Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I basically have a housing question.. I was in a reptile store here in NH the other day, and they have a large Alligator Snapper in a tank... appears to be about 70 gallons maybe.. it is filled about 1/2 - 3/4 full of water. The turtle has no place to get out of the water and it doesnt seem to have any room to move around. Is this proper care? Maybe they take him out at night and put him into something else, but I have been there on 5 occasions atleast and every time he is in his tank, right by the entry door... Doesnt sound humane to me... any opinions?

no alligator snapping turtles are known not to move much and the lack of water in the tank allows the turtle to just ove it head up without great effort in order to get air. I have heard in the wild they will not move more than five feet in their entire life as long as there is plenty food.

I've kept turtles for over 20 years. I've had my Alligator Snapper for about five. I offered him a basking area for the first three years of his life which I never once saw him use. He no longer has one. More importantly I find a place to hide is absoloutly essential. The majority of his tank is hides, either cage furniture or anachris mats. I leave an open area to feed him in so I can see him every now and again. The rest of the time he is hidding in the smallest space he can fit in. On the contrary my common snapper loves climbing his branch and soaking up rays (and snoozing) under the UV lamp. And it isn't because the water temp is to cool.

I also keep the water level low for my alligator snapper compared to my other tanks. Much like my softshells they like to have an area they can sit and reach the surface for air. My softshells also have a volumous deeper area. As someone once said here, they are olympic swimmers.