Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Today when I was cleaning one of my alligator snappers tank, I went to put him in a plastic tub. As I did this he bit the rim of the tub and the point of his beak broke off. Will this grow back? It's not much, just the very tip.

yes this happens often in captivity and i'm sure in the wild. the upper and lower hooks are for grabbing prey like big fish,turtles,etc. the hooks are designed for holding on until they can get a better grip and snap the prey up. males i'm sure also battle each other and broken beaks happen. it should grow back like a finger nail or in their case claw as long as they have a good diet with calcium.

the same thing happened to this 100 lb plus turtle taking him out of a rubbermaid tub after he grabbed the top and punched a big wedged shape hole. it grew back. its very hard to pickup a big turtle safely without it grabbing a hold of something. better for him to grab the tub than your leg though. a smaller turtle is alot easier to manage but can still do damage. ask some of the older trappers in louisiana.

Thanks for the information Steve.

my ally broke the very tip of his top beak off when he was a couple yrs old. hes fine, looks like it grew back huh?