Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everyone,

Just picked up a yearling or so alligator snapping turtle for free from someone who didn't want it. It's carapace is maybe 8-9 inches... didn't bother measuring.

Anyways, my roommate pointed out that there was a worm coming out of a hole at the junction of three plates. It retreated back into the shell where a visible hole could be seen! The hole is maybe 1/2mm in diameter... it's very small.

I had dry docked the turtle over night and havn't seen it since. I certainly don't know how deep it goes.

Has anyone ever heard of something like this? It looks like it bore the hole itself, which is of great concern. Also, where there's one, there's often times many. I can't find more holes, but that means nothing.

Any advice would be appreciated.
Dave

Dave,

Don't know anything about the worm problem ..hopefully someone here will know.

But thats not a yearling at 8-9 inches.
My guess is 4-6 years .
A lot depends on where its been and what its been eating.
Temp and food source ( availablitity ) have an effect on growth rate also to a point.
Good luck

lol... thanks for the size info. I've never raised one from a baby, but I work with 100lb ones at a friend's place on a weekly basis. At least I know something about them. Maybe he meant that they only had it for a year. I did think it was rather big, but took it for granted.

Later,
Dave

.

Wow.
Seems big fast.

what id you feed it mostly?

when little it ate crickets, reptomin, trout chow, worms, and fish. now it mostly eats fish, trout chow, and thawed out rodents. oh, loves night crawlers too. and still will eat large crickets. he/she is now 4 yrs old and just over 12 inches in shell length.... so growth as slowed compared to the first 2 yrs