Buster my CST

[Tleilaxu]

Who is Buster?

Buster in my common snapping turtle that was rescued from crows the day he hatched on september 15 2008.

Here he is minutes after hatching, you can see dirt and his eggtooth still attached.

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Since I broke his main cage I had to place him with the other turtles, and there he spent about two and a half months with them,

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From the outset Buster has always been more outgoing and adventurous even as a baby. I from the start fed him several types of pellets and other foods. He began to grow very quickly.

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He attained that sixe within two weeks!

I then decided it was time for him to get his own cage since they will eat other turtles and he had surpassed the size of my smallest turtle that he was with.

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Since I decided to handle him frequently in an attempt to keep him tame when he grew older, he has been unusually calm for a snapping turtle of a similiar size.

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He also enjoyed hauling out and basking.

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Moving him into his own cage turned out to be a wise choice, as he underwent another grother spurt.

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At three months he had nearly surpassed all my turtles in size.

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He also became more snapper like as he grew older, not in aggression but in seeing any moving thing as food.
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At four months his growth had slowed down, but he was continuing to gain weight.

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Here he is compared to the other turtles.
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I also trained him to take veggies from an early start by leaving aquatic plants in his cage and offering carrots and other veggies after skipping a meal or two. And currently I can no longer leave any plants in his tank! He gobbles them up like candy!

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Though like any snapper he has his bad days where he does not want to be bothered, snapping turtles are best described as moody.

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Since on other days he will sit calmly in your hand for 10 to 15 minutes before he starts wanting to go back in his cage.

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Here he is just messing around, he likes to sneak up on me sometimes. I also mess around with him, he loves back scratches especially with a toothbrush! Tug-O-war is also fun.

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He is also a fast learner, I trained him to eat from a food dish so I dont have to worry about him eating gravel accidentally when he picks pellets off the ground, however he is excedingly delicate when it comes to picking up food or sampling something new. Unlike wild snappers that go after anything!

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This is another pic of Buster being held:
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As you can see he handles being held very well on his good days, I can also hold him like a normal turtle without worrying about getting tagged.

As of now Buster weight 1.5 pounds and is capable of swallowing an adult mouse whole. Anyways here is a pic of him getting a treat of duck:

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh195/Polistes/100_3322.jpg

Now for his care details.

Buster is fed twice a week with portions that would be able to fit in his head if it was hollowed out, obesity is a huge issue with snappers since they dont move around much in captivity.

Buster's diet consists of 50 percent pellets(Severaql different brands) 40 percent veggies, snapping turtles in the wild consume a lot of plant matter, both accidentally and deliberatly, some have been seen leaving the water to get fruits and veggies. And the rest is protien in the form of meat of various vertebrates. I don't feed live food since this causes them to be more attuned to movment and this getting bitten increases. There are times when Buster gets really excited for food and it becomes hard to work in that cage since he sees the fingers as food as well, however picking him up in that phase settles him down enough for me to work on cleaning, then he gets a treat for being good. That also seems to work.

I am currently working two jobs in an effort to get enough money to upgrade his tank which is far to small and if I am lucky will be able to get it before Xmas.

As for cleaning I drain the tank once evry two weeks, I also feed outside the tank to reduce the mess, snappers must be in water to swallow however.

Anyways there you have it the condensed story of Buster, a year and two months compressed into a single post

 

[cbeard]

thats awesome, my b-days coming, and thats what I asked my wifey for last week... (fingers are crossed)

 

[Tleilaxu]

thats awesome, my b-days coming, and thats what I asked my wifey for last week... (fingers are crossed)

Just as long as you know they get to weigh about sixty pounds....

 

[skippy]

i think that's an alligator snapper not a common snapper, isn't it?

of to research!

 

[skippy]

never mind, this is what i found:

"The life span has been estimated at 30-40 years. They live longer in the northern reaches of their range. A 75 pound adult is a giant. Thirty pounds is the average adult size but 40-60-pounders are not uncommon"

i had no idea a common snapper got that big!

 

[TomM]

I definitely need to get Bert to eat her veggies. She's grown nowhere near as fast. Bert is around 5 months old and only this big:

 

[cbeard]

Just as long as you know they get to weigh about sixty pounds....

lol, yeah, most people do know that.

 

[Tleilaxu]

I definitely need to get Bert to eat her veggies. She's grown nowhere near as fast. Bert is around 5 months old and only this big:

Bert is too young to sex as of now so you still can get a male, I had a friend with a snapper like yours, he though it was stunted until it started a HUGE growth spurt that exceded my turtle, also stop with the goldfish feeding, and feed platies and swordtails instead, goldfish contain Thiaminase, which break down vitamin B before the turtle can use it.

