Would it be wise to own an Alligator Snapping Turtle? At least

"Until it gets too big" is the problem with people owning aquatic reptiles.

only if you plan to give it something swimming pool sized to live in when its an adult. or let it free but only if you have let it hunt, so it knows how to, so it can survive.

alligator snappers are relatively docile compared to other snappers.

>>2376278
>letting it free

Don't do this if the animal isn't a native species

>>2376271
no you dumbass

>>2376279
If someone found one, it was native.

We had one here that we had to keep alive for the winter, fed him meat and worms and released him in spring last year. He got full size by the end of the year and someone actually got a rope around his neck and dragged him out of the creek, tying him to a guard rail until he died.

Why are people such assholes to reptiles?

>>2376327
>If someone found one, it was native.
Not always bro sometimes they're R E L E A S E D

>>2376329
I only see them once a year in their native areas, so I don't mind helping them out. Half the US has them anyways.

>>2376336
>Half the US has them anyways.
Half the US has common snapping turtles, not alligator snapping turtles.
Their area is much smaller.

>>2376365
You're right, we had an alligator and put it down in north WV.
But like I said, someone killed it.

>>2376368
guess where alligator snappers are NOT a native species? west virginia you dumbass

>>2376271
http://www.turtleman.com/turtle-care

You've gotten my interest. I want one now. This site is for a breeder, who apparently will allow you to ship back your turtles when they get to big for your liking, and will send you new hatchlings in return, provided you pay shipping both ways. they only grow an inch or two a year as well. I think I want one.

>>2376449
>using idiots to grow out your hatchlings to valuable adults for you
smart lad, too bad they probably come back stunted to fuck because faggot mcnigger kept them in the 10g until they got so big they couldn't move in it

>>2376376
>rare turtle
>winter coming
>put in tank over winter
>put in guppy creek
>"DUMBASS"

Well don't let your kids play in the copperhead infested creeks here then.
I'd be shocked if they couldn't dodge a 120lb turtle snapping menacingly at them.

>>2376449
It's good if instead of them dying or be released you can return them. You do release they probably flip them, right?

I don't see the point of getting one and getting rid of it when it gets too big. Might as well buy a different species.

I had one as a pet for a few years. It's not terribly different than owning a regular fucking turtle. They eat, they hide under things, and they shit. In fact they shit a lot. Turtles can fuck up water quality super fast. Make sure you have really good filtration that the turtle can't damage.

They don't grow too fast, so it will stay manageable for a few years, and they are very long lived. They are active when they are small, but they quickly become very sedentary as they grow. Do not underestimate its bite power just because it is smaller, do not just stick shit into the aquarium, for both you and the turtles sake. Especially your fucking hand. I don't recommend doing the pond thing, since that's even more difficult to keep clean and it will become more difficult to keep track of where the turtle actually is.

And for the record, Louisianafag here, so they are native.

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>>2376628
what the fuck are you talking about? alligator snappers are not native to west virginia. that's all I said. and what the hell do you think turtles do during the winter you retard? go up to humans and ask to be put in a tank? do you think turtles can't survive winter? you're a dumbass for releasing an invasive species back into the wild either way. and what does a copperhead have to do with a snapping turtle or are you just trying to sound tough? I get up close to cottonmouths in my creek daily and those are more dangerous. pic related is one I just found today

My aunt had one, bad pet, stank to high heavens and was mean as an old man.

>>2376629
The man I referred to in my post is actually a conservationist, working to help reestablish the alligator snapping turtle in its native environment. Returned turtles are used for breed stock (most of them), or are sent to a conservation department display tank.
Buying a turtle from this guy basically just helps support his program, while he lets other people raise baby turtles for him, and he just breeds them.
Kinda a cool thing.

>>2376617
Right? pretty ingenious, I think. It's like he's got 200 grow out tanks all around the country he doesn't have to feed, do water changes on, or anything. and better yet, YOU pay HIM for the privilege of getting to keep one of these turtle. Even if half of them come back stunted, I'm sure its a success for him. Especially since stunted doesn't necessarily mean it can't breed, and theres nothing genetically wrong with it.

>>2376271
>Until it gets too big
Fucking normie, get out.

>>2376271

How do they breathe? It seems like they need to be submerged for a long ass time to get foods.

>>2376630
This. Just grab it by the shell and that's all.

If you're stupid enough to put a hand close to his mouth you'll loose at least a finger.


>>2376661
what's that

>>2377015
>what's that
Are you American? Because every American should know what a cottonmouth is.

>>2377140
Other people call them water moccassins.

>>2377140
kek

No but I actually kept some agkistrodon in the past. Due to the pale grey and how the head looks I didn't recognize it.

>>2376271
>until it gets to big
Fuck off Florida Man/aussie

>>2377148
I think that name is rude

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>>2378369
it was just the lighting making it look like that. here he is out of the water

I have a skull from an alligator snapper, it's a decent size bigger than my fist and looks like set of shears, and you'd be hard pressed to fit a pinto bean into the brain cavity.

They're native here, he just found it in the woods.

>>2377013

They go up to the surface for air like any other turtle. Yes, even fuck huge ones. When mine was tiny he would float on the surface a lot, but that was probably caused more by the aquarium I started him out in. As he grew he would spend more and more time at the bottom. Fuckers can hold their breath for awhile. Over an hour, easily, and since their nose is right on the tip of their snout they don't have to reveal a lot of their head to take a breath. If they are in shallower water they might just crane their head up, though they don't have any issue taking a leisurely swim up to breath.

>>2378655
post your alligator snapping turtle :3

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>>2378687

Sorry, all my pictures of him died when I accidentally drop kicked my old flip phone into a half dozen pieces one night when I fumbled it and tried to break the fall with my foot. I tried recovering what pictures I could off the card, but they were corrupted, and all the programs I ran only managed to salvage 46 out of over 600 .chk files, none of which were of him.

As for the turtle, I sold him about three years ago to another guy who tried to do the pond thing with him, and within a week he said "fuck this" and booked it into the relative wilds of suburban drainage canal dwelling.

Polite sage and a picture of a water moccasin I found innawoods, since this was one of the few pictures that got recovered off the old phone and somehow the topic wandered there anyway.