Hi my name is Helen I was giving a snapping turtle. He has shell rot and won't eat. The person that gave me the turtle fed it goldfish. The pet store said not to feed it gold fish. The turtle is very baggy and seems too skinny. Also he has white spots on his body I used reptisafe and turtle sulfa dip. The tank is a 20 long. He has a turtle dock and a fake plant and a zoo med turtle pump 318. I got aquatic turtle bites food for it. What can I do to help the turtle get rid of the shell rot and what kind of food can I use to feed the turtle? I have enough water for the turtle to swim in and lift his head up out of the water easily. I don't know anything about this type of turtle. There is 2 1/2 inches of water. Also how can you tell a turtles age? The water temp. is around 77 degrees. I do have a box turtle but am sure that the care is alittle different. The bite, does it really hurt that badly? Any advice. I would be grateful.
Thanks, Helen

Welcome to Herp Center Helen,


While I dont know much about snapping turtles, I am sure someone will come along that does...

I do own an ornate box turtle and a baby sulcata tortoise. THey are great!!! Glad you found us...Lyn

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Warmest Regards from Lyn

Welcome Helen, I'm not sure if we have any Snapper keepers here but I did find a link that may be of some use.

http://www.herpnet.net/Minnesota-Her...ng_turtle.html

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Ken
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem." -- Ronald Reagan

Heres an even better one :

http://www.science.mcmaster.ca/Biolo.../SNAP/SNAP.HTM

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Ken
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem." -- Ronald Reagan

Hi Helen, welcome to Herp Center.

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MARSHA

:D I'm smiling because I have no idea whats going on!

heck yes my dad said that snapers can break you finger when there small like the one I ust to have I would not recomend geting bit LOL

-sara

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Welcome to HC

Hmm, sounds to me like you've got one sick turtle. Ideally, a visit to a herp vet would be best, as he/she could supply you with the meds needed to eliminate the shell rot. You are certain its shell rot right? The white spots on the body sound like either a bacterial or a fungal infection. The Reptisafe you have is good for dechlorinating the water, and since it has electrolytes, it does help a little when a sick turtle drinks it. You can also use some Stress Coat, which is a fish water dechlorinator. The aloe vera would help a little, though not much. Also try adding some Betadine to the water. This should help, but a vet visit is still best for him.

Goldfish are the junkfood in a fishy diet. Minnows are better, and better still are mollies and other freshwater fish. Snappers eat only a minute amount of plant matter, and most captive ones won't eat any at all. Feed him live fish, tadpoles, frogs, and feeder insects, like crickets, mealworms, superworms, and cockroaches. Also add frozen foods to his diet, like krill. The aquatic turtle bites can also be added if he'll eat them, but don't make them a staple in the diet. Crickets and cockroaches are some of the best feeders, because you can gutload them first. Be sure and use a calcium and a vitamin supplement when gutloading.

Telling his age is pretty hard. His size is the best method, but it can be misleading if he grew up in poor conditions. A sick turtle with not enough food will grow much more slowly than a healthy one. Yeah, a bite from an adult snapper could potentially remove a finger. They also have a tendancy to not let go when they do bite you, and in many cases people have had to cut the jaw muscles to make the turtle release its grip, which ultimately means the turtle dies This situation is more common with wild ones biting people who don't really care about the turtle though, not with keepers and their pets.

You can probably lower the water temp by a few degrees if you're using a heater. Temps in the low-mid 70s are best, so yours are barely off. They're not off enough to cause any real problems though, so if you can't lower the temp, just make sure it doesn't raise much higher.

You do need a bigger tank though, and MUCH deeper water. The water should be at least twice as deep as the turtle is wide, and thats at bare minimum. For a normal sized turtle (7-10 inches or so) a minimum enclosure of about 40 gallons is needed. Snappers get HUGE though, so you'll need a rather large tank eventually. An adutl snapping turtle can weigh anywhere between 30 and 75 lbs! 75 is maassive though, and they're usually closer to the 30 end. Still, they get huge, so you'll probably need at least an 80 gallon tank to house an adult, but probably something bigger.

Also make sure you have a UVB light for him. They don't bask often, but you still need one. I myself have never kept adults, but I have experience caring for juveniles. They're very unique turtles.

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"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

Matt pretty much covered the basis, however I personally disagree with having the water as deep as he mentioned. I often give my adults 9-12" animals about a foot (deep) of water to aid the animals attempts to obtain air while being buried. (I gave the babies room to swim)

Snappers are bottom dwellers and rarely take into swimming, unless it's an absolute necessity. These beasts are also nocturnal; crespecular at best. This is one of the reasons they rarely bask, however, they are known to, so a land area is recommended as well as UV. (Snappers are also known to float along the surface to bask )

As for feeding, anything that moves, or stinks to high heaven, is highly recommended; especially for a sick turtle. Normally, you rarely have to persuay a snapper to eat, even a sick one, so I'm assuming your animal is high in the line, so I would consider a vet soon.

As for the shell rot, pat it down with diluted povidone-iodine, and try a tropical antibiotic. If the shell rot is penetrative, then a vet is surely the way to go. Either way, I recommend a vet.

Good luck.

i bought minnows for my turtle and he is eating them the shell rot or what ever it is ,is getting better with the sulfa dip I also scrub his shell with a tooth brush and pack the holes with antibiotic cream how often should I feed the turtle and how many any other advice would be very helpful I will also try crickets and other foods

D'oh! Thanks RedLevel. Yeah, for snappers you don't want the water as deep as I mentioned. I was thinking about other aquatic turtles, but snappers are different. They're not active hunters, like cooters and sliders and such, so they don't need deep water for swimming. Snappers are ambush predators. They have rather long necks, so I'd keep the water as deep as you can, while still allowing the turtle to reach the surface with its nostrils. Since yours is so thin, I'd feed it every other day or so as much as it will eat in a sitting. With my turtles at home, I don't really keep a feeding schedule though. I feed them every other day, and if they start getting too fat, I lessen the amount I feed them.

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"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield