Common & Alligator Snapper Growth Rates?

How fast do they grow in comparison to each other? I'm considering buying an AST hatchling to house with my CST hatchling in a 40 gallon, but I don't want to go through the trouble if the common grows larger than the alligator and bullies it within a few months & vice versa. Both the turtles will be moved from the 40 gallon to a 75 gallon, and from there to a 300 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank. Eventually, I plan to house the CST in a large backyard pond here in Michigan, where they are native. The Alligator Snapper will be under my care for as long as I am able, but if circumstances change he/she will be sent down south to a friend in Georgia, and he'll decide what to do from there. After making a few other posts, it got me wondering how long I would even be able to house them together before they had to be separated. So what are their average growth rates?

Yoimbrian said:

Growth rates depend on a lot of factors which is why there is so little reliable information. Food frequency, food quality, water quality, water temperature, genetics, etc.

That being said both should reach about 1 foot shell length within 2 years. From there the common will slow down a lot until 15 to 17 inches, the alligator if well kept will slowly make it's way to 3 foot shell within a decade or two (needing a lake to be happy in).

Also, decent odds that even at similar sizes they'll kill each other once past the baby stage. Snappers are very territorial, in the wild big males will kill any other male in their lake. One reason they are so rare now, humans kill them and they kill each other.


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Ok. Would anything change if both the snappers were females? I have heard of keeping commons together if there's one or fewer males in the group, and I've seen Alligator snappers kept together in lakes. I understand that as hatchlings they're probably too young to sex, but I'm just curious?
Also, my backyard pond is plenty big enough for a common snapping turtle.

CretaceousCreatures101 said:

Ok. Would anything change if both the snappers were females? I have heard of keeping commons together if there's one or fewer males in the group, and I've seen Alligator snappers kept together in lakes. I understand that as hatchlings they're probably too young to sex, but I'm just curious?
Also, my backyard pond is plenty big enough for a common snapping turtle.

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So would aggression be less likely if both snappers were females?


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