guess what i picked up at the family reunion!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
cichla1004;951663; said:
DEAR GOD!!! You guys want the honest truth on buying wildcaught and captive bred herps? The truth is the money you spend on ANY herp is just supporting the inhumane treatment of herps. I know alot of you are going to disagree but think about this. If there was no demand for herps, there would be no reason to capture them and ship them in tiny little crates stacked 5 high on top of each other. There would be no reason for the ridiculously high death rate in wildcaught herps for the pet trade. I know you think that you're doing something good by purchasing captive bred but in reality, that captive bred herp's parents, grandparents whatever were wildcaught. This is ridiculous, all the guy/gal did was ask for help with a turtle he found. He thought he was doing something right by "rescuing" it from the situation. In all honesty the little guy probably wouldn't have made it another month in the wild. You guys act like he is catching them in mass and marketing them for sale. Also, to the original poster, I will take him when he is too big for you to handle, seriously. He will go to live with my brothers snappers in their giant outdoor pond here in florida. Just save me to your buddy list and in 5, 10 years when he's too big to handle, just let me. Now, can we please try to act civil towards one another? I think we are going to scare everyone off if we bombard them like this when they ask for help. :):):):):):):)
Look, I put a ton of smiley faces so everyone will know I meant no harm by this post LOL.
Sorry if I offended or got under anyones skin, just speaking from experience here. The pet trade is pretty nasty when you get inside it.

Thanx. i will add u. One thing. I am in NE right now, so.. Thats a while off;)
 
Thank u very much to the people that ARE BEING HELPFUL INSTEAD OF COMPLANING:irked: (LOL,now that thats out of the way, time to get down to buesness again).
You were right about the water. I have been changing it. I think i will buy another filter for the tank. I am going to make him a bigger cave. There are few crannies he has trouble moving in. Before when i fed it the the shrimp, the turtle would ignore it,and i would never actually see him eat it. Today, he ate the shimp as soon as it hit the water. i will have to start thawing before time, so he has a beter time chewing. I will get him feeders (ghost shrimp, guppies, gold fish, rosey reds, flat head minows ect.) The same time i go to get them for my knife fish.
I no what to do about the tank size. I have a 45 with a few convicts, a blood parrot, and a 4" clown knife. It is basically just a growout tank for my 55. When they all get big enough for the 55, my 45 will be free for the turtle.

And just to settle the "rrelease him" bit. I have decided. HE IS A KEEPER:D :D :chillpill: )
 
It is probably better for him to get a Rubbermaid trough... ! See what you can do about building a pond though for it to live in for life.
 
I keep hearing "rubbermaid"

I have yet to see a Rubbermaid large enough for an adult snapping turtle. I hope you are not suggesting a 300 gallon rubbermaid.
He will need a regular type large pond eventually. He will be too large for any of those tanks within the first year.
 
santoury;952556; said:
I keep hearing "rubbermaid"

I have yet to see a Rubbermaid large enough for an adult snapping turtle. I hope you are not suggesting a 300 gallon rubbermaid.
He will need a regular type large pond eventually. He will be too large for any of those tanks within the first year.

very true. snappers can get around 100+ pounds when fully grown. a rubbermaid would last quite a while though. glad to hear you are keeping him. they are much fun as long as you respect them.
 
Unless it's an ally snapper it probably won't break 35 lbs. It took mine 8 years to hit 23 lbs. I kept him in a 4 x 4 x2 deep for the first 5 years and he was fine.
If he's hitting the food as soon as you drop it in that means he's settling in and starting to feel secure, so, GOOD JOB! Try offering him chunks of fish too. If you like to fish you can bring home a few for him and chop them into cubes and freeze it for him.
Oh, and BTW, the whole big post on w/c vs captive bred was just to show how asinine it is to argue over that topic. All animals were wildcaught at some point...
 
that would be one giant rubbermaid.:eek: i will keep my eyes open. The pond idea will not work well. Winters in nebraska are crazy.
 
How crazy? Remember the Common Snapping Turtle got quite an extensive range...
 
I realize this too is late in the post but here is one of the best sites dealing specifically with Chelydra s. sp. - Chelydra.org
If you have any specific questions please feel free to PM me as well. I too have years of experience keeping/working with snapping turtles hence the name. By the way the record for a wild caught Chelydra s. serpentina is 76.5 lbs (34.7 kg) by John Rogers in Lake Rohunta near Orange, Massachucetts.
 
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