Latter on when the pinks hatch this year (they usualy hatch almost a month latter thna the normals), I will get me 3. I am going to set them up in different colored tanks, seeing as these turltes seem to change their color over time to better match their environment. I will have oen tnak with a nice red colored rock (to try to make them look like SteveH's red ally snapper that we have all seen pics of), 1 with some kidn of blue rocks, Iw oudl prefer naturally blue colored rocks but where would I ind somethign liek that.lol. and one with white marble chip rocks. I have heard about a large alligator snapper that was put into a swiming pool sorta setup, wiht white and blue colors and was normal colored when put in there but over tiem changed to a white with either black, or blue eyes, I can't remember which. I will also paint the sides of the tank and back, the color fo the gravel. It will be interesting, to see what happens. I will also get a pigtail ally snapper, has anyoen ever had one of those? I had one years ago, but died because it fell over and could not right its self and drowned, I had set it up in very shallow water with a glass bottom and it had drug the tail so much that it was rubbing it raw.
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Justin
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A new experiment with pinks
Replies (15)
I honestly don't think a difference in the color of the environment will change anything, but go ahead and try. It would be a neat experiment. It'll probably be years before you see any results. I remember SteveH saying that the turtle in the picture was not actually red like that and it was just the way the picture turned out. I think its a lot more likely that pigment can change due to diet. I also noticed that mine turns redder when he has been out of water for awhile. But over the two and a half years he has been with me his color has stayed about the same despite the fact I changed his set up many times (dark gravel, no gravel, heavy tannin in the water, completely white surroundings).
As for the pig tail good luck. Most pig-tailed turtles die as juveniles. I have one pig-tailed European pond that has survived for a couple years. The guy that sold it to me often tells me he can't believe its still alive. They are deformed for any number of reasons and thats why they are usually so inexpensive even though they are unique.
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i'm not claiming to know anything about the coloration of ally snappers. but after talking with turtle trappers and farmers, they both agree that the yellowish adult snappers come from the creeks and branchs off rivers and lakes that have yellowish or tan mud or sand on the bottom. some people(NOT THE TRAPPERS AND FARMERS} may say that their coloration from hatching helped them blend in and survive where a normal colored one would stand out and be seen by predators which is probably true but after talking to some turtlefarmers they told me they caught normal colored snappers and placed them in their yellow sand bottom breeding ponds and they would all change over several years to a yellow snapper. go figure!
don't you think that would be from the tannin or dyes in the water as opposed to the actual color of the substrate? I think if the water was crystal clear they wouldn't change color at all.
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your probably right about the dyeing effect but these animals spend alot of their time burrowed up under a mud bank. covered in sand or mud. jennings la. has a roadside park with a large ally snapper in a cement(blue painted)type enclosure with crystal clear water.they said he turned white over the years. he has a yellow tint to him also with black eyes.maybe the chlorine in the water bleached him white but he is pretty healthy looking.
when mine was new...if i fed it dried krill..it got a lot pinker.
Now its mostly yellowish.
I should ask John about it. when I was down at his place ..he had one big one that was really yellow compared to his others.
Hey Steve....you still have that one thats looks really yellow?
hi mike, the yellow turtle has turned to a more brownish yellow. at the turtle farm he was kept in a pond with yellow mud. now he is in a blue 9' diameter tub with the 150lber. how old was your pinkie when he started turning yellow or cream color?
I'd say mine was about a year before he started losing the pink cast.
I now have him in a separate tank. He's much less aggressive as far as going after food. When he was with three other regulars of the same age...he was getting skinny.
Now that he's by himself..I know he gets all the rosies himself and hes put on a little weight.
They definately grow slower than the regulars also.
Hes about 50% smaller than the other 3 of the same age.
John told me that last year when I almost lost the pink one. He said they are always slower growing...and a little weaker and more prone to getting disease.
I keep his water a litle warmer and make sure theres always some food available.
hello mike- the pinkskin hatchling i got last november is in a 10gal by himself(no gravel).for some reason they'll ingest gravel or small rocks,which probably wont harm a healthy juvinile. his shell has grown to 4 1/2".he has been raised on aquatic turtle pellets. on the matter of them being weaker than the rest,i wonder if it has to do with incubation temps? they hatch out a month later than the rest.i've heard temperture decides their sex. so the pinkies must hatch out at the lower tempertures right?(because it takes them longer to hatch). does this make them male or female?
the lower the tmep, the more likely to be female. Ic an't remember the exact temps, but the lower temps are fmelae and the males are higher and there is a mixe right between.
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Justin
I am glad you brought up the food thing. I am going to offer the one on the red, things liek krill and such and other htings Ic an find thta is supposed ot enhance color. I have also been thinking of the tannin in the water. I think it is a mixture of everything, tannins, substrate, and food. Who knows?? That is hwy I am going to do this, to see what happens, cause I have not heard of anyone else doing so. I need to see pics of the pigatil euro pond turtle. I bet that is weird looking.
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Justin
Here is the Euro. He gets along fine with the other one. He has an extra scute right along his spine, which probably has something to do with the pig tail.
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I don't know what makes some turtles change colors but they do.
The turtles I have were all raised the same for 2 years. When they
were hatchlings I kept 25 of them together. Hoping to keep them pink I gave them baby shrimp every day. Some of the pinks stayed
pink, some turned light cream color while others turned yellow.
Maybe it's a boy/girl thing....Girls stay pink while boys turn
yellow...HAHA. Hope to hear up dates on your turtles. Good luck
I dont know much about snapping turtles but i would think with experiments all of the "test subjects" should be exposed to the exact same factors except for the one you are experimenting on. If you are trying to prove that the color of the surroundings effects the color of the turtle then probably all three should be fed the same thing, kept in the same quality water, have it changed the same amounts on the same schedual, and exposed to the same light and heat. If you feed the one in the red tank krill and the others something different and then the one in the red tank turns more red, how do you prove it was the color of the environment and not the krill? If an experiment is to be believed then you should isolate the factor you are experimenting on.
Just my .02
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0.0.1 Tokay Gecko
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after looking over what I wrote, I see what you are talking about. I am not sure where the words were coming from.lol. That is what I meant, have everyhtign the same except color of environment. I plan to feed all of them somethign such as krill. and feed them the same thing and same amount. when I type fast I mess up and soemtimes turn thigns aorund (almost like dyslexic typing.lol.)
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Justin
Thats ok, i do it to sometimes. Good luck with your experiment!!
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0.1 mexican Black kingsnake
1.1 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Tokay Gecko
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
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0.0.1 Red Tegu
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats
