Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 2 year old Alligator Snapper. He is about 4 1/2 inches and I feeding him on a diet of live feeder fish and the occational crayfish. He eats great and all, but my question is... how would I get him to take food from my hand? He is a fairly shy Ally and cowers whenever my hand comes near him, even when I'm holding a fish or pinkie. I noticed that hemicide posted a pic of his giant ally being hand fed. How would I go about doing this? Thanks.

Adam

Try using a set of tongs or a stick of some kind to place the food near the turles mouth until he gets used to the idea. Keep trying at each feeding. With a shy turtle it may take a while.

I got my hatchlings to eat out of my hand by at first just holding the food near them, and dropping another piece in near my hand. They would eat the free floating fish, and then they would sniff the piece in my hand. Then after a few repeated tries, they would eat it.

Just be carefull.
Can't think of why it would be a goal to feed a snapper by hand. Might be interesting when they are small. But when they get larger , it might make you feel a lot safer than you really are.
These can inflict a lot of very serious damage really fast.
Just my thoughts.

Just be carefull.
Can't think of why it would be a goal to feed a snapper by hand. Might be interesting when they are small. But when they get larger , it might make you feel a lot safer than you really are.
These can inflict a lot of very serious damage really fast.
Just my thoughts.