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 egg tooth still attached.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v322/Tleilaxu/100_1410.jpg

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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 size 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 similar size.

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He also enjoyed hauling out and basking.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v322/Tleilaxu/100_1879.jpg

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

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v322/Tleilaxu/100_1814.jpg
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.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v322/Tleilaxu/100_1911.jpg

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.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v322/Tleilaxu/100_2293.jpg

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.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh195/Polistes/100_2904.jpg

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 exceedingly delicate when it comes to picking up food or sampling something new. Unlike wild snappers that go after anything!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v322/Tleilaxu/100_3027.jpg

This is another pic of Buster being held:
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh195/Polistes/100_3159.jpg
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(Several different brands) 40 percent veggies, snapping turtles in the wild consume a lot of plant matter, both accidentally and deliberately, some have been seen leaving the water to get fruits and veggies. And the rest is protein in the form of meat of various vertebrates. I don't feed live food since this causes them to be more attuned to movement 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 every 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

 

[gvfarns]

That's a very interesting story and some great pictures. So many things I didn't know about snapping turtles.

How long are you planning on continuing to handle him? Seems like at some point he will be big enough that a nip will do some serious damage and you won't want to. Am I right?

 

[Tleilaxu]

That's a very interesting story and some great pictures. So many things I didn't know about snapping turtles.

How long are you planning on continuing to handle him? Seems like at some point he will be big enough that a nip will do some serious damage and you won't want to. Am I right?

I did not know this double posted sorry, anyways I plan on handling him for the rest of his life, snapping turtles raised from babies tend to lose the aggression/defensive behaviors as they grow older, I just need to be aware of his mood, as some days he wants to be left alone, and they convey this wayy before you even get them out of the cage, if Buster wants to interact or is in a good mood, he will generally approach you and if he wants to be left alone he will go and hide. He also has a spot in the tank designated as a no touych area, if he is in that location I do not bother him, which IMO gives him a sense of control.