alligator snapping turtle owners, should i?

[Fishbert]

hey guys. ben looking into these little monsters for a bit and i'm pretty sure i want one, just wondering from those of you with experience if they are good pets. i am planning on a small community tank with one of them being a centerpiece, tanks a 150, 4x2 fwiw. but i was thinking a small one of them and then build a nice stock list to look at around there needs.

anything i'm missing?
i did research, i know they're fully aquatic. i'm fine with loosing a couple fish and realize they will in fact be boring in the long run which is why i'm trying to supplement with nice fish, instead of picking up a common for cheaper and having a water lever where they'll be a single wet pet..

info, advice, stories, anything at all. im all ears!

 

[Andrew1002]

They will outlive you lol. My uncles friend breeds reptiles and he has a 7" alligator snapper. He has killed a crazy amount of fish and even a couple turtles. Very predatorial and will kill everything. Going to need a very large tank eventually. But a 150 will do for now. I say you should get it. I think they are cool specimens and they are monsters. Id say if you dont want to get it if you change your mind, look into high yellow mississippi sliders.


Definetly a good looking turtle and a 150 is more than big enough for two of them at full adult size. Heres some pics of my common snapper just incase you are thinking about them, I like his colors a lot.



Good luck with your choice

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[Andrew1002]

Another turtle you might consider is a razorback musk. Stay smaller than 6" and fully aquatic. Really cool looking turtle and they are like little snappers. You could get like 5 in a 150 and have a lot of fish still. They stay small but will pick off some fish occasionally. But theyd be safer with razorbacks than with snappers or maps. Heres some pics





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[Oddball]

Not sure about your definition of a 'good pet'. Can't play fetch or pet it as with a standard good pet. I kept an AST in a large plant tank. His primary role was to eliminate culls from my other 100+ tanks. He was an OK specimen. Nothing exciting. He usually stayed in the bamboo roots and snapped at whatever passed by. He rarely used his 'lure'. I saw more action with my Mata mata pair when they hunted.

 

[Andrew1002]

Not sure about your definition of a 'good pet'. Can't play fetch or pet it as with a standard good pet. I kept an AST in a large plant tank. His primary role was to eliminate culls from my other 100+ tanks. He was an OK specimen. Nothing exciting. He usually stayed in the bamboo roots and snapped at whatever passed by. He rarely used his 'lure'. I saw more action with my Mata mata pair when they hunted.

Matta mattas are weird looking turtles! But they are awesome! They look like leaves

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[Fishbert]

yes i'm aware of the lifespan, but good looking out. the one place i found to get them online has a buy back program so to speak that if, or rather, when they get too big you can switch it out for another hatchling. seems legit. also theres a common on craigslist near me that i've been looking at, sellers says about an inch so the right size, asking 50 bucks so decent price as well but the whole low water level, semi aquatic thing is kind of a turn off, the walls of my 150 are a good 3 feet and i feel like it would be a terrible waste of space.

razorback musks seem cool, ill have to look into them thanks for the suggestion and thats kind of lame the lack of lure action, is that a common occurrence? no fishing?

also im planning on growing them out in a 20l for as long as i can swing it whatever my choice ends up being. i figure, easier to just about everything i can think of, plus it will give the main tank population to grow, weather it be crayfish berrying or small fish spawning or just getting acclimated to the set up.. i'd really like to see the AST, if i go that route, trick some fish into their mouths

 

[WilsonWhite]

go and get one!

 

[Fishbert]

hahaha thats the kind of reply i was looking for!... i just have to wrap my head around dropping 100 bucks on a turtle and clearing my current stock out of his future home... there no better place to get them than turtleman.com right? (loggerhead acres turtle farm?) i haven't really seen them anywhere else but i heard they have a couple at a pet store in new jersey, not sure of size.. or price. i do know they got them for 75 a piece though so im sure they'll jack them up to make a profit. i'm also speculating theres no buy back program and they keep them in a secret back room so i'm not even entirely sure i'm supposed to know about them.. ill have to ask next time in at my uncles house near there.

 

[methos75]

Define Community tank, I have one and It can and will eat every fish in the tank that I put in with him. Personally IMO CST's make better display animals, AS's are pretty lazy and really do not do much of anything, as to where CST's are active

 

[methos75]

Oh yeah, mine was bought from Loggerhead Acres three years ago