Common Snapper roadside rescue

[StudentoReptile]

This is a juvenile common snapper I rescued off the road on the way to work the other day. This is the 5th turtle roadside rescue this year.

He was headed for the interstate and no suitable habitat was in sight, so I drove him a short ways to a creek I knew of where hopefully, he'll stay away from the road.

He wasn't happy.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b400/MDC_Leviathan/Field%20Herping%202012/Snapper1.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b400/MDC_Leviathan/Field%20Herping%202012/Snapper.jpg

[alessia55]

Poor wee little guy! I'm glad you took him off the road!

[Toronto1977]

Good on you. I would've done exactly the same thing :)

[snake man12]

That's an alligator snapping turtle. When i caught one he was pretty aggressive

[StudentoReptile]

That's an alligator snapping turtle. When i caught one he was pretty aggressive

Are you sure? This one's snout/beak seemed just a little too blunt/short to be an AST. And the shell just seemed too smooth as well.

[snake man12]

On a normal snapper the shell would be completely smooth

[StudentoReptile]

Well, I've been pouring over photos of both species, trying to compare animals of similar size. Remember that this is a juvenile (not even half-grown), whichever species it is, and also that common snappers are not smooth as hatchlings.

Granted my personal experience with either is little, but from what I can tell, an AST of similar size would have a more rugged shell, and more pronounced ridge on the dorsal scutes. And I know one can't tell from the photos, but the head was really more "egg-shaped" like that of a common snapper, unlike the more triangular, wedge-shaped skull of a AST.

[snake man12]

This is a juvenile asthttp://i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g361/412bro/14images.jpg

[StudentoReptile]

And here is a juvenile common!

Turtles and More Turtles: Photo of Common Snapping Turtle Juvenile, Chelydra serpentina (http://turtlesandmoreturtles.blogspot.com/2008/01/photo-of-common-snapping-turtle.html)

And here is a hatchling common (on the left) and a hatchling AST (right)
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/world_of_turtles/Alligator_Snapping_Turtles_-_Macrochelys_temminckii/images/bj2.jpg

[snake man12]

I think I have been bested no that I look at your first pics with better detail I see the common shaped head. I am going to upload a pic of one that I caught a few years ago and we can Identify
Never mind I cant find my sd card reader:(

[StudentoReptile]

Yeah, I'd almost say the one you posted a pic of, may be a juvie/subadult common...but the pics kinda small, and I'm not seeing all of the head.

ASTs seem to have a longer nostrils extending from where the eyes are (not sure how else to describe it), and commons just seem to have that rounded, toad-like head.
-----

And the more I think about it, I have personally seen smaller ASTs than that with more "knobby" shells, etc.

[snake man12]

Yeah the ast definetly has a longer snout and less rounded head shape

[brandonh]

i think i can help with this i have ton of commen snapper photos i'll post some see if it helps , i dont completely agree with common snappers having smooth shells as you can see even babies have ridges on there shells
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk243/Brandon1001_photos/SAM_3539.jpg
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk243/Brandon1001_photos/CIMG1513.jpg
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk243/Brandon1001_photos/CIMG1630-1.jpg
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk243/Brandon1001_photos/CIMG1631.jpg