Baby snapper rescue.

[Reygan2]

North Carolina also is not part of the alligator snapper's range

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Hmmm, most website include NC. A local pet shop owner has one caught in the area that he uses to educate students about turtle protection.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Reygan2]

He is a wild animal though, and fishing happens. He is a young turtle trying to learn to survive, you need to let him go as soon as you can.

Turtles don't "learn" how to live in the wild. It's hard wired in their genetics. He'll be fine if I wait.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Reygan2]

Then why would he have the ability to reach all the way back with his neck like an alligator? I feel like if the common I had could have done that he would have bitten me a few times that I picked him up.

OP, can you get a picture holding him like Gillie posted? To me the nose looks about the same as what was posted. Either way though, any new information on releasing him?


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

Here he is...



Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Gillie]

Here's a side by side view of the 2, gator on the left common on the right http://imgarcade.com/1/common-snapping-turtle-vs-alligator-snapping-turtle/

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Reygan2]

That link doesn't work, but honestly I do think this one is a common. His long neck, ridges and bulging eyes are confusing though.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Gillie]

That link doesn't work, but honestly I do think this one is a common. His long neck, ridges and bulging eyes are confusing though.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

Odd it works for me, I just have scroll down to the first pic

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[NigelK8485]

That link doesn't work, but honestly I do think this one is a common. His long neck, ridges and bulging eyes are confusing though.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

I didn't realize how small he still was. With it being a few months I would have expected him to have been larger, it may very well be a common. I got mine at about that size, but mine had also been run over by a car and had to have his shell restored and everything so he looked a bit unusual until he got healthy and grew up some.

Comparing it to the pictures of baby alligator vs baby common it does appear to be more like a common.




Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[Reygan2]

He was really tiny and looked dried out when the kid brought him to school. I didn't think he would make it. He has grown quite a bit though. I'm not sure I'm feeding him correctly. Some websites say a few times a week, some say 2 or 3 times a day. I feed him shrimp, blood worms, juvi turtle pellets and worms. He gets something everyday. So you think he's undersized? I plan to start giving him minnows and other foods he'd find in the wild this week.

 

[Reygan2]

Looking at Gillies link, I just noticed that Spike doesn't have the sharp downward hook on his mouth like the gators do. Also his shell doesn't have as many pronounced ridges, mainly just down the center.

 

[TMRC Exotics]

Turtles don't "learn" how to live in the wild. It's hard wired in their genetics. He'll be fine if I wait.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

Yes he has instincts but he also goes through a serious development at this stage of life. They most certainly do "learn". Your viewing this as a pet and its not, its a wild animal. You should release him now.

 

[NigelK8485]

I'm not sure if he's undersized. I know mine double or tripled in size in about six months, from 2-3" to 5-6". I do agree with TMRC though that while they may be born with certain instincts they need that time as a baby to fine tune them if they want any chance at survival as an adult. Being in a murky river scouting out fish is much different than being in a 30 gallon tank with turtle pellets being dropped down to you.

I also understand growing attached to them though and not wanting to let it go haha. I was bawling when I had to let my Frank go. I had it playing in my mind that I would set him down on the lake's edge and it'd be a long drawn out scene of him running back to me and me telling him to just go. It didn't happen like that at all, he darted straight for the water and never looked back, the bastard.


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[Reygan2]

Haha too funny. I'm not really all that attached although it has been really neat watching him recover and transform into an eating machine. I've never seen a snapper in the wild and I've enjoyed having the chance to get a close up of the miniature version lol.
I've always said I planned to release him, just wasn't sure when. I had considered waiting until next summer so he'd be too large to be snake food but I'll probably just go ahead and do the deed though. It was in the 30's here last night and I'd rather wait until this cold front moves out. When I do let him go I'll let you know if he turns around and waves goodbye with a tear in his eye...


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[NigelK8485]

Haha too funny. I'm not really all that attached although it has been really neat watching him recover and transform into an eating machine. I've never seen a snapper in the wild and I've enjoyed having the chance to get a close up of the miniature version lol.
I've always said I planned to release him, just wasn't sure when. I had considered waiting until next summer so he'd be too large to be snake food but I'll probably just go ahead and do the deed though. It was in the 30's here last night and I'd rather wait until this cold front moves out. When I do let him go I'll let you know if he turns around and waves goodbye with a tear in his eye...


