Turtle Pic

Yesterday must have been snapper day. Caught this guy on the campus where I work. Not as big as the one Md 25v caught but still big enough to damage some of the kids here if he had been allowed to stay. My size 10 boot is in the pic for size comparison.

Joe,

How do you tell male/female in turtles?

David

You didn't ask me but I'll chime in anyway -- with most turtles the male has a slightly concave plastron (bottom shell) which lets him balance on the female better when they're mating. I'm not sure if this applies to snapping turtles, since their plastron is so small, however the male has a thicker tail, although not having a male and female together to compare will make this a little difficult.

This is the time of year that the females are usually out and about looking for a spot to lay their eggs, so I suspect that most of the snappers we find on the move this time of year will be females.
 
You didn't ask me but I'll chime in anyway -- with most turtles the male has a slightly concave plastron (bottom shell) which lets him balance on the female better when they're mating. I'm not sure if this applies to snapping turtles, since their plastron is so small, however the male has a thicker tail, although not having a male and female together to compare will make this a little difficult.

This is the time of year that the females are usually out and about looking for a spot to lay their eggs, so I suspect that most of the snappers we find on the move this time of year will be females.

Thanks for the info, I only addressed the question to Joe because he said that the turtle pictured was a female.

David
 
Thems good eating. You gotta get him to snap a stick, pull out his neck and remove the head. This takes two or more folks to do. Then you crack the shell, and clean out the insides and meat. Really delicious.
 
What worked well on one ornery snapper was a large stick. I tried to usher it along and he clamped down on the stick. I was able to lift it up and carry it to the side of the road.
Peter

That's the way Granpappy brought them home. Put a stick near enough so they bite and hold. Carry to pickup and bring home for supper. Seems like Grandpop said they never let go of stick either.
Been 50 years since I ate turtle. Or frogs, squirrels etc. City boy now. BK and McDs are where I hunt nowadays.

BTW, been awhile, but did anyone read about the snapper that had Civil War slugs in it's shell??
Pretty old turtle.
 
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Here's a couple pic of my little guy:D

He's almost five years old now and thinks he's just about the baddest thing
in the world, such an attitude

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Here's a couple pic of my little guy:D

He's almost five years old now and thinks he's just about the baddest thing
in the world, such an attitude

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I think that one is an alligator snapper. They dont get as big as the regular ones but are more aggressive from what I understand.--KV
 
I think that one is an alligator snapper. They dont get as big as the regular ones but are more aggressive from what I understand.--KV

That is an Alligator. Actually, they get much bigger than the common snappers. One major difference is in the neck length. A common can reach back about half it's shell length and quickly remove a digit. A large Alligator could remove a hand but it can't really reach back to do it. I think their temperments are pretty much the same, very very ornery. Correction: According to Wiki the Alligators are somewhat less aggressive. In short, it would really suck to be bitten by either.
 
I'm pretty sure he's just a common snapper guys;)

I've had him for nearly four years, ever since he was just a half-dollar sized yearling. Have a 120 gallon stock tank set up with two powerful canister filters as an enclosure, also a 110watt mercury vapor UVB bulb is there for lighting.

He was a little scared in these pictures because cars kept passing by but when
he puts his neck out all the way his head can nearly reach the back of his shell. Makes handling tricky.
 
The one on the right is an alligator snapper, those can get to over 200LBS

common_and_alligator_snapper.jpg
 
How do you store him? I kept two turtles for a summer as a kid in a swimming pool in the back yard and that was great, but I can't imagine keeping a turtle that size contained indoors.
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this little guy's shell was about 10x12 inches, I saw a distinct line through tall grass that something had parted and followed it for about 50 feet, this guy was chillin out. I didn't realize how fast they were, his neck extended a good 9 or 10 inches to snap at me, so I took a picture and left it alone.

RussB, how many hot dogs do you feed that thing?
 
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Went for a hike a few days ago and saw this guy cross the road. He took his time, but made it safely across as it wasn't a busy road. I believe it is some sort of snapping turtle, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.


Turtle3.jpg

It is Gammara!:eek: Run
 
I'm pretty sure he's just a common snapper guys;)

I have to disagree. That looks like an Alligator to me. Maybe one of our knowledgeable resident herpetologists will chime in and settle this. The points on the carapace and the look of his head make me say Alligator. I could be wrong but I don't think so.
 
You can pick them up by the back of the shell, but, though they can not bite you, they can let out some nasty turtle excrement as a rear defense - trust me

- charles
 
that is a common snapper, lol i caught one just the other day maybe a little bigger walking on the road and he tried to eat me lol but i gave him to some passerbys who wanted to eat him lol
 
How do you store him? I kept two turtles for a summer as a kid in a swimming pool in the back yard and that was great, but I can't imagine keeping a turtle that size contained indoors.

RussB, how many hot dogs do you feed that thing?

It's actually a fairly serious undertaking keeping these turtles as captives even for one like mine that's still on the smallish size as far as snappers go, He weighs about six pounds currently, I caught a couple in the 20-30LB range and I'm sure that isn't the limit in size.

I have a medium sized stock tank set up in the garage not inside and try to keep a constant water temperature in the 65-80 degree range so far so good.
I have special reptile lights and twin high power filters (225 GPH each)

For food I give a verity of commercial turtle pellets and live food, minnows,
crawdads nightcrawlers ETC. He doesn't like veggies.
 
I have to disagree. That looks like an Alligator to me. Maybe one of our knowledgeable resident herpetologists will chime in and settle this. The points on the carapace and the look of his head make me say Alligator. I could be wrong but I don't think so.

I think the confusion in the matter lies is the fact that my turtle's carapace is ridged and spikey like an alligator snapper. This is because he's still a young adult and the shell hasn't smoothened out yet. Common snappers start out very jagged.

Mine looked like this one when I first found it.

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Haha... I've actually kept small snappers on 2-3 different occasions, they're a hell of alot of fun and easy to maintain. I scrub the shell with a toothbrush once a week and just feed them bugs, hot dogs and lettuce. That must be one heck of a tank... I just used a 20 gallon plastic deal with the flippy top, and bought a 10 dollar reptile light that clips in. I don't know if I could maintain one of that size though... is he pretty calm around you? I've found my Red Eared Slider was alot more aggressive than the other turtles I've had.
 
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