Red Devil;1906413; said:
Ok this is how I see it: like I've mentioned they are not a domesticated species like a dog, cat, horse, etc... But even those animals have the ability to survive without the help of human assistance as long as they are able to find food, water and shelter. Snappers are not specialized feeders either and can easily find something to eat in pretty much any type of freshwater habitat that is similar to where they exist natively. If I took and released all my box turtles right now (2 of which I've had for over 20 years) I know without any shadow of a doubt that they'd survive and live just fine in the wild. I see them hunt food and eat certain vegetation in their enclosure but they still get fed by me a few days a week. Your pet snapper Liz might seem domesticated but if you were to place it in a pond, it would explore around and eat things it found on the way. Before long it would become very accustom to this and revert back to it's wild state. Reptiles for the most part have primitive brains programed like little computers to tell them what to do, what to eat, how to survive, etc. They can of course learn things over times and come to realize that the human approaching their tank means no harm and is the provider of food. If releasing captive animals into the wild by accident or on purpose didn't work, we wouldn't have so many feral animal species throughout the world. Do I believe in releasing an animal that was raised in captivity? Well I guess that would depend on the species, how long it's been in captivity, how much contact it's had with humans and is it really good for the benefit of the animal/species.
They are a good looking turtle though.
