I found one last night wandering around the parking lot, so I decided to give it a good home…at least until my girlfriend returns and throws a fit.
The turtle is about two inches in diameter and about half an inch thick (on average,) and it hides from the tasty worms I tried to feed it.
I know that the adults eat fish and worms and swimmers’ toes, but what do the babies eat?
-David
Give it some time with the worm. It may just need to get used to its new environment (or it may have eaten recently.) It will also eat any of the live food that pet shops sell for snakes (crickets, mealworms, waxworms). If you don’t think it’s fast enough, stay away from crickets.
For some reason, nearly every cold-blooded critter that can bite seems to enjoy cucumbers–I have no idea why. (Geckoes and anoles that swallow their prey whole don’t seem to like cukes, but turtles, iguanas, and a few others do.)
Tom~
Cukes I have!
Just sliced one up into tiny chunks–we’ll soon see.
Thanks Tom!
David
Are you sure it’s a snapping turtle? If so, please return it to the wild soon.
Snapping turtles are becoming scarce. I don’t think they’re “endangered”, but I believe at least the alligator snappers are considered “threatened”, and the numbers of all snapping turtles are decreasing.
I don’t mean to preach at you. It was good of you to rescue the turtle from the parking lot. Please try to find a good fish-filled creek, pond or lake for the critter, though.
I agree with spoke. I think that if you think about it you will agree that being free is a better place to live than anything you could provide.A good place would be near where you found it.
As far as what they eat I believe they are opportunistic. Watch your fingers.
This is about turtles in general
I got this infomation at: http://www026.personalogic.aol.com/pl/system/pl.qanda;4RNzuo23C$QXxZynl5MSM9hVBaeZyX9qbS3kR6iPGl4lzx864U6xr8LQUonNgFlMPbfwM$O&e7FSqpbUEN8qJobazCgWAnoMFS$velUCbhyBTZGAu1GJ4E550$xLL1 mdE7vZYNOynjUy41XmvRO7FFc3YnBTBDYBWdFxY90OYCB2A1RkGY8_eJX4E_kdxTNUshOwMtS5o3UwQ5w2SSRVJo4xTmhnA6Xi
Be prepared. Keep kitty litter in the trunk.
OOPS sorry about messing that last one up.
It sounds EXACTLY like my situation - when I found a baby alligator-snapping turtle (named “Speedy”). Poor guy didn’t eat for nearly a week, then started eating, of all things, bologna. That’s right, ordinary bologna - I would tear off a long strip and hold it in front of his nose, and he would eat it that way. Good luck!
The Prince: “Did you kill Jahamaraj Jah?”
Lady: “Yes.”
The Prince: “My Gods! Why?”
Lady: “His existence offended me.”
Yeah, it’s a Snapper…though you couldn’t tell it!
The wimp wouldn’t even bite my girlfriend when she
put her finger on his snout…sigh…they just don’t
make vicious carnivores like they used to!
Anyway, I’m going to return it to the pond behind our
apartment–I’m pretty sure that’s where it came from.
I’ll be letting it go tomorrow, in the shallow
end of the pond, because all of the really BIG turtles
hang out in the deep end.
I was hoping it would get a full meal first, but it
isn’t touching the worms, catfood, cucumbers, or the
newly added bologna…
Thanks all!
-David
Oh…I’ve named it “Spot”.
Cute, huh?
-David
Bye Spot
Lucy Van Pelt pulls out the football again, and goes long.
That link worked for me, thanks! This is it, ain’t it: [Pet Match](http://www026.personalogic.aol.com/pl/system/pl.qanda;4RNzuo23C$QXxZynl5MSM9hVBaeZyX9qbS3kR6iPGl4lzx864U6xr8LQUonNgFlMPbfwM$O&e7FSqpbUEN8qJobazCgWAnoMFS$velUCbhyBTZGAu1GJ4E550 $xLL1mdE7vZYNOynjUy41XmvRO7FFc3YnBTBDYBWdFxY90OYCB2A1RkGY8_eJX4E_kdxTNUshOwMtS5o3UwQ5w2SSRVJo4xTmhnA6Xi)
rocks
Omigod the horror.