Greetings! (Snapping Turtle Biotope)

[TurtleBear]

Hello all!

I signed up for this website months ago, but can't for the life of me remember if I've already posted to introduce myself so I'll do it again! Hi!

I'm 22 and I've been a keeper of turtles, tropical fish & saltwater fish for years now, somewhere close to a decade. I started with a turtle tank when I was 10, and was soon bitten by the “tank bug” and spent high school working in a pet shop / building tank after tank after tank. At this point I'm back down to a single setup for my juvenile (~1.5year old) common snapping turtle. I'm unsure of the sex - we have a mutual agreement to leave each other’s genitalia alone, so I refer to him as “he”.

Anyway, I was lucky enough to receive the snapper about a year ago after he had been hatched by a local high school Biology teacher (making ownership legal in my state). The not-so-bright teacher had been keeping the hatchlings in a bucket for 6 months, and needless to say the turtle was in rough shape when I took him home. Malnourished, slightly stunted, incapable of swimming…. It wasn’t pretty. He has since made a great recovery and is happily living in a 20gallon "long" tank (due to my previous space limitation before moving). The tank has ample driftwood (Mopani) as well as varying-sized pieces of stone (mostly granite, slate) and a mixed sand/gravel substrate. I run an EHeim H.O.B. canister filter on that tank, as well as a Whisper30 H.O.B. filter. For lighting I have a 75-W UVB light above one basking area (as well as a basking area with no light, which is never used and will be replaced by swimming space in the new tank) and I run a 36-W T5 grow light fixture left over from an old saltwater setup. With the T5 lights I’m able to keep Duckweed and “Moss Balls” (unsure of the real name of the plant) alive and well, and the turtle loves the cover / food source they provide. He has totally annihilated any “ball” shape the moss once had, and it now free floats in little clumps that the turtle will hide under. It also provides a nice “boggy” look to the tank.

Anyways, I’m in the process of setting up a 40g breeder tank for the little critter. He hasn't yet outgrown the 20 yet but of course more space is always better. I recently moved, and although I have the space for something much bigger than a 40g it's an older house and I don't trust the floors. I'm looking into reinforcing a section as I'd love to keep him in a 150g. I do however have a small stream-fed pond out back as a contingency plan in case a bigger tank isn't an option.

I’ve always been a big fan of “nature aquariums” as well as biotopes, and I’m building the 40g to be as close to a snapper biotope as possible. I spent several hours last night cutting sheets of acrylic and using silicone to fix the sheets vertically in the two back corners of the tank, effectively making “shelves” when the cavities are filled with substrate. I plan to have one of the areas as a shallow water section, with maybe an inch of water and a flat rock elevated for basking. For the other raised section I’ve decided to try my luck with additional live (rooted) plants. I’m about 90% sure they’ll get bulldozed within a week but if that’s the case then so be it.

For filtration I'll be using the old EHeim canister to “seed” the new tank with beneficial bacteria, combined with one of two new EHeim canisters, and after a few months I'll replace the old filter with the second new one. The throughput from both canisters will be a bit ridiculous but you can never have too much filtration with a snapper!

For lighting I plan to use the same setup I have currently; the 75-W UVB fixture above the basking area, with the T5 grow light above the “open water” section to aid in plant growth. So far, the turtle isn’t big enough to wipe out the plants and both species are growing like mad. He’ll get there someday but for now the functional & visual effect of the plants is great.

I also have several heaters, but don’t currently use them. The room the tank's in is temperature controlled at 72*F and I let the water stay unheated & on the cooler side to promote basking. Not that he basks often, but it does happen!

I plan to make the tank as visually appealing and natural-looking as possible, despite the absurd amount of maintenance it will require. Call me crazy but I enjoy the maintenance! I’ll be using a mixture of playsand and gravel for substrate, as well as lots of varying-sized stone pieces and lots of driftwood. I'm debating the merits of a temporary DIY yeast-based C02 injection system to jumpstart the plant growth in the new tank, but am still unsure.

My feeding schedule is as follows:

-Reptomin pellets every other day, doctored up with calcium & vitamin supplements. I feed small amounts over the course of an hour instead of a single large intake.
-Live feeders once or twice a week, I had been using a mix of guppies/minnows/comets purchased from a local breeder I used to work for (and then quarantined for several weeks before feeding). However, I was recently alerted to the issue of minnows/comets being thiaminase-rich and therefore causing diet-related health issues, so I’ve decided to stop using them altogether. I will continue using guppies, as I use locally-bred fish to avoid contamination and I love giving him the stimulation of hunting live food.
-Once or twice a month he gets a big fat earthworm, fed in a separate tank due to the messiness.
-He has the moss/duckweed as a constant food source and is frequently nipping at both.
-My fingers. He hasn't gotten them yet.... but he's a diligent little guy, and is rapidly figuring out how to "jump" (he's starting using his back legs to propel himself into a bite, it's terrifying when cleaning the tank!)

