Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Did anyone see the 68 pound common caught in NJ. Not sure when it was caught. There is a photo of it on snareone.com. I don't know the fate of the turtle, the guy is a trapper unfortunately.

I got intouch with this trapper and he measured the shell at 22 inches long. Sadly, He did harvest the turtle.

The trapper didn't eat the turtle he put it in his freezer when it lost 17 pounds in 2 months. I thought he ate it when he wrote to me and said, "I put him in the freezer". He's freezing it to preserve the body for mounting it.

its a real shame he decided to kill it, that was an amazing snapper. it makes you wonder how old it was an how many times it evaded death before the selfish trapper came along.

So true, can't imagine all that it went through from the time it was the size of quarter and then accomplish becoming an apex predator and then end up dying like that. He claims that he tried to keep it in a pond and then it lost 17 lbs in two months so he had to kill it. He could of called a zoo or something and shared it with many that would be amazed, just makes me angry.

yes it makes me angry too, i wish i could have been there to stop him from taking it. it belongs where it lived its whole life, in the wild. i have caught many big snappers (one close to the size of this) and i would not be ablle to kill it just to mount its body. if i found it dead thats another story, but to kill a healthy wild snapping turtle just for taxidermy is just not right. ill try to catch the giant snapper i was talking about when it gets a little warmer and post some pics of it on here.

I agree totally. I would love to see the photos of the giant you caught. The biggest that I caught was 15 1/2 scl and 35lbs, released of course. Not the biggest but it was perfectly healthy.

ill try and catch him as soon as it warms up a bit to get some good photos.

This story is sad.I have found a couple who were over 50 pounds.Also my son had a baby one I cought for him when he was 3 years old.It got over 50 pounds as well it took 16 years to do so.
-----
Archie Bottoms

Wow, 16 years to reach 50lbs, that's really quick. Wonder how long it would take in the wild to reach 50lbs? Ran into a trapper that found my "secret" turtle spot deep in the woods where I have found the biggest snappers I've seen. He set out like 8 traps. He told me he is allowed to keep 3 per day with valid fishing license. He also has the permit to keep even more. Tried to tell him they reproduce to slowly to make up for the number he was taking. 6 to 8 years to reach sexual maturity i think, longer up north. Talked to him for like over half hour with no positive results, major bummer. I still called the rangers on him just for the aggravation.

My sons snapper was raised in 80 degree water and ate dry dog food its whole life.We put it out side the last year of its life in winter it dug in good.My son fearing it would die dug it up and hid it in his closet to hibernate it dehydrated and died.Personaly I do not know how long it takes in the wild I only know about this one.As it was the show piece in my home for 16 years and we all were very sad at its loss still are.It out grew our alligator snapper by at least 3 times in weight in the same time
-----
Archie Bottoms

Sorry to hear about losing such a big snapper. Must have been really cool to have him as a pet. He was 16 years old when he died?

Yes but I always thought it was female
-----
Archie Bottoms

Got any pictures of the turtle?

God forbid he'd put it back where he found it after it was doing so poorly in his pond.

That animal was historic.

B.

Probably the only one of it's kind being that large. I believe it was the stress of being captured and released into a trappers "turtle pond" that eventaully led to it's death. I think it still would have been alive in it's habitat had it not been taken out. Wish that he could have just taken some photos and released it. Hope it's genetics are still out there.

can't make turtle soup with pigs...

why not eat it...he wasted it by NOT eating it

top predators and old turtles in alot of rivers and lakes are actually full of mercury,lead,zinc,pcbs,etc...and shouldn't be eaten...I like the smaller ones...

yes I like turtles...no I don't kill even one per...decade ...LOL...I been a lazy cook........

....22 inch shell.....doesn't sound 68 pounds does it?.....
maybe he used 2 different scales and it didn't lose 17 pounds after all....it just nevrr weighed 68

zoos would not want it

display IN a zoo would result in people seeing a pond ,with a turtle hiding in it somewhere...kinda like the Philly zoo....what's in here/there again?....I cannot see it....duh...
waste of space everywhere in that place...
-----
........JY

That trapper is full of sh!t. That turtle lost 17 after it was removed from it's shell and turned into soup!!! That turtle would have survived if he just released it as soon as he noticed it not doing well or better yet, released it as soon as he caught it! Damn shame!

He could have left it alone to begin with! He should have released it when it started losing weight! A Hole!