Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a dwarf caiman and a 7 inch res in a huge custom made tank and they have been in the same tank since the caiman was 14 inches and the res was 3 inches and they have grown a strong bond, never fight and share gold fish treats when presented with em and they even bask together, my question in i have a common snapper and i was wondering if they would get along with it. i was wanting to start like a little community with a few other res which have already been placed in there and seem to be doing great but i was kinda sketchy about adding a snapper, hes not aggressive but im also not another turtle. the tank is plenty big enough, it 8 foot long 6 foot wide and 3 foot tall with 2 foot of water and mutipile basking spots and uvb with encased water heaters, its my pride and joy. anyway enough bragging on the setup adn thanks for anyone who trys to help.

Snappers do not get along well with other turtles, they will bite the feet of the other turtles. There will definatly be some serious injuries.
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I agree 100% regarding putting a snapper in with a slider. I have a rescue animal that I have kept for myself. A beautiful redbelly cooter that was kept with a snapper and one day he found himself missing his right front and back left foot.
Snappers can really do damage to other turtle's limbs.
Why not try more compatible things. Large painted cooters and things of that nature. Avoid the "mighty mouth" species.

Good luck
Steve

wow this sounds like an awesome tank!
do you have pictures?
i agree that snappers can and do molest other turtles (there are even some species of turtles which are known to 'run away" from snappers in the wild) but like most animals if you give them lots of space and feed them well they are less aggressive.
i am curious that the caimen isn't a worry to you.
i do think florida red bellies or pennisula cooters might be a better choice to accompany the slider.
i'm not sure if it is true but i did hear about a large snapper that killed and ate a young american alligator at some exhibition in florida some years back...but the size difference was extreme.
i would be very curious to hear if this works though i confess i wouldn't do it myself.

about the caiman too. A snapper will bite down on anything that happens to get in its mouth.
I've heard stories about crocodillians up and eating turtles that they lived with for years, but I think they were larger species.

I once had a 3" slider that bit the tails off of 2 hatchling common snapping turtles. So it goes both ways. As far as small alligator falling prey to a snapper, I know in one book somewhere there is a photo of a large bullfrog eating a hatchling american alligator. Size is King.
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