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- Common snapping turtles are, well, common in the St Louis region (where I am). They’re like rattlesnakes though; you have to know where and when to look for them. Alligator snappers are endangered, but only because they’re so tasty and they take so long to reach adulthood. It’s a cajun-hillbilly thing to hunt aligator snappers by walking around in the water (around trees, they dig out burrows underneath trees) and feeling for them with your bare feet. - MC
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I don’t see anything on those pages that say they cannot be owned or eaten. The Missouri page lists them as <i>rare</i>, and there is boilerplate at the bottom of the page that “prohibits the importation, transportation, sale,
purchase, taking or possession of animals on the State or Federal lists,” but I think those lists are the endangered lists, aren’t they?
The Arkansas page discusses the high level of commercial trade.
RM, Try this page again and scroll down to section 4.1 “Legal Status.” Hope that helps.
As someone who has kept a total of 16 different species of turtles and tortoises, and used to be involved in breeding endangered turtle species, I agree with the general advice of this thread to find a proper location and release it into the wild.
Be VERY certain first, however, that it’s healthy, so you don’t introduce any disease into the wild population.
Contact a local wildlife rescue outfit–your vet or zoo should be able to point you to one–and give it to them. They’ll make sure it’s healthy and release it, or pass it on to an experience herpetologist to do so.
If you live near Chicago, contact the Field Museum and ask for information about the Chicago Herpetological Society, of which I was a member for many years. It’s one of the world’s largest organizations of amateur and professional herpetologists. They’ll be able to help you find someone to help you with it.
But please, contact someone ASAP. Turtles–especially young, growing turtles–are very susceptible to infection and nutritional deficiencies (DON’T, for example, feed it bologna). Feed it a previously frozen (to kill any parasites), non-fatty fish (such as smelt, or orange roughy; avoid tuna or salmon) with a reptile-specific vitamin supplement. If you can’t give to an experienced herpetologist right away, and you have it in a tank without a filtration system, give it only enough water to cover it, so it can reach its nose up for air, and change the water daily until it can be moved to a filtered situation.
Seriously, if it’s a true alligator snapper, don’t even consider keeping it. It’s the largest freshwater turtle in the world and can literally take your foot or hand off, forget your finger.
Up here in Minnesota, a friend of mine who made frequent trips to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area reported seeing snapping turtles there with shells close to four feet in diameter. Does that sound like a turtle tale or a possibility?
Spider Woman:
The common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina), whose range extends into Minnesota (I saw several on a camping trip to Northern Ontario), can attain a shell length of up to, at the extreme, 16". I’ve seen big ones through the water that I might, under certain circumstances involving alcohol and a wide-eyed audience, describe as Almost three feet across!" In other words, in keeping with the tradition of the “fish tale,” your friend probably saw a mature common snapping turtle and got a bit carried away in describing it.
The alligator snapper (Macroclemys temminckii), gets up to about 30" long in the wild–larger in captivity–but I’m fairly certain its range does not extend into Minnesota. I have no cites handy, but I seem to remember (from when I was heavily involved in Illinois turtles) that Illinois was the northernmost extreme of its range. Just did a web search and can find no immediate cites either way.
Also, Little Rock-et, it’s illegal to keep native species captive–threatened or endangered or not–without a license, unless they were bred in captivity. Which is highly unlikely in the case of alligator snappers.
(Hoping not to draw cries of “Hijack!”)
I inherited a turtle with a hinged front plastron that I have had for over seven years. I was told she is a Rocky Mountain Tortoise, but have never been able to find her in any books at the library.
She has eaten (at various times) bananas, raspberries, strawberries, raw hamburger, moistened cat food, anything I could tempt her with, but never any of the commercially sold turtle foods.
(We know she is female because she laid eggs before the previous owners gave her to us; unfortunately, they allowed their young daughter to destroy the eggs). Her shell (although not the shape of) is roughly the size of a medium sized grapefruit.
Have you heard of this species, and do you know what they eat? (I will try to find that species in the search engine I use, but I doubt I will find it.)
Thanks!
Can you describe colors, or patterns? texture of shell? color of eyes, “lips,” plastron, etc.?
