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Yearling Leucistic Alligator Snapper

XterrapinStation Nov 29, 2006 05:11 PM

Heres some pics of my yearling leucistic snapper... What you guys thing of her...

Replies (21)

gambusia Nov 29, 2006 06:22 PM

That's a beautiful turtle. When you say yearling do you mean about a year old or is it a hatchling? What is it eating? Mine won't eat anything but freshly killed minnows.

SteveH Nov 29, 2006 09:39 PM

same here, but i have been getting them to eat crawfish tails. i guess hypos are finicky eaters when young.

SteveH Nov 29, 2006 09:33 PM

very cool. should be a beauty in a few years. thanks for posting. any belly shots?

XterrapinStation Nov 30, 2006 06:49 AM

This turtle wont touch anything already dead, only feeding on live fish. I have some more pics, I will post as soon as I can. She is a year old.

SteveH Nov 30, 2006 07:04 PM

it is interesting how variable the shell colorations can be. is yours a pinkskin? or white like it looks in pic? oughta grow in to a beauty. ps i cant get mine to eat pellet food either. maybe after a year or two they'll eat everything. lol

Xterrapinstation Nov 30, 2006 08:23 PM

Unforunitly today she passed away. RIP. She ate pellets after I kept her with a mud that ate pellets. the mud even copied how the snapper ate with the mouth wide open.

gambusia Nov 30, 2006 09:17 PM

That's too bad! Any idea what happened?
I've had hatchlings die unexpectedly but usually once they get a year old they're pretty tough.

XterrapinStation Nov 30, 2006 09:27 PM

I have no idea of what happened, it really sucks, she was an awsome turtle.

vanstorm Nov 30, 2006 11:47 PM

Nice looking snapper! Sorry for your loss.

I have ever seen an Ally Snapper with a white shell like that.

Where did you purchase it from and do you have any out of water pictures ( shell and plastron )?

I am curious to see any more pictures that you have.

Thanks,

VS

Xterrapinstation Dec 01, 2006 10:25 AM

I purchased her from John Richards at www.turtleman.com Heres a pic of her plaston.

vanstorm Dec 01, 2006 12:55 PM

Nice!

I have never seen a turtle shell so white before.

Do you have any idea of how it died?

VS

Xterrapinstation Dec 01, 2006 02:31 PM

No idea, she was a very picky eater and only ate certain live fish, all my regular alligator snappers are eating and growing like champs.

SteveH Dec 01, 2006 04:26 PM

very sorry to hear about yuor loss because i'm sure it cost alot more than a regular ast. but some times feeder fish are treated with medication that can build up in a turtles system. i'm as guilty as anyone bout feeding goldfish. again sorry to hear about this turtle. maybe john could make you a deal on another, he's pretty fair.

JKC Dec 01, 2006 05:20 PM

After seeing the goldfish in the pictures I was thinking the same thing. Copper sulfate is what I've always heard. I'll feed mine an occasional dozen or so goldfish but from what I understand if you feed them too many the copper sulfate builds up to toxic levels.
What a bummer about such a cool looking turtle.

newtonious Dec 01, 2006 06:43 PM

Sorry about your loss, that was a nice looking turt. I've been able to get 1 of my hatchlings to eat slivers of steak this week
Newton

bobmcloughlin Dec 02, 2006 07:49 PM

i had the same thing happen to my hypo/leucistic/pinkskin snapper. everything was fine and he was perfectly healthy and out of the blue he dropped dead. i fed him some goldfish every now and then but not as his main diet. i felt horrible because it was such an awsome turtle. i think it might have somthing to do with the color variation because i have spoken to someone who has the same thing happen to thier around the same age. i dont know but it is a shame. he is a pic of him, may he RIP. thank!
Bob McLoughlin

SteveH Dec 02, 2006 09:30 PM

sorry Bob, how old was he? it might well be that the hypos have a defective gene. who knows? but again i'm sorry to here about these deaths.

vanstorm Dec 02, 2006 09:40 PM

Sorry for your loss it is a cool looking turtle. I love the all white shells. Strange that alot have died. Maybe like Steve said there is a defective gene in some of the hypos. Are there any pictures of an Adult Leucistic with an all white shell?

VS

vanstorm Dec 03, 2006 04:06 PM

I emailed John Richards and he said that some of the white shell pinkskins have a genetic problem that prevents laminae from growing on the shells and leads to a greater chance of infection. He said that the white color is actually bare bone with no protective tissue. This can possibly be why the 2 white shells in this thread passed away unexpectedly.

VS

SteveH Dec 03, 2006 07:11 PM

i wonder if there is something you could coat the shell with for protection while they are young? i've seen pics of adults with white shells.

gambusia Dec 03, 2006 07:11 PM

Bob's picture would back that up. If you look at it the shell is all white except for two scutes at the back that still have the lamina attached.

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