Cool turtles, but trust me, get the snappers out sooner rather than later lol. The first sign of aggression could be fatal for your other turtles. I used to keep my Alligator snapper with other turtles in my early herping days...I saw him and a African helmeted turtle both go for the same piece of food...the Alli swallowed not only the food, but the helmeted turtle's head that was holding it. Fortunately the snappers jaws closed on the front of the shell, so I could pry his mouth open and the helmet could escape...from that point on, the snappers have always lived by themselves...
New Turtle Set-up
- Thread starter Joe M
- Start date
SimonL;4953692; said:
Good advice, and I totally agree. I am taking a small risk right now because my options limited with the cold weather and my lack of additional tanks, but I have kept enough snappers to get an ok feel for when I have to start really worrying about aggression. Hopefully it warms up here soon because they are getting close to the point where I am not comfortable with them co-habing with other species. Once nighttime temps in upstate NY get over about 50 degrees at night steadily, which is hopefully very soon
, the commons will be placed outside and the alli snapper will go somewhere yet to be decided. My goal is to have 4-5 DBTs and maybe a pink belly sideneck or two (and maybe some others, you never know what I'll end up buying between now and then) in this tank by mid summer.Thanks for you concers though, I really appreciate responses like yours that make suggestions and then base them on personal experience, as opposed to some of the responses Ive seen on other threads.
EDIT: I actually re-read your post and realized I missed something. I feed all of the turtles individually and out of the tank so feeding aggression is not a concern to me as much as territorial and, well, cranky snapping turtle aggression. It buys me a bit more time. The 3 common snappers and the DBT are the only turtles to have not bitten, or attempted to bite me, and they are all handled carelessly enough to allow it on a regular basis. The alli only opens his mouth like in the picture when you prod at his forehead for 10 or 15 seconds.
I wonder if that sort of feeding would condition them to be less aggressive with tanksmates? Good luck anyways! 
I just got into turtles 3 days ago.. Have myself a full grown male Texas DBT. I love that little sucker!
