Anyone here raise turtles?

[Captain Ginyu]

i just caught me a 2in baby gator snapper set him up in 48gal tote with under gravel filters and a lip hanging filter and a UV light ...i was fishing at the local stream when my wife took the kids for a walk and came back with this lil guy he eats anything hotdogs crickets flies worms cheese ham bologna shrimp pellets feeder fish ... to be one of the most aggressive turtles in the world he is awful human friendly ill keep him a few yrs and give him a better chance on life when hes bigger when i release him back at a nature preserve away from humans

That wasn't a gator snapper friend, it's a common snapper. Still a worthy & commendable effort on your part for lookin after the critters. I used to find baby red-ears trapped often in my pool in the spring/summer. I would always release them to the canal in the backyard.

 

[pezmasterelite]

Hi,

I think pet turtles would do fine for food if let go in the wild. I would not do that with my turtles, they are pets. If they escaped somehow, I think they would find food easily. Turtles eat lots of carrion and scavenge for things. My turtles dig around in anything I put in the tank trying to eat it, like plants, gravel, their floating rock thing...

I am however worried if they would react well to predators. My turtles are definitely used to me and now are becoming used to my wife. If a patient comes over or any friends, they usually end their basking sessions and swim around to the back of the tank.

If turtles are raised in a tank, I am not sure if they will have the proper instincts to defend themselves or run when need be. This is just a guess, but I am always worried about birds taking pets from yards for some reason. Raccoons as well, or a skunk, coyote, fox, there are lots of animals where I am at.

Back to turtles, this is Female chilling in the water under the light. The bluegill( red-ear Sunfish ) is the size that they ate many of during the warmest month of the previous summer. For some reason, this one was a fighter and is now the alpha male amongst any goldfish that remain after feedings.

This is another somewhat blurry shot of the turtles.

Turtle is always trying to climb Female to get a better basking spot.

Peace

 

[Strainhunter]

Turtles...Fish...Pigeons...

You gotta check out this video.

best in HD and full screen so you won't miss the details.

Crazy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qz9vWtkOhs

 

[puffinpass]

hate to say it dreamz, but for someone who studies turtles, u dont know them too well, that is 100% a common snapper, alligator snappers look much different.

 

[puffinpass]

and please, turtle populations suffer enough as it is, please let nature take its course, interfering with nature is never good...Trust me, I've been doing the same as you most of my whole life, more than 20 years now. Finally came to the conclusion, my efforts did nothing except make things worse. I've watched the turtle populations drop dramatically it the last 20 years all over the the area I live in.....All the stupid asians take them and make soup and stupid shit, plus many hispanics do the same. Not to mention people who catch the hatchlings and sell them. Help solve the problem, dont be a part of it.

 

[2cents]

i thought your snapper looks like a common snapper as well...

I will say turtles kick ass, but must be given a large enough volume of water with adequate filtering or changing of the water

I view a nice snapper as kind of like a pissed off water pit bull

 

[Dreamz_Of_Green]

these guys now live in a 90 gallon tank with all the bells and whistles , heater , UVB/A lamps 55 gallons of water, live plants, malawi chichilids african variety. ill get pix up soon. i gave the snappers to the guy who owns the lake i fish at every summer . they were startinh to get a lil agressive for the painted turtles . they are common snappers . go look at common snapper hatchling then visit alligator snapper hatcling u will see how one could get them confused. these guys are my kids pets i would never let them go . my pride and joy is my blue pitty. the snappers are now in a 60 gallon tank setup just for them and thier needs.

 

[Strainhunter]

.....

go look at common snapper hatchling then visit alligator snapper hatcling u will see how one could get them confused.

......

Common on the left, Alligator on the right (the rougher looking one).

 

[Strainhunter]

Haha look what I have come across!




Snack anyone?

 

[supermanlives]

had a few over the years. where i grew up as a kid in mass our property had a swamp and a pond. the huge snappers would come and bury their eggs in my back yard. i spray painted a few of their shells with graffiti and teased them with sticks to see just how powerfull they were. lets just say i learned to respect their power and when i hooked some fishing treated them very carefully. an alligator snapper is 20 times badder than a snapper their cute when small tho

 

[humble1]

Does anyone know about pink turtles? I saw a couple swimming around in a tank in Berkeley at a place called the Vivarium and they wanted like 500 a piece! And they were just babies.... I've been wondering if they are normal turtles fed a red dye, like flamingos.

 

[Littleleaf]

We have 2 painted,1 slider/green,and two soft shell.
In the winter they hibernate in the fridge in the shop in a box with peat in it. The temp is about 38f. We pull them out and put them in a plastic fish pond it frount of the house in the spring. Been doing this for 5 years and they show no ill effect.
They are one tough creature.

Befor some one says that's cruel. All turtles hibernate in the winter,they are cold blooded reptiles.

 

[Dreamz_Of_Green]

im now down to 2 turtles i gave a painted away , and 2 snappers also before hand.2 snappers are now in a planted tank with a 70w MH 6500K above w/ mosses and sand and mud substrate in a 60gallon with everything needed the painted is now in a 75 gallon with another buddy of mine set up kind alike my painted tank


90 gal
3 UVB/A lamps above
water 78F
bucket filters
2x 80 gal lip filters
under gravel filter
live plants
night lamp

 

[Dreamz_Of_Green]

caught another hatchling while fishing the local catfish hole ... 1inch midland painted ..who fit right in with my other 2 . beats being catfish food .this guys was caught where the owners stock at were talking 50-60lb cats annd carps and tons or large mouth bass ..he woulda been a goner for sure

 

[SunshineDreams]

Turtles are pretty cool, I remember rescuing one when I was younger.

 

[turtle farmer]

just came in from my pond with 30 hatchlings--pics to follow,after their bath..
thought I hatched some albinos when I saw the divet, but they were unhatched eggs.
25 red eared sliders and 5 red bellys,so far.

 

[supermanlives]

turtle soup anyone LOL

 

[SunshineDreams]

^ no no no no! I just can't imagine eating them, they're quite cute in a strange sort of way. What about chicken noodle?

 

[Brother Bear]

I have always loved turtles. Hope to have some for my kids here soon, just as i did when i was a boy.
Also wouldn't mind trying snapper soup

 

[Strainhunter]

The only wild turtles deserving to be kept in captivity are the ones pictured below.

All others should be let go. Seriously.