please help!

kerrid

kerrid

AC Members
Mar 10, 2007
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Boston
by an unfortunate chain of events, my little sisters friend is staying with us for a while.
and she has a snapping turtle.
its small, but its still a snapping turtle.
it was staying in a very small tank so i bought a large plastic tub for it.
the waters heated to about 70 (from what i read on a snapping turtle website), and it has rocks and plants and a turtle dock.
im trying to figure out how to get a filter in there to circulate the water.

ANY input would be greatly appreciated



and i know snapping turtles have no business being in tanks or tubs so i was thinking of calling a zoo or aquarium to see if they will take it before it gets too big to handle...
 
How big is the turtle? If its a hatching, you can even get the water up to 75-78 degrees comfortable. With snapping turtles, flat real estate is important, since they tend to walk around rather than swim. The water should have a shallow enough area that the turtle can reach the surface and breathe while on its back legs. A basking area can also be helpful, but many snapping turtles don't bask that much. Any of the internal filters can be used in tubs.

Care sheet for ally snapper
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/cs-allisnapper.htm

Care sheet for common snapper (they're pretty similar, care-wise, but the allys get much bigger)
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/cs-commonsnapper.htm

Another good turtle resource is www.turtleforum.com
 
I agree. Thanks for doing the work for me sploke!
 
Yea a turtle dock isn't necessary since they are not baskers. Snappers really only come out of the water to move to another water source.
 
i know next to nothing about turtles and never really planned on having one.. =/

id say its about 4 inches wide by 5 inches long..
it seems to be doing alright, but im not all too sure.

should i put a substrate on the bottom of the container?
it kind of slips when it walk. if yes, is pool filter sand ok?

what about food?
its been eating reptomin pellets and i gave it some crickets which it apparently ate since they're not there anymore..


sad to say, but buying anyhting else is most likely out of the question...any DIY things to make it more comfortable?

thanks!
 
If you're not planning on upgrading it at any point, you should probably get rid of it. If its a common snapper, it will get up to about 16" long. If its an alligator snapper, much larger - they are the largest freshwater turtle in the world. They do grow slowly, but I wouldn't be keeping a turtle that size in anything much smaller than a 40 breeder. they are messy animals and require a lot of filtration and water changes. No offense intended, but if you're not prepared to properly meet the animals' needs you probably shouldn't be keeping it.

Read the care sheets I posted above - they answer all of the questions you asked.
 
trust me, i dont want to keep it..and like i said before, im checking at local zoos and aquariums to see if they can take it.

it was taken out of the wild about one year ago (or so im told) and was being kept in a tiny tank with goldfish..where it had to struggle to get its nose out of the water. there is no way i would ever release it into the wild after being in a tank for so long. this was not my decision in the first place but there was absolutely NO way i could let the poor thing sit in the conditions it was in previously.

its not my place to explain why, but it hasnt been given care in quite some time and id really appreciate some help with trying to give it the best care i can to make it comfortable for the time being.

again, this is NOT a long time thing. im trying to do the best i can for the short amount of time its in my care.

keep in mind, im a full time college student struggling to find the balance between classes, work, dogs, cats, frogs, 5 running tropical fish tanks..and now a snapping turtle and goldfish have been added to that..
i apologize for not looking at the links yet, but i really just dont have a whole lot of time on my hands.

i can guarantee its already being taken care of 100% better than it was before.


so any positive input would be greatly appreciated..or if anyone knows of zoos or aquariums in the boston area that would take it..
 
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