Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have three yearling alligator snappers. I also have a 1 1/2 year old common snapper. I noticed a couple of things and was hoping to get some advice.

1. The common snapper was literally 3 times the size of the allis when he was the same age. I feed them on average 1 to 2 small goldfish per day and they just don't seem to be growing. Is it normal for a common snapper to grow that much faster than alligator snappers?

2. The common snapper is a walking garbage disposal and will literally eat just about anything that gets in his tank. The allis will only eat live fish and nothing else. They ignore other live foods such as worms and crayfish and forget about dead or processed foods. They won't even investigate them. Does anyone have any suggestions to get these beasts to eat other foods? Maybe thats why they are so small.

thanks

hello Carl- the way i've always got small allys to eat good is
1. start out with live goldfish(easier for them to catch than minnows)
2. live goldfish with cut up minnow peices scattered around.
3. once they start eating the dead minnows you can then try different cut up meats and then pellet food.
also try different things like raising the temps to 85-90 and maybe raising the water level. it may be too low. hope this helps, Steve

Some good ideas there if they are not eating well, but even if they are they will most likely not grow as fast as the common snapping turtle. The commons grow are notorious for growing quicker and actually being more aggressive period the end. The ally's live longer (typically) and have a lot more time to grow to their monsterous sizes.

i've never raised a common snapper but have no doubt that they could be fast growers even in colder temps because of the way they eat. but allys like warmer temps and have slower metabolisms. the alligator snappers i've raised have all been over 6"in a year but they are kept warm(85-90)year round and well fed (as much as they can eat every day) that might be to much growth too fast though. the only reason i raise the temps so high is to put some size on them. ideally the water temperature probably should be more around 78-82.

When they are brand new babies, alligator snappers don't grow very fast. Mine is about 13 cm long now, and it put on 3 cm in the past year. By comparison, my common snapper is closer to 14 cm long now, and it only put on 2 cm in the past year. Both of them are fed the same time and rate - the common snapper might get more food, even. Water temps are the same, and the ally is in a smaller tank then the common. Allies just start out slower then commons.
-----
my website

hey what month are you going continue your studies? can you tell if the turtles you've marked moved around much this winter? i've been trying to find any pictures that show the differences between georgia/florida alligator snappers and those in the western parts of their range. the difference is supposed to be in their shells and head sizes?

I have an adolescent alli snapper adn she didn't eat too much aside from live fish for the first couple months. I started freezing the godlfish, cut them in two and put 2-3 pellets of Aquatic Turtle Monster Diet in side each half before putting in the tank. No more than 2 weeks later, no more goldfish, just the pellets and a calcium substatute. I've never seen anything grow so fast in it's first year of life. She's about 8 months old and 2 1/4" shell length and still growing.