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When I found my snapper 6 months ago I thought she was dead. She was severly malnourished, both front legs has been torn off(exposing bone), and she was bleeding from her rectum. By her size I guessed she was about 3-4 yrs old.

I took her home and have been caring for her ever since. I'm happy to report that her little legs have healed into neat little stumps, she is fat as a pig, and quite healthy now. And surprisingly, she is just SO sweet.

She gobbles up food and fish ferociously, but when I pick her up she doesn't flinch or get defensive she just looks around. She follows me around in her tank, swimming from side to side as I do dishes. If I let her crawl around on the floor during tank cleaning she always ends up next to my feet.

Does anybody else have experience with what seems like affaction from snapping turtles? Is this something she is going to grow out of? She's just so sweet and I would have never expected that from a snapper!

You didn't exactly state how big the turtle was but....

From my experience and from alot of stuff I have heard and read over the years, some snapping turtles can end up so tame that they are like the family dog, like in your case. Or they can be mean as hell, snapping at you and what not, it varies from turtle to turtle.
Michael's Place

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www.freewebs.com/mikesnake
Michael_Fedzen@hotmail.com

Mine loves to try to bite me!

Seriously, I did have a large one many years ago. He would let me hold him and didn't act agressively towards me. If anyone else went into my backyard or near his pool he would chase them and hiss at them. It was actually quite a site. After my mother watch him kill and eat a bird, I had to get rid of him.

After 20 years, I still give her a hard time about making me do that.

Mine is getting close to three years old and he's still very tame. He'll try to kill anything in his tank if he's hungry, but outside he won't hiss at me, my dogs, or anything. My snapper is probably my nicest turtle, and I hope he stays like that.

I have a yearling that I watched hatch from the egg. Actually, I watched the mother LAY the eggs. Once I have him in my hands, he never tries to bite me. BUT...he has SUCH a strong feeding response that, until he is full, he snaps ferociously at anything that moves. So...We eat first, then play. Duffy

I've heard stories about tame snappers, but didn't ever believe it, havin spent enough time fishing and herping to know they are the meanest thing on 4 legs, with the possible exception of badgers or wolverines, or maybe feminists. However, I recently caught a 3 inch snapper and brought it home. I have come to accept that this one is tame, because I can put it right in front of my nose and not worry about my photogenic visage. He's not even a pound yet, so in the future I might not be able to do that and keep my face intact, but for now, he's really sweet.