Turtle question??????????????

Question

how would i know if this is a snapping turtle. it had an orange trim with a yellow stomach, it was about the size of your whole hand. i caught it the other day fishing. it wasnt snapping at me or my friends. i caught it with a worm but i thought snapper turtles eat fish? was it a snapper turtle?

Answer 1

snappers have a hard serated beak where box turtles and painted don't.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Snap...

Answer 2

hi,

snapper turtles eat everything that comes in their way, however I doubt the one you found is a snapping turtle.

It sounds more like a painted turtle, because of the orange trim you described.

Does it look like this?

http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=9739&ren...

then it is a painted turtle

This is what a snapping turtle would look like

http://www.greatwildoutdoors.com/images/...

I am sure it would have tried to snap if it was one,

sorry if you had been hoping for a snapper! :P

Answer 3

the turtle thanks you for letting it go.

Answer 4

Look at the mouth.  Are it's "lips" (the tip of it's mouth) pointed?  This is typical of a snapping turtle.

You could always Google snapping turtle and look at photos, too.

Answer 5

I dont think it was. Did you notice If it had read line on either side of it's head? Could have been a red eared slidder.

Answer 6

I hope you didn't keep the poor thing, and I hope you let it go. If it was a snapper turtle, it's mouth would be shaped like a V.

Answer 7

google or wiki it

Answer 8

i know if it had red stripes its not a snapping turtle but your best answer would be to look it up on google for images and see if it is a snapping one

Answer 9

this place will tell you about all types of turtles {maybe}http://www.petco.com/CareSheets/petco_Ca...

but i think you have this one.....http://www.petco.com/caresheets/turtles/...

Answer 10

likely not a snapping turtle. it was most likely a painted turtle, a cooter or a slider. do you have a pic? if so, post it on turtletimes.com

Answer 11

I found a snapping turtle laying on the  sidewalk and i picked it up oi didn't know it was a snapping turtle so i put it in a shoe box and went to go get supplies and i was looking at a book that had turtles in  it and i found out i was a snapping turtle. The turtle i found was brown shell, and a brown head, legs and arms

Answer 12

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29035692@N0...

did it look like theses?

Sliders, cooters , painted, map, yellow bellied all are basically the same and require the same basic care.

I have had my 2 slider  girls for 36 yrs. Plus an 8 and 5 yr old and now a 2 yr old adopted from this site.. Been in a pond for almost 7 yrs now. Got them on my 18th birthday! What a long lasting gift! This is allot of responsibility for all these years. My kids aren’t even that old!

Answer 13

It seems much too small to be a snapping turtle. Also, if it was snapping at you, you probably would have lost a finger. Most turtles bite to get away from danger.

Answer 14

Sounds like a young slider.

Answer 15

Sounds like painted or box.

Snappers have very long necks, they hiss and rip their mouths open when you put anything near them, and they can certainly take a finger clean off...

Shells are dark fairly flat (not a big hump) and roundish.

Strong clawed feet.

Long tail.

Answer 16

google search images, snapper turtle. if it doesnt look like one, it isnt.