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

Yeah, I think you'd be fine to wait until the end of summer. I'd let the number of fishers and people going to the river die down a little.


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[Reygan2]

Yeah, I think you'd be fine to wait until the end of summer. I'd let the number of fishers and people going to the river die down a little.


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

Well, that's kind of the issue. I think he needs to spend as much of the warm summer as possible on his own so that he will get the chance to slowly adjust to the cooler weather in the fall. He'll need that so he will instinctively go into hibernation when winter hits. Just wish he was a little larger


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Reygan2]

Update...
I know some on here won't agree, but I've decided to keep Spike until next summer. He's still so small. I've moved him into a 20 long and put my Eheim 2213 on it. I got sick of dumping his 10 gallon tank several times a week (he's nasty). Another reason I wanted to filter is so I could add minnows and other natural foods to keep him hunting and wild as possible. They should live until he is able to catch them now. I had to buy clear tubing to modify the Eheim for shallow water and so far everything is working great! Check out his new digs...I have decorated much yet...


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[TMRC Exotics]

Saw that coming.

 

[NigelK8485]

Saw that coming.

+1. It's going to get too big for that tank in the year you're trying to keep it and then it will be too cold to let him go.


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[Reygan2]

I see your point, assuming I wouldn't provide adequate housing. I have larger tanks.
Why not the urgency to release my slider? She's no more of a "pet" than this snapper is.
FYI I am getting advice and support from wildlife rehabilitators. I just wanted to share the venture on here with others. I appreciate the concern, but the turtle will be fine.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[TMRC Exotics]

I see your point, assuming I wouldn't provide adequate housing. I have larger tanks.
Why not the urgency to release my slider? She's no more of a "pet" than this snapper is.
FYI I am getting advice and support from wildlife rehabilitators. I just wanted to share the venture on here with others. I appreciate the concern, but the turtle will be fine.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

A slider can be a pet, they often do great in captivity. A snapper is not a pet and don't do well in fish tanks.

I am highly experienced in reptile and amphibian care, I've been a breeder for years. I kept a snapper short term as an alternative to it just being killed as it was in a fish pond killing foot long catfish. In healthy circumstances these guys grow fast and big. The fact yours is still smaller is likely a sign its being stunted, unsurprisingly. Again I'll mention this turtle is entirely loosing any chance of learning what is necessary for a wild turtle to survive as well as being taught not to be fearful of humans. Any wildlife rehabilitation services I've ever heard of would highly advise against this so I question the advise your receiving.
This is not how actual wildlife rehabilitation works, this is pet keeping. Its selfish.

There is no physical way for you to provide adequate housing for this beast of a turtle its whole life and your setting it up to not be able to survive in the wild either. I'm done, I know none of this will change your mind. Have fun with the pet.

 

[Reygan2]

A slider can be a pet, they often do great in captivity. A snapper is not a pet and don't do well in fish tanks.

I am highly experienced in reptile and amphibian care, I've been a breeder for years. I kept a snapper short term as an alternative to it just being killed as it was in a fish pond killing foot long catfish. In healthy circumstances these guys grow fast and big. The fact yours is still smaller is likely a sign its being stunted, unsurprisingly. Again I'll mention this turtle is entirely loosing any chance of learning what is necessary for a wild turtle to survive as well as being taught not to be fearful of humans. Any wildlife rehabilitation services I've ever heard of would highly advise against this so I question the advise your receiving.
This is not how actual wildlife rehabilitation works, this is pet keeping. Its selfish.

There is no physical way for you to provide adequate housing for this beast of a turtle its whole life and your setting it up to not be able to survive in the wild either. I'm done, I know none of this will change your mind. Have fun with the pet.


Referring to the accusation of pet keeping and my selfishness, I will remind you that I did not go out into the wild and pluck this turtle from its natural habitat. This turtle was confiscated from a young boy in my classroom that was carrying it around in his book bag and pocket. It was near death, which is clearly evident in the initial pictures I posted. If the turtle is stunted, it is by no means any of my doing. I am simply caring for it until it is strong enough to survive....in the wild.
For the sake of the forum and its readers I will say that I do not condone keeping such an animal in captivity solely for the purpose of enjoyment. That is selfish. While I am enjoying watching it regain its health, that is not my purpose of keeping it.

Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice