Introducing my new Alligator Snapper

[Shad0w]

Greetings all,

I picked up this beautiful Alligator snapper about two weeks ago...
Its time to introduce you all to her.

If I could only have ONE herp, these dinosaurs would be it :)

I am SO happy with her, even though every time I go near her, she wants to eat me :)

She's smiling for the camera :)

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/5936alligator-snapper_022-med.jpg


http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/5936alligator-snapper_019.jpg


http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/5936alligator-snapper_024.jpg


What you guys think? :D

[~Suntiger~]

She's lovely! Congratulations!
How big is she?

[Shad0w]

Still very young... carapace is approx 6 inches... She's got LOTSA growing to do :D

[~Suntiger~]

LOL nvm I just noticed your fingers in the pic!
She's a cutie that's for sure

[Shad0w]

Suntiger,

Thank you VERY MUCH :)

[marisa]

OMG that thing is so cute. It's head is sooo big in relation to it's body.

If Mikey our RES ever passes away (which would be terribly sad, but frankly I think he will outlive me! lol) then I'll am considering one of those as my next turtle pet! One turtle at a time is enough for me right now though!

Nice pics.

Marisa

[Shad0w]

Thank you Marisa :)
Gotta love these things.. they get absolutely enormous :)

[Big_V]

Yeah that little thing is gonna get huge. I love how cryptic their mouths look. Doesnt even look like flesch in their but moss or something. Congrats and try to keep all those fingers and toes.

[Shad0w]

Thanks Big V !!

Yea.. I esp. love the "lure tounge"... its amazing watching it "fish" with it.. the poor fish dont stand a chance when they see that little red worm wiggling around.... they just have to peck at it.. .then... CHOMP... :D

[Shad0w]

bump

[Shad0w]

LOL... I know :D

[V.hb]

you'll have aged about 20 years before it gets too big though :)

[Shad0w]

:D

This is one pet I wont have to worry about dying of old age any time soon :)

[K1LOS]

what do you plan to house it in as an adult? Those things get huge!

Geoff

[Shad0w]

An indoor pond... u know.. those plastic ones...

[K1LOS]

i didnt even know you could buy them that big!
congrats on the turt. what are you feeding it now and as an adult?

Geoff

[Paleosuchus]

Nice looking snapper, i recently witnessed a budy of mine get nailed by a florida snapper, almost took the finger off, Watch those fingers!!, lol

[Shad0w]

Feeding it mostly rosy reds, mice and cooked chicken

[Shad0w]

bump

[Black_Panther]

Are you CRAZY!??? THose things get ENORMOUS!!!! They've got to be one of the biggest--if not THE biggest--kinds of turtles in America!!!! Are you sure an indoor pond is gonna do it? It would have to take up practically your whole living room!!!

[Black_Panther]

OK, ok, I take that back. Not the biggest turtle in America. Alligator Snappers are the biggest freshwater turtles in the WORLD, getting almost 31 inches long and up to 250 pounds in weight. They can also live for around 200 years.

I don't think a plastic pond's gonna do it.

[snakers55]

Umm they aren't the biggest freshwater turtle in the world.. The asian softshells of the genus Pelochelys and Chitra beat it.. You could keep an adult in one of those HUGE rubbermaid troughs..

[wetlander]

I noticed that some of you have caimans and burmese pythons... and your wondering how he will house this little guy? sheesh I don't think he has that much to worry about.

Love the turtle. It would be great to see some pics of that lure working.

[Shad0w]

snakers55 is right...

Ally snappers require allot less room than you would think... huge rubbermaid troughs would do it... go check out the metro toronto zoo.. they keep a massive one in a pond no larger than 6 or so feet in diameter...

[RepTylE]

I like those gator snappers :) I also love matta mattas and hope to get a pair one day.

[Shad0w]

Oh yea.. matamata's are awesome!... Im trying to aquire one as we speak :)

[Black_Panther]

I love any snappers, and think that Alligator snappers are the best of all...but they still don't hit me as a very good pet...of course, I don't agree with keeping caimans or pythons big enough to kill you if you're not careful, either. No offense. That's just my opinion.

Snakers55--Asian Softshell? i'll have to look that up. There were a couple of websites I found that said A snappers were the biggest, but maybe it was faulty info...

[Shad0w]

Snakers55 was right, there are allot of sources that claim the ally snapper as the largest.. but a couple of asian softie specimens took the cake... look carefully and you see what Im saying :D

[snakers55]

Personally,I keep 7 alligator snapping turtles, none are enormous yet, largest is around 15", but I have noted that they barely move at all.. I have kept them temporarily in enclosures that they could easily escape from, but they did not.. I would imagine that most of the reason for this is that they are "sit and wait" predators, they aren't overly active, and do not search for their food like most other turtles. This also make it so that they can be kept in enclosures that would appear too small for an animal of such a size... If anyone has seen the large alligator snapper at the toronto zoo, you know what I mean, their turtle is HUGE and their pond isn't too too big at all (big enough obviously)..

[snakers55]

http://www.faculty.smsu.edu/d/dlm505f/images/Don's%20student.JPG

Here's a picture of one of the giant softshells.

[bistrobob85]

WTF!!! Wow, someone could actually surf on those things!! Hehe! Are they endangered?

[Buddha]

omg that is a huge soft shell