Help!!! I know its not a bp!!!

ok so i have an aligator snapping turtle i adopted from a friend who couldnt handle it!


now i know how to care for aquatic turtles, but i just need some advice,


any thoughts?

Congrats on the adoption!!!

First of all what is the size? Where are you keeping it, pond, aquarium, bathtub? lol He will eat Fish, snakes (keep a eye on your BPs), frogs, aquatic plants, clams, and even other turtles! He needs a basking area with temps in high 80s to low 90s, and his water temps should be 75-80 degrees. He will not eat if cold, warmth is needed to digest food, so if its cold he wont eat. If he can not digest the food will rot in the stomach and can kill him :( If he is a hatchling a 20-50 gallon aquarium will be OK for a year or so, he will grow fast in the first years.

Here is a link with some info on ali snappers. I keep box turtles and take care of common snappers that live wild in the canal behind my property.

http://www.fishpondinfo.com/turtles/snappers.htm

I've kept turtles for most of my life. I've had several red ear sliders, some soft shells, and an alligator turtle.

I had my alligator turtle for 6 years. I raised him from a baby. I didn't do anything special. I had him in a 55g tank, with two filters meant for 55 gallon tanks running 24/7 because they get nasty really quick. I had a basking area for him with a basking light and I just kept the water at room temperature, which was 75* or so. I'd go to the store and get him little feeder fish and he'd eat earthworms, too. He always ate, always pooped, and he did a lot of both. :P

I ended up releasing him into my dad's friend's massive pond he has behind his house. I went there about 2 years ago and saw my turtle on the edge of the pond, hanging halfway out of the water.

They're easy to take care of. Just make sure you have a really good filter, that your water isn't too cold, that you have a basking light/area, and that you feed him and he should be okay.

If you knew you were posting this in the wrong forum, why not put it in the correct one? :confused:

They will also eat mice and rats, dead or live.

Moved this to the right spot for ya.. ;) carry on

Heres a real nice forum for turtles..

http://www.turtleforum.com

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jfreels

If you knew you were posting this in the wrong forum, why not put it in the correct one? :confused:

---

They may have not have recognized the name of our turtle/tortoise forum, and skimmed over it looking for the right place and then gave up.

General herp may have been a better place if they could not have found this one, but then again some newer members will post in higher traffic areas expecting to get better/faster replies that way.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Beardedragon

They may have not have recognized the name of our turtle/tortoise forum, and skimmed over it looking for the right place and then gave up.

General herp may have been a better place if they could not have found this one, but then again some newer members will post in higher traffic areas expecting to get better/faster replies that way.

---

When I posted my turtle thread, I thought they were amphibians!

Okay, so yeah, I can see how this can be confusing and how some would just go ahead and post in the forum they have been posting to for a while.

i've owned normal snapper before , easy to care for but seem to poop alot more then a red ear slider. and have a bit more of a smell.

I've got a normal snapper and use the largest plastic storage tub I could find for his tank. I don't even bother with filters, they're so messy that even heavy duty filters can't keep up. Instead I do a complete water change every week. This is another good reason to use plastic instead of a glass aquarium. You'll be cleaning the tank every week and that large of a glass aquarium is very heavy. For food I use a mix of trout chow pellets and whatever dead mice and rats my snakes refuse.