Let’s see…. I can’t think of much else to say, except that I’ll be posting pictures of the new build as soon as I unearth my camera. Also, if anyone has any questions/comments/observations/suggestions/advice or whatever about the setup I’d love to hear it!!

Thanks for reading!! =)

 

[Wiggles92]

Sounds like this will be an interesting project; I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

I do have a few recommendations based on what I found worked well with the common snappers that I've had over the years. For his diet, its perfectly fine to feed him minnows provided that they're quarantined and gut-loaded; think about what these turtles eat in the wild and try to mimic that. I had my last indoor one on a diet of ReptoMin, minnows, crayfish, earthworms, uncooked shrimp, and fish fillets (typically tilapia), and he was very healthy and was a fast grower. I got him when he was the size of a quarter, and he grew to have a shell size of about 8" by the time that I released him in my pond less than two years later. As far as plants go, I had good luck with anything that was free floating as well as with Elodea and anacharis; fertilizer and other additives were unnecessary thanks to the amount of waste he produced. I would also recommend bumping his water temperature up to 78°F in order to help get him to the size he should be at for his age.

 

[Brewster320]

I have my guy in a 40 breeder for now. Hopefully during the summer I'll get him a nice stock tank! Honestly one of the coolest pets I've ever had. He's got a 6" shell length and very bulky. I feel like he's grown more side ways than in length since I acquired him, don't know if anyone else has noticed that. Remember to keep working with him now so the when hes say... 50lbs you dont have a beast who wants to tear you apart whenever you have to move him for maintenance and stuff.

I've tried my luck with simples plants with him like "lucky bamboo" but he just bulldozed them and bite one in half so I took them out. Ive also been thinking about putting duckweed and water lettuce in with him and see how that goes. Do you have problems with it clogging your filters?

Also It's great to vary their diet because despite what a lot of people think they are omnivores by nature so for both their health and mental stimulation variation, atleast I think so. I've feed my guy various pellets for both different kinds of fish and turtles, various kinds of fish from minnows to bass, crayfish(quickest way to a snapper's heart), snails, crabs, shrimp, krill, chicken, beef, pork, mice, frog, tomatoes, strawberries, squash, cucumber, banana, blue berries, and I'm currently working on getting him to eat his leafy greens like romaine lettuce, dandelion, and collard greens(think I made a break through yesterday).

Anyways I'd love to see your setup. It's always nice to see other peoples setups for their snappers! Good luck with you project.




Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[methos75]

Just to point it out, but the 40 Gal at best will only last him a year. I bought my guy back in june, and he has already outgrown the 40 breeder I had him in

 

[TurtleBear]

Thanks for the responses guys!


An update:

I had a very productive weekend and the tank is now filled & cycling. I decided to rethink the use of playsand - I've never used such a fine substrate with turtles before, and I just can't shake the feeling that it's an anaerobic bacteria problem waiting to happen. Instead I went with a mix of 1mm & 3mm "clear" silica sand, 5mm brown Spectrastone, and ~10mm mixed grey "river stone" that I had left over from an old setup. Overall it looks quite nice and saves the headache of playsand.

Wiggles92 - I've hooked up a 100W heater and have set it to 78*F per your recommendation. Despite his recovery & growth in the past year, he's still very small and I want to remedy that in whatever way I can. To this day I'm still shocked & amazed at the conditions that 'teacher' kept him in

I spent a few hours setting up the hardscape, and it's still not quite to my liking aesthetically but the turtle will love it. There's an abundance of mopani wood, granite & slate pieces, random bits of rock and the two "shelf" areas (one raises the bed to roughly 5" depth, one raises the bed to roughly 3" depth). I've set up the taller shelf with a flat area (roughly 6"x8") that's about an inch under the water surface, with additional dry basking space provided by a large rock. I'm looking forward to seeing the turtle's reaction to the shallow basking area - I've designed it so that his shell will emerge, but legs & plastron will stay in the water. With any luck this'll give him a feeling of security and promote basking, but we'll see what happens.

I also added a few handfuls of duckweed, moss, and some "frogbait" acquired from my friend's pet shop. I'd never heard of frogbait before, but it's another leafy floating plant not unlike duckweed (bigger, rounder leaves and a slightly "hairy" surface). So far the plants seem to be doing well, although of course 2 days is quite early to tell. I do need to tweek the filter setup soon because there's far too much surface movement and the plants are getting swept around quite a lot.

Brewster320 - to answer your question, yes it all gets stuck in the intake a LOT! It's a clean-it-several-times-daily battle to keep it clear, but I still feel that the pros far outweigh the cons of keeping plants in the tank.


