Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm tickled to find this message board. I have a very large snapper who is queen of my pond. Priscilla is huge...her shell has to be at least a foot and a half long, if not more. (And of course I'm not really sure if it's a she.) She's very curious. When I'm out mowing by the pond, she'll follow me around in the pond and watch me. One evening I was fortunate enough to sit on the bank and watch her look for food on shore. She just walked by me like I wasn't there. I'm in awe of her.

My question is this....are snappers loners? Or do they tend to live in groups? I've never seen another one in the pond. I have seen little turtle heads popping up, but I'm never able to tell if they are snappers or another common turtle. Once they are born do they find their own pond?

I also have an extremely large Koi in the pond that Priscilla seems to hang out with. Elvis is a huge white koi who I call King of the Pond. Usually when I see Elvis, Priscilla isn't too far away. I figure maybe they're going for the same food?

Lots of bass in the pond and muskrats. Will enjoy reading this board for more information.

Hello,

Snappers for the most part are loners. They enjoy the solitary lifestyle. They are by far the most interesting turtles. Even though they are interesting, they are not docile. She might not be afraid of you, however it will not hesitate to bite your fingers off if you try to touch her without knowing how to properly handle a snapping turtle (still dangerous).

Oh, and for your coi Elvis; Snapper food. Priscilla isn't hanging around Elvis for the sake of friendship. She is probably deciding whether to eat him for lunch, or a late night snack. Believe me, one day when Elvis is least expecting it, a camoflauged perfectly still snapping turtle is going to make a lightning fast strike at Elvis. Result; fish dinner. Just some words of warning.

-----
0.0.1 Common Snapping Turtle (Aggro)
1.1.0 Bearded Dragons
1.1.0 Western Hognose(hets for albino)

Thank you for your response. I am VERY aware that I shouldn't go anywhere near the snapper. I was just intrigued how curious she was by ME. Perhaps she was thinking about which part of ME would make the best meal!

As far as eating Elvis, I was afraid someone would say that. Not much I can do about it. I could never catch him. He's as long as she is and so far seems to have avoided being a meal. One day he might be gone, but he's at least five years old now and may make it a few more years! Besides, she has bass and muskrats to eat...

Thank you for your response!

Put it this way, snapping turtles will eat anything that moves. They even eat carrion. I have been studying & keeping snappers for a long, long time and I have seen them eat just about every species of animal that inhabit their territory including : fish, frogs, snakes, turtles, snails, clams, waterfowl, and crayfish.