Matthew Colella
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How easily are snappers kept?
Snappers
- Thread starter Matthew Colella
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They are difficult, they are cranky, they get big, they eat a lot. They require a lot of time space and money, if you can handle it though , I think they are worth it. If they were legal in CA , I would so have one ( at least).
Like any other water turtle, with the exception they must be kept alone.
Snapping turtle are big. They eat a lot, they are dangerous and mean. You can never house two together, and just one needs a lot of room. Don't think I'll ever be going down that path 
I have some common snappers of different sizes. The two larger ones live in a pond with a few painted turtles, some red ear sliders and some northern red bellies, I have never seen any aggression from the snappers towards any of the other turtles in or out of the water. They eat pelleted food like everyone else. The small ones are in tank outside with a young male painted turtle that showed up here in may.They are still small enough that I may keep them awake this winter inside in a large aquarium, If you have the room, a fascinating animal that doesn't require a lot of special care.
Where do you live? If you're going to keep them in a pond, no problem.
However, if you're thinking of keeping one in an aquarium, proceed with caution. There are just a million cooler things that you can do. Then, when I say things like that, people always fight me on it, and say, "How do you know what's cool to me?" or "How do you know I won't keep it forever?" And my answer is, I dare someone to keep one indoors for the next 30 years and try to get it to have smooth growth. I've only ever seen one instance where a large Snapper was kept indoors until it reached a large size (74 lbs), and it took tons of effort and money, from a man with a lifetime of professional water filtration experience. If you keep a smaller species, it would be easier to rehome later, if you can't keep it forever, which is important for all of us to think about, since the turtle should never be released.
If you're planning for pond keeping, than please forgive the penultimate paragraph
However, if you're thinking of keeping one in an aquarium, proceed with caution. There are just a million cooler things that you can do. Then, when I say things like that, people always fight me on it, and say, "How do you know what's cool to me?" or "How do you know I won't keep it forever?" And my answer is, I dare someone to keep one indoors for the next 30 years and try to get it to have smooth growth. I've only ever seen one instance where a large Snapper was kept indoors until it reached a large size (74 lbs), and it took tons of effort and money, from a man with a lifetime of professional water filtration experience. If you keep a smaller species, it would be easier to rehome later, if you can't keep it forever, which is important for all of us to think about, since the turtle should never be released.
If you're planning for pond keeping, than please forgive the penultimate paragraph
I only got close to one once, and he STUNK. I don't know what he lived in but, phew. I hope they don't all smell like that.
I'll stay with my Tortoise......
I share Len's experience with them. They are as easy to keep as any other water turtle, if not easier. At least until they start gaining some size.
That is interesting Anthony. Everyone here starts them inside, but moves them outside to a pond once they get a little bigger. I can't think of one that I've seen that was raised solely indoors for any length of time...
That is interesting Anthony. Everyone here starts them inside, but moves them outside to a pond once they get a little bigger. I can't think of one that I've seen that was raised solely indoors for any length of time...
Matthew Colella
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- Jun 10, 2014
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- 68
I think I'll stick with leopards and sulcatas
Filtration is key, I recommend doing research into aquaculture filtration with these guys. One they are big and messy eaters, and their poop smells to high heaven.....makes me gag every time. But other than that they are really awesome to keep. On the other hand Alligator Snappers can be kept in small groups given that you have a quite large enclosure for them, my only suggestion with this is to buy them all as a hatchling and never introduce any new ones to your tank/pond unless you own huge ponds like John Richards.
When I was in college in the early 70s one of the grad students in the biology dept had a turtle research project (all turtles were released unharmed near where they were originally trapped). One modestly sized snapper objected to being removed from the water and tried to bite the guy. The guy was both quick and experienced, and ALMOST pulled back quickly enough, so he came away with only a very tiny nip that only just broke the skin enough to bleed a bit. By the end of the day, that finger was swollen to twice normal size, purple, hot and painful. Horribly infected from all the gross dead things turtles love to eat. He had to go to the ER that night and was on 2 antibiotics for two weeks.
I prefer to admire them from afar!
I prefer to admire them from afar!
