Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've had a snapping turtle for about 4 years now and raised him up since he was a hatchling. I have fed him various pellets, insects, pinkies, and fish.

I was just wondering if there is anything else available that would be good for him.

I don't really like to give him fish anymore as I have heard that they aren't that healthy for him. I bought a ten pound bag of mazuri food and I guess I am looking for something else to supplement his diet.

Thanks

I think that fish are a large part of their diet in the wild. All mine get are fish and reptomin when they were young and just fish now and are growing like weeds.
I use bait store minnows and also use a cast net in local ponds to get sunfish for them.

How big is it SCL and how much does it weight? You could try rats, night crawlers, cat fish nuggets. I found that mine likes small mazuri croc chow, its also night that its larger than turtle pellets. You should also offer it greens and various vegetables as well as some fruit. In the wild vegetation consist as much as half of their diet.

xavier

I'm not sure on his exact length I would say he is close to 10-12 inches long I'm terrible at estimating length. I do know however that at the beginning of summer he was like a pound and a half in weight.

There is nothing like wrong with my turtle I just wondered if there was anything else I could be giving him.

I also want to say I am aware they eat fish in the wild etc, but where I am at we have no bait shops that sell fish as bait within a reasonable distance. All I have is a petco and a petsmart and the petco's feeder fish always always always have Ick. I also remember reading somewhere that feeder fish that are captive raised aren't that healthy for turtles, so I guess I just got a little paranoid about them.

I will start giving him some veggies and I have mazuri croc chow that I use for my caiman and gator so maybe I'll give him some of that as well.

Also you mentioned catfish pellets where would you find these?

Travis

You'd do well to measure him, its always helpful to have growth documentation. As far as weigh goes it sounds totally off, when mine was 36 months old he was 9.6'' & 7.2 LBS & @ 48 months he was 11.3'' & 14.2 LBS.

Your correct about goldfish feeders from pet shops they are a bad staple for any species. I'd not be too concerned with having fish in his diet I've found that catfish nuggets work great (chopped fillet).