Look at pictures of the Wood Turtle (Clemmys insculpta) and the Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina) and see if they ring a bell.
Most aquatic turtles are carniverous, and that’s what most commercially available turtle foods are designed for. Most terrestrial turtles and, AFAIK all true tortoises, are largely vegetarian.
I was never very involved with true tortoises, but of course many of the people I associated with at the time were, and my reading and lecture-attendance was wider afield than my own turtles, but I’ve never heard of a Rocky Mountain Tortoise. In fact, I’ve never heard of a North American tortoise that was not native to a desert ecosystem. You might go to some of the links at the sites I referenced above; there are a lot of Chelonia resources out there.
I’ve been checking out lots of your cool links previously posted. I tried the one for the Colorado Herp Society, and through their default species selection system, came up with a yellow mud turtle, definitely NOT the right species.
I also looked at the pictures in the newest links you posted. Again, no dice.
She has a very high carapace; it is almost the color of a greenish army helmet. There are no distinguishing characteristics like yellow lines that I can see right now, but she has been in her outdoor pen for a few days and gets quite dirty out there.
At one time I thought the people had told me that the species was Rocky Mountain Terrapin, but someone else told me all terrapins are water turtles. With her high shell, she if definitely a land turtle.
I’ll keep searching the different links provided, and the too numerous ones provided by altavista. If I find out anything, I’ll let you know. Thanks again.
If I had to guess, I’d say I’m fairly certain it’s a box turtle. They are extremely variable and I’ve seen some older specimens that have no visible pattern on their carapace at all. And the box turtle is a bit of an anomaly: it’s considered by some to be more closely related to the terrapins, but to have adapted to a mostly terrestrial existance. They like to soak; most box turtles in the wild live near water. I’d always put mine in a pie plate of clean water once a day, where they’d sit and, usually, shit.
In any case, if it’s not a box turtle, it’s a species that I have absolutely never heard of. Which is of course entirely possible, but for as long as I was involved with North American chelonids, and as indiscriminate as my memory for useless details is, that would surprise me greatly.
Focus your search on box turtles; you may find a picture that’s closer in appearance to yours.
I’ll get back to you. 
(this also turtle likes to do her business while soaking in shallow water)
My turtle’s shell looks a lot like the shell in the first round picture at this site, but the head and legs on my turtle are a bit smaller in proportion to the body, and the eyes are not bulbous and hooded, unlike this turtle, and they are a beautiful golden color. also her skin is all one color, a drab, indiscriminate color. If I can find a picture of her I may have my daughter help me figure out how to post it; meanwhile, I’ll keep looking.
Back a little later.
(Hope Little Rock-et doesn’t mind my use of her thread.)
The turtle needs an environment where it not only can get wet, but has a ‘shelf’ for it to sun itself on out of the water. They’ll eat little fish – minnows – from a fresh water pond, pond greens, and probably some commercial turtle food. They will eat some hamburger – raw, but go easy on any commercial, cooked meats because of the salt content. No sardines either.
The Alligator snapper is a bad tempered, carnivorous little beggar, with powerful jaw muscles and the ability to snake it’s neck darn near halfway back along it’s shell to snip off grasping fingers. The jaws of an adult are powerful enough to cut through a person’s finger. Like many snappers, once they clamp down, they are reluctant to let go.
They live in tropical zones like Florida, temperate ones like Georgia, primarily in swampy areas, in deep ditches and fresh water ponds. Most snappers will avoid contact with a human but respond determinedly when captured.
Unlike many turtles, they are not passive and easily handled. They swim quite well, using the tubular shaped, extended nose to poke above the water for air while remaining submerged. Being a reptile, they are cold blooded and require a warm environment for both activity and digestion of food. They also require water not just for swimming, but to shed excess heat in if they get too warm on land. (So poking one in a terrarium and sticking it in the sun is not all that good if the water gets too hot.)
They are active hunters and browsers. Many ‘Crackers’ consider them a delicacy. (I don’t.) By now, along with almost every other turtle in Florida, they are probably protected.
If in doubt, call up your local animal pound or humane society. There are places which will take and treat ill, protected animals and then release them into their proper environment.
