Im gonna agree with what others said. Dont handle them if you dont have to. When they are little they are preety peaceful but get a little bit more attitude when they get bigger. Mine was the size of a quarter when I got her last spring and now shes about 6 inches from front to back. They eat anything and everything they can. Heres a pic of mine about 2-3 months ago. Ill try to get a more recent one tonight.
the proper way you demostrated to hold was for a alligator snapper,,i promise and reassure you that this will not work on a regular snapper.its neck is mush longer i promise if you stick your hands down in side the front of his shell he can reach around and bite you..I hate to bring up handling again but i also dont want anyone miss informed,there are seperate handling techniques for eachheres a perfect website to demonstrate both the techniques i mentiod and the techniques for alligator snappers this also gives you the reasons for handling these animals in such a fashion http://www.chelydra.org/snapping_turtle_handling.html
Thanks! The acrylic has actually held up really well. I've gotten rid of all the big pieces of slate as she would move them around a lot and did cause a few scratches, but her claws don't seem to affect it.
Rigth to the point, snappers can be territorial and their figths are NASTY. Zoos here insist in keeping them together and none of their snappers have complete tails
Hello:
Snapping Turtles do make great pets but can never be trusted. They have one of the most powerful crushing powers in their jaws of any animal (bad sentence but you get the point). They will learn to recognize their owners and become very personable which I think is part of their charm.
I to have raised several of them and everything said before is all true. They are lots of fun but are a big commitment that will be around for a very long time. Still, in my opinion they are well worth the work. I have a larde female I raised from a baby and this year I will get a young teenage male to raise foer a couple years to breed with her.
Good Luck and...Have a Great Day!!!
The "Creature"