top of it for a cave and island:



My snapping turtle is very happy in this situation. He is king of his domain, and pretty tame.

 

[MelissaNicole]

I also have a full grown American snapper who lives outside in his own pond. An outdoor set up is the way to go. Once he's in the natural sun light you'll be amazed how much better he will grow. And where they do typically like to stay at the bottom, in the muck, and wait for food, your snapping turtle like all turtles needs the option of getting out of the water and onto dry land. He needs a basking spot, that's how he will regulate his body temp.

 

[Brian727]

Awesome pics guys! That's not a bad idea. I'll keep that in mind as I start the new tank with aquatic plants and get it all rooted up. I might just end up building a temp pond outside for him