So all things considered the setup is going well so far. I'm still waiting to hear from my cousin (an architect) about reinforcing my floors to support a bigger tank.... This house was built in the early 1800's, so I'm very skeptical - even if it's possible, it won't be cheap or easy. I'm reasonably sure that the turtle is destined for the pond after he outgrows this tank. I'd be sad to not have him in my living room anymore but it's starting to look like a full size tank is just way more trouble than it's worth. A friend of mine suggested I build an indoor pond in the garage..... but then it's a choice of project car vs. turtle and I really don't want to make that decision hahaha.

And I still haven't been able to find my digital camera (35mm all the way!!!) so pictures are still unavailable. If it comes down to it I'll borrow a friend's camera, but I promise to get pictures somehow!



Thanks for reading & have a nice day everyone!

 

[Wiggles92]

Sounds like you've got a pretty nice setup for it; I can't wait to see the pictures.

 

[TheJD]

I want to bump this mainly because it sounds like you could use the same info I'm looking for as well. I've had my snapping turtle for 6-7 years now and he's in a 210 gallon tank and beginning to out-grow that already. So assume that a larger tank will be needed in the future. But my question is (and something you eluded to) is what can I put in the tank? He destroys everything I put in there. I haven't bothered with plants in ages but my concern now is the basking area and cover for him. I can't even use bricks to make a hide for him anymore because he's strong enough to push them around. I need to make some kind of a box that is strong and water proof but I just don't know what. At one point I made one out of non-treated wood but it eventually just got too water logged and fell apart. I would like to have some sort of a box with an opening in the front that doubles as his hide and his basking area (on top). Any thoughts?

 

[Wiggles92]

I want to bump this mainly because it sounds like you could use the same info I'm looking for as well. I've had my snapping turtle for 6-7 years now and he's in a 210 gallon tank and beginning to out-grow that already. So assume that a larger tank will be needed in the future. But my question is (and something you eluded to) is what can I put in the tank? He destroys everything I put in there. I haven't bothered with plants in ages but my concern now is the basking area and cover for him. I can't even use bricks to make a hide for him anymore because he's strong enough to push them around. I need to make some kind of a box that is strong and water proof but I just don't know what. At one point I made one out of non-treated wood but it eventually just got too water logged and fell apart. I would like to have some sort of a box with an opening in the front that doubles as his hide and his basking area (on top). Any thoughts?

It doesn't need a hide if you have enough wood and stone in the water as it will hide amongst those. Try getting a thick piece of manzanita or some other driftwood as well as some huge rocks in order to give it hiding & basking areas.

 

[TurtleBear]

It doesn't need a hide if you have enough wood and stone in the water as it will hide amongst those.

^What he said. In the first few weeks that I had my snapper, I tried using a sawed-in-half terra cotta pot as a "cave" and although he'd check it out, he never took to it. Alternatively, my tank has lots of rock & wood that provide "crevices" which he loves to hide in. After watching him I've noticed he likes having cover/camouflage to his sides, with free area above so that he can breathe without moving.

That said, if you want to build a hide I'd suggest the following:

-Take the biggest terra cotta pot you can find, saw it in half, and form a half-round cave. Depending on the size of the pot / depth of the water, you could conceivably use this as the basking area too. Make sure the pot you get is coated & fired, because some of the untreated clay ones may disintegrate and really muck up your tank. Also, be very careful of sharp edges and be sure to sand them off before introducing it to the turtle. I'm sure he'll be able to move it around but the shape & rigidity should make it a good option. Plus it's cheap & easy to replace!

-You can always build something out of acrylic, it's great for creating basking areas & retaining walls for aquascaping. You can get sheets of acrylic at Home Depot of varying thickness & size, but I'd definitely spend the extra money for thicker cut pieces - you know as well as I do the strength of a snapper! I'd also use a lot of silicone on the seams for the same reason. But, you can easily create structures of just about any shape (you can even experiment with heating & bending the acrylic for curved pieces, but I don't bother with that personally).

-I've also seen setups where people take PVC piping, around 1"-2" diameter, and create a box shape using joint pieces & tube pieces. You can fill the PVC with sand & cap off the ends to make it sink, then keep a container full of substrate on top for the turtle to climb into. I'm writing this post at work and don't have time to find the video where he describes the PVC setup, but if you search for videos by user "BauriBob" he has this type of structure in his tank and it's very well illustrated. On a side note, all of his videos are captivating and informative, they're worth watching. His setup is one of the best I've ever seen.

Anyway, I hope this helps, and I'd love to hear about what you come up with!

Cheers-

 

[TurtleBear]

Whoops - I meant to say search YouTube for BauriBob's videos - he's a user there, not here