New guy! Pics of my Alligator Snapper and setup!

[JMac202]

Well I stumbled upon this site the other night and looked around for a while and decided to join.

Here are some pics of my Ally Snapper I got two days ago from a local breeder and his current setup.

He's housed in a 20 Gl tank...for now. I'm moving soon and had this to use and as soon as he starts to out grow this tank he'll be upgraded to my 55 and then of course a larger stock tank.

I know all about them and dont need people telling me he's gonna get big or that it's illegal. In fact I'm very well educated in the reptile area. I pride myself in the fact that I study reptiles and do hours of research before I do actually make a purchase.

I started off with RES, soft shells, common snappers and box turtles. Then moved up and had chameleons, Iguanas, Collered Lizards, Red tailed boas, ball pythons, Spurred thigh tortoises and alligators.

I know just about everything there is to know about properly caring for this turtle and his life expectancy.

Just thought I'd share some pics of the setup.

Sorry if the pics arent the greatest I used my camera phone. My girlfriend dropped my digital cam in the lake last week.


Next up I'm buying a B&W Tegu when I get moved into my new house.

 

[TheMightyOscar]

no filter?

 

[HPIZZLE]

sup dog, where in kc you from? and why the hell aint there no filter? apparently u didnt research that animal, cause you need a filter. theyre dirty. gl, and stop boasting about it being illegal. cept we all have a dirty little tank....

 

[ExoticEctotherms]

Congrats and welcome to MFK. Awesome snapper.

 

[smijeha]

whoa settle down guys. looks like to me there is a filter under the rocks on the left side of the tank. looks like a cord going down the inside of the tank. instead of accusing him of no filter how about instead you just ask what kind of filter he is using. if he doesnt have one then i bet hes getting one. he just got the turtle, it aint gonna dirty up the water that quickly. ask him more about his set up like water temps and such.

i know you know about sizes and stuff but i thought i would just share my alligator snapping turtles growth for the simple reason that before i got mine everythingi heard and read told me they grow slow. well, that wasnt the case with mine. after one yr he was 4 inches. 2 yrs he was 8 inches. after 3 yrs he was 12.5 inchs. now at 8.5 yrs old his growth has slowed down but he is about 17 inches in shell length and 30 pounds. with that said, another turtle from the same groupl that i got mine from which was the same size was only at 12 inches this last summer. i dont know what kind of care its had.

well good luck, hope to see more pics

 

[JMac202]

Chill out people. The filter is there. It's on the right side of the pictures along with the water heater. If you look closely there are two cords going into the water. I put the rocks around the filter and heater (they connect to one another) untill he gets a little bigger. That way he doesnt get stuck to the filter or something. I've seen wierder things happen. I told you I know what I'm doing.

There is adequate space between the rocks and filter btw to efficently clean the tank. It just gives it a more natural look as well.

 

[smijeha]

I dont see a filter on that tank and unless you do a 100% water change everyday or dont feed it properly that water is dirty.

how is that tank dirty if he doesnt do 100 percent water change everyday? does the turtle have toxic goop coming out of it 24/7.


seriously, he just got it!!!!!

 

[JMac202]

whoa settle down guys. looks like to me there is a filter under the rocks on the left side of the tank. looks like a cord going down the inside of the tank. instead of accusing him of no filter how about instead you just ask what kind of filter he is using. if he doesnt have one then i bet hes getting one. he just got the turtle, it aint gonna dirty up the water that quickly. ask him more about his set up like water temps and such.

i know you know about sizes and stuff but i thought i would just share my alligator snapping turtles growth for the simple reason that before i got mine everythingi heard and read told me they grow slow. well, that wasnt the case with mine. after one yr he was 4 inches. 2 yrs he was 8 inches. after 3 yrs he was 12.5 inchs. now at 8.5 yrs old his growth has slowed down but he is about 17 inches in shell length and 30 pounds. with that said, another turtle from the same groupl that i got mine from which was the same size was only at 12 inches this last summer. i dont know what kind of care its had.

well good luck, hope to see more pics

Good observation. Like I said the filter is there.


I appreciate the information. Like I said I've researched these guys and owned one a few years back before I went back to college full time and ended up having to get rid of him cause I didnt have the time to properly care for him then. So here I am with another one and much more time now.

My previous on grew 5' in about 14 months. He went from a 50 cent piece to a small dinner plate. Here is a pic of my last one. I wish I hadnt gotten rid of him but it was the right thing to do at the time.

Oh and his water is kept at about 80 to 82 degrees.

 

[JMac202]

You guys crack me up! I'm not the guy who says he knows most everything about something and turns out to know nothing or just goes by what the petstore told him. I actually know what I'm talking about and what I'm doing. Sheesh...chill.

 

[smijeha]

they do poop 24/7 and even at that size it wont take that long for the ammonia to spike up to .5(2-3 days). He may have just got it but he said he did hours of research and if thats true he did not get the right info.

and what info did he not get? since you must have researched with him, helped him pick out his tank and supplies, and picked up the turtle with him then you must know what info he is missing. do tell

and as far as the water goes, let him respond if there is a filter or not. like i said, looks like there is one. but could be a heater too. but let him respond. no need to attack and accuse a new member of anything. and no, they dont poop 24/7. as with any new animal i wouldnt feed it for a few days until it was acclimated to its new environment. im not sayin ghe did this or not. even if it is eating and pooping why assume he hasnt down any water changes? even if he didnt, teh water isnt gonna harm the turtle. maybe itf it was aquarium fish the little spike in ammonia would hurt, but the turtle will be fine. if thats a filter in the corner then he has a nice set up. heck, maybe it wasnt a filter in the pic. maybe he took the pic two days ago when he first got it. maybe his filter he had didnt work so he set up the turtle anwyas and went and got a filter.......there is to many ifs in here to start accusing him of something with out getting all the info. remember, by assuming you make.........well cant finish that sentence! lol