Alligator Snapping Turtle

mjmorg89

mjmorg89

Well-Known Member
I've just returned from a trip to Madrid, and while i was there i visited a small pet shop/aquarium. The owner had his own private collection in the basement which people could go down and view. In the largest tank he owned was an alligator snapping turtle...which measured approximately 4ft long, 2ft wide and 2ft tall, maybe even bigger. I've never seen one so big before. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take a picture but i was wondering if someone can tell me if this is a normal size for them to grow to?

Also do they have a lure on their tongues? As this was the only part of him/her that was moving, although it could have been something else
 
Alligator snapping turtles are extremely common in zoos and aquariums across North America, and they can grow to absolutely enormous sizes. They do have a lure that entices wayward fish to approach, and then SNAP!
 
The bite force of one of these bad boys is over 1000 pounds! they look mean I'd rather have one than a German sheperd. The lure is called a vermiform I believe actually worm-shaped, the confirmed record is around 235 punds I think, but on average wild turtles I heard only grow to around 80cm? I'm suprised some look a hell of a lot bigger,
 
Was it in Brisbane or Sydney that some small ones stolen many years ago. Workers found an enormous one in a sewer a couple of years ago which would have been one of the stolen ones.
 
Looking at the first link, i think the one i saw was around twice the size of this one, but its hard to judge
 
I remember seeing a huge snapper on show at Silver Springs in Florida, the handler dropped it half way through his presentation, never seen a man move so fast!
 
maybe one of the americans can help me out? You here a lot of stories of 150 or 350 year old snapping turtles but if I talk with breeders or zoo keepers they tell me that in captivity none became older then 70 and that the more then 100 year old ones are bogus.
Are there in zoo in us ones that are proven 100 years old or older?
 
DDcorvus said:
maybe one of the americans can help me out? You here a lot of stories of 150 or 350 year old snapping turtles but if I talk with breeders or zoo keepers they tell me that in captivity none became older then 70 and that the more then 100 year old ones are bogus.
Are there in zoo in us ones that are proven 100 years old or older?
Click to expand...

Well, I've heard of a snapping turtle that had a bullet stuck on it's shell. When the bullet was removed, they found out that the bullet was from the Civil War which was back in the 1860's, and they predicted the age of the turtle to be over 150 years old.
 
I dont know if any of the AST in american zoos can be proven to be a certain age unless they spent their whole life in a zoo. Reptiles grows continously their entire lives based upon nutrition and environment, thus its almost impossible to guess the age of an older reptilian individual (except in certain cases as mstickmanp proves). As for 100+ years, we dont have that many zoos that have reached this mark...but I wouldnt be surprised if there were 100+ AST in captivity!
 
Monty said:
Was it in Brisbane or Sydney that some small ones stolen many years ago. Workers found an enormous one in a sewer a couple of years ago which would have been one of the stolen ones.
Click to expand...

I think it was sydney because they found one near sydney airport. It's at Gosford reptile park now.
 
ok, hold on, how big do these things exactly get?!!!!!!! From what I'm hearing the measurements are far contary to articles on the web,
 
boof said:
I think it was sydney because they found one near sydney airport. It's at Gosford reptile park now.
Click to expand...

And it's a fair size too. Not seen a bigger one.

AST are amongst the largest freshwater turtles. A good length is 80 cms. Weight 80 kgs. However there are reports of much bigger individuals.
 
That would be a strange surprise what health was it in ? And I wonder if it was a good choice to release the turtle in the river, would that have an effect on the eco-system?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top