Yes, thanks. It’s not clear which states make it illegal to possess a snapping turtle privately, though. Most of the laws seem to be about commercial exploitation. What if you had a snapper from Mississippi, where there is a bag limit? Indiana, which seems to be the only state listing it as endangered, lists it as extirpated–which means, I guess, that there aren’t any in Indiana.
Which brings up an interesting question. That section say that the list is of the fourteen states where snapping turtles exist. Ignoring that it says that there aren’t any in Indiana, I still only find thirteen. Kentucky, probably should be on the list, judging from its neighbors, and I know that North Carolina has snappers but isn’t on the list. South Carolina is also not on the list. What’s up with that?
Good questions. I’d better preface everything I’m about to say with IANAL, and mention that since I live out here, I’m only really familiar with California and federal collecting laws, so I’m going out on a limb talking about laws from other states.
Yeah, the CITES Amendment isn’t as thorough as I would have liked, which is why I suggested to Little Rock-et that she contact her state Dept. of Fish and Game or Natural Resources.
Gleaning what I can from it:
It is illegal to possess M. temmincki in Georgia and Illinois. It is illegal to possess M. temmincki for sale in Florida, Georgia and Illinois. It may also be illegal in other states, that’s just from the page I cited. It can also depend on how those states mentioned legally define “take.”
Another good place to look is here, but this only has the laws for Texas, Kansas, and Indiana listed so far.
I can do a little digging, but I’m not sure when I’ll get around to that. This is why I highly recommend contacting your state’s DFG or DNR. I might be able so say more firmly around Friday or Saturday unless someone pops up in the meantime with an answer. It would help to know which state specifically you’re interested in.
That’s because the site I linked to is related to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, so it’s more interested in commerce than pets.
Yup. There may be a few, but they can’t be easy to find.
Are you sure the N. Carolina snappers are M. temmincki? N. & S. Carolina are well outside the Mississippi and nearby river valleys it’s supposed to be found in, so I’m not sure the range of this species extends farther NE than Georgia. Kentucky sounds like a good candidate for these guys, and this page and this page too mention that the distribution extends into Kentucky, Tennessee, and even Iowa. No mention of the Carolinas.
Anyone with more info about the legality of pet Alligator Snapping Turtles in various states want to jump in?
No additional info, but my take is that whether or not it is legal for Little Rock-et to possess the turtle, the best course of action would be to release it into the wild, where it can breed.
These turtles are obviously under some population stress, though they may not yet be endangered, or even “threatened” in all areas. Release into the wild could help prevent them from becoming extinct.
The beasts should be pretty effective, though, at ridding your house of any unwanted poodle or cat infestation.
My father-in-law has a large property in Mich, which contains a couple of small lakes. One is great for swimming, and has long had panfish and bass. Pops, knowing better than God, decided to improve the fishery with the introduction of snapping turtles and Tiger Muskies. Suffice it to say that these two species of eating machines have flourished (well, the muskies are sterile, but they sure have gotten big!) I know the things try to avoid people and commotion, but I must admit I preferred paddling around when I didn’t have to think I was sharing the water with some pretty sizeable beasts who could take a good sized chunk out of me. The kids call the big snappers TSTs, Toilet Seat Turtles. I’ll attest that the biguns sure look bigger than 14" across. Oh yeah - they stink, too.
I hate the buggers. So my suggestion would be, if it is a common snapper, have it chomp down on a stick, pull his head out as far as you can, and cut it off with an axe. But that’s just me.
If it is an alligator snapper, practice getting it to hold it’s mouth open while you stick in a finger or a toe? With any luck, you’ll get it to learn in less than 20 tries. In my humble opinion, you’d have to be nuts to keep such a beast. There’s one at the Brookfield Zoo, and that sucker’s a MONSTER!
I apologize, I’ve been a little busy and haven’t had a chance to look into the legality of possessing Alligator Snapping Turtles in states other than those already mentioned. I can’t guarantee that I’ll get around to it soon, but I will try to do so.
Good point, spoke, thanks for mentioning that.
Wevets, spoke’s point has been raised before in this thread, and I responded that it’s dangerous to the native population to release a captive animal without making sure it’s not carrying any disease.
It absolutely should be released, if it is an alligator snapper, but only after a herp vet has checked it for parasites and infections.