 

[Galapoheros]

Haha, Bert and Buster!, what a match, wait, wait, ..ones a girl right? haha jk. I really like CSnappers, interesting an bizarre looking turtles. A really cool time progression too. I kept babies when I was a kid but I didn't hang on to them very long. The babies would never bite but ooze musk, which I liked the smell of in a weird way. I think the smell reminds me of going to the local creek and exploring around for new things. So how big do they get when they start getting the bitey attitude? I've had some big ones too but nothing in-between and have wondered if you could tame that "striking" bite lunge if it were handled more often.

 

[Tleilaxu]

Haha, Bert and Buster!, what a match, wait, wait, ..ones a girl right? haha jk. I really like CSnappers, interesting an bizarre looking turtles. A really cool time progression too. I kept babies when I was a kid but I didn't hang on to them very long. The babies would never bite but ooze musk, which I liked the smell of in a weird way. I think the smell reminds me of going to the local creek and exploring around for new things. So how big do they get when they start getting the bitey attitude? I've had some big ones too but nothing in-between and have wondered if you could tame that "striking" bite lunge if it were handled more often.

It depends on why they are doing the bite/lunge thing, if it a feeding response, the turtle is in its cage, in the water, then no since thats how they get food and even the tamest snappers will do that, if its a defensive response then its possible, with gentle handling three times a week, though its best to start with babies since adults maybe stuck in their ways, I should hasten to add never hold a snapper by the tail, can can dislocate vertebrae and at worst permanently injure the turtle, to handle a large aggressive/defensive snapper, grab it by the back part of the shell.

As for musking they grow out of that too if gently handled as babies, Buster only musked once and thats when I really pissed him off by taking him outside when he did not want to be messed with for that day.

As for when they grow into the snapper attitude, it generally starts when the turtle hits 3.5 inches SCL(Straight Carapace Length) Again handling routinely helps modify this to an extent but snappers ARE moody and one must reconize when they just want to be left alone.

 

[TomM]

I'm trying to introduce Bert to some veggies today. Bert needs to learn to have a balanced diet.

 

[Tleilaxu]

I'm trying to introduce Bert to some veggies today. Bert needs to learn to have a balanced diet.

Here is a tip add some pieces of veggies just before you go to bed and then check on them in the morning, make sure to count what you add in there so you can see if the snapper ate any during the night, also make sure to get her eating a good pellet diet as well, algae pellets for plecos, reptomin, and hikari are all good brands for your turtle.

 

[TomM]

Bert's already looking great!

I introduced Bert to some veggies and "she's" already investigating them, and i raised the water level of the tank for more room to swim (also raised the level of the substrate on one side so Bert doesn't have to strain to get to the surface to breathe). Bert's swimming 100x more than before and is investigating every corner of the tank. Definitely going to see if Bert ate the greens and the bits of carrot tomorrow morning. I feel like there will be at least a little growth spurt in the near future.

 

[Tleilaxu]

I recently bought my common snapping turtle a new enclosure for Christmas, its 120 gallons, and he loves it

 

[ZergFront]

They certainly are cool looking. I wouldn't be surprized though if they were illegal as pets where I am since piranhas are and these turtles can have the potential to take your finger off.

These guys look like they have a great amount of personality.

 

[Tleilaxu]

They do indeed have a "strong" personality, I really enjoy it though, some days he likes to come over and sit by me, other days I get to rub his shell with a toothbrush, and he lets me hold him with no issues. However he has his off days as well where he wants nothing to do with me LOL. The best word to describe snapping turtle personality is "moody" some days are better than others, just like with people He is also a shameless beggar, that will do his best to act like your starving him, despite being fed the proper amount three times a week Just like a dog in that regard.

They are great pets if you can house them when they grow up, and as you stated they are illegal in some states, most notably Washington and California. Oregon may be another state that prohibits snapper ownership. (Perfectly legal here I hasten to add)

Here is a pic of him eating a shrimp before I added the rocks to the tank:

 

[ZergFront]

However he has his off days as well where he wants nothing to do with me LOL. The best word to describe snapping turtle personality is "moody" some days are better than others, just like with people He is also a shameless beggar, that will do his best to act like your starving him, despite being fed the proper amount three times a week Just like a dog in that regard.

You've just described the pair of oscar fish I once had. You can give them little peices of chicken, lean beef, worms or shrimp and they act like you're being the worst, neglectful owner around.

They would actually jump to get the food if I held it up over the water surface. Pretty strong fish.. I have no interesting aquatic turtle stories to tell (only reptile close I had was a box tortoise) but CSTs sound really cool.