Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My friend has a baby snapping turtle and has asked me for some advice becuase I have a RES. His baby has algea growing on his head, I've never seen this before. Its bright green. The turtle has a pretty good set up, places to hide, basking area with a heat light, not too deep water (this turtle is tiny) I suggested that maybe he needs a better filter so I'm giving him one of mine for now, and that perhaps the turtle just needs to get out of the water and dry off and let the algea die. I'm not sure what to do, the turtle never gets out of the water. My turtle basks all day so I've never had a problem. Any help is muchly appreciated.

don't worry abou it.some turtles like painters,cooters,& your slider need to bask.this dries them off &,for the most part,inhibits algae growth.snappers & mud/musk turtles,on the other hand,rarely bask.by staying submerged algae has a chance to grow.if you have ever seen a wild snapper most likely its shell and exposed flesh were covered with algae.
whether or not you leave it on the turtle is up to you.i personally discourage algae buildups on my turts.i feel that in a captive situation it(the algae)gives the gunk & bacteria a great place to hide.
my .02

All Snapping Turtles grow algae on them no matter how the setup. There ain't nothing you can do about it, it doesn't hurt the turtle, so it doesn't matter.
Michael Fedzen

Not all all snapper will grow algea on them its likely if they are kept outside but even indoors it can happen. You can't just say it will happen not a spot of aglea has grown on mine that 5.6'' and I got him when he was 19days old.
Xavier
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Leopard Geckos
1.1 Tangerine trempor albino
0.2 blizzards
1.1 Super Hypo Carrot tails (both Baldy)
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