any turtles who look like Snappers?

[Godzillaalienfan1979]

Just wonderin'. Obviously Eastern and Alligator Snappers are waaaay out of my league (still a beginner/intermediate lmao), but I was wondering if there were any smaller, easier turtles who resembled them. Like I know Musk Turtles do to some extent, but that's all I can think of.

 

[basin79]

Just wonderin'. Obviously Eastern and Alligator Snappers are waaaay out of my league (still a beginner/intermediate lmao), but I was wondering if there were any smaller, easier turtles who resembled them. Like I know Musk Turtles do to some extent, but that's all I can think of.

I've said it before. If there was a turtle that looked exactly like an ali snapper but was only 6 inches shell length they'd be ridiculously popular.

 

[Myrmeleon]

Razorback musk turtles sort of look like small snapping turtles. They got the prehistoric looking scutes on their back.

 

[basin79]

Razorback musk turtles sort of look like small snapping turtles. They got the prehistoric looking scutes on their back.

A tiny bit but not much really. Still they're bonny little turtles though.

 

[viper69]

I've owned an Eastern Snapper, never seen a turtle that looked like these or an alligator snapper either.

 

[Dennis Nedry]

Well apparently it takes the average snapper about 5 years to get to 5-10 inches if the info online is accurate, I also saw another site that said the average 15 year old snapper will be about 12-14 inches. Don't know if it's accurate, but given their slow growth rate you could always just get some experience with turtles in general and then buy a baby snapper. Do your research first though and have a plan for where you can take it if you are unable to take care of it for the hundred years or so that he gonna be alive

 

[Beedrill]

Personally, I'd say your closest visual look alike is gonna be the Musk/Mud Turtle family. It's more in the head than anything else. The shell actually resembles Box Turtles more than anything, but they have almost the same little "angry smile" look that snappers have. They make great beginners as well!

 

[Coolherper]

I think mata matas are similar looking and have similar feeding behavior. But they are quite expensive and not really beginner turtles.

 

[Patherophis]

I think that Platysternon megacephalum resembles snappers a bit.

 

[Beedrill]

I think that Platysternon megacephalum resembles snappers a bit.

Woah! I've never seen those before! They do look strikingly similar to the Common Snapper. I'll have to look into those. Hopefully they have a better temperament and don't get as large.

 

[schmiggle]

Big headed turtles are very cool. However, they are endangered because of over-hunting, and I believe collection is illegal. So don't buy any.

 

[Beedrill]

Big headed turtles are very cool. However, they are endangered because of over-hunting, and I believe collection is illegal. So don't buy any.

Yeah... did some research after viewing the first post about them. Looks like they are hunted for food and for the pet trade, and that they do not readily breed in captivity. Some have supposedly had success, but as far as I could tell, not many. Apparently they also need cool water that flows quickly and several obstacles in their environment. I really hope that they can establish a captive breeding population somewhere though. Turtles in general do not fair well in China (that's were they are from) because they get eaten faster than they can reproduce. It's really sad.
Take the Chinese Soft Shell Turtle for example. The last time I checked, there were only 4 left in existence. Why? Because some guys saw them and said, "Hey...I bet we could eat that."

Edit: My bad, it's not the Chinese Softshell Turtle, it's the Yangtze Giant Softshell Turtle. Of the 4 remaining individuals, 2 are males, one is female but completely infertile, and the last one is living in some lake for now so they don't know for sure.