jeezus, why do these things happen to me.....

I work part time in a pet store and some girl just came in with an itty bitty aligator snapping turtle she found bon the bike trail. She said she was nowhere near water and didnt know what to do. Its about the size of a quarter.

I made it a small temporary tank. But I need to know a few things. Ifn I bring it to the river, will it live, or is it too small? is its best bet to live in a tank for a while, then release?

The girl gave me her number and told me if I could keep it alive, she would take it back. I have a turtle, but I'm pretty sure my tyurtle would kill it cause its so much bigger.

Will it eat the turtle food I have? I think its too small to eat feeder gold fish?
I dont mind keeping it for a while until I ca release it or find it a home, but if it will live as it is now in the wild, I would rather release it now. Does anyone know at all?

Arty, you know all about wildlife, you around?

until you find out what type it is. you will have to keep it seperate.... up here some will live in the local pond cuz thats where most come from and we are no where near salt water.

good luck to ya. sorry i coulndt be of more help..

up here we are warned about salmonella poisoning as well josh.. so be careful.....

i hope you are able to get more info to help you

you can try your turtle food if its not eaten then you know that it could be carnivorous... and you need crickets or things like that..

he is a cute little guy

Attached Images

	IMG_3426.jpg (46.6 KB, 11 views)
	IMG_3428.jpg (38.2 KB, 8 views)

Josh your guess is as good as mine if it'll live now in the river if it's quarter size. I'd probably hope yes but not sure. For now you can feed him and he'll grow REALLY fast.

Meanwhile for now,feed it some of your turtle food that you have in the house and tomorrow call around to find feeder guppies. They come in all sizes from xsmall to lg.

Also call around for brine shrimp. It's miniscule. Add some bottled water so it's not completely brine and salty.

Sorry I can't remember if he'll "take to" canned food. If you have any canned freeze dry bloodworms or stuff like that try some.

Also you can try some fishing earthworms, wax worms or meal worms. Those you can cut up really small for him. If your pet stores dont carry them or anything live around you try the bait shops. They prefer live moving stuff so try all the different ones you can but for now the dry will have to do I guess.

Dont cook him ,,,they like it normal temp lol. Dont forget to give just enough water with a rock to get out on. And yes, I wouldnt put him with any others.

Josh, this was most likely someones pet as they inhabit mostly the souther states. ...we have them down here. The ones down here in Florida are normally bigger than the ones you might find in the wild up by you. Alligator snappers are mostly carnivores, fish, , snakes, plants, and keep it away from other turtles. You can feede it pretty much any meat.

Thanks susan... After doing some googling, it might just be a standard snapper. Aparantley, at this size, they look very similar.

I'm gonna try to feed him for a day, and monday, I'll be releasing him I think.

My other option is I have a friend who has kept snapper before who said shes love to take him in, she has all the equipment.

Poor little guy. Here's a little guilt trip for ya, Josh LOL....this link says the common snapping turtle babies have a HIGH mortality rate. If it IS an alligator snapping turtle which as Grandma says is from the south, then....um....maybe you have a slight problem. Dunno what to say about that! I'm hoping it's a common (native) snapper and you just couldnt tell cuz he's small....

Common Snapping Turtle

Whoops you sniped my reply LOL (sniped being an eBay term for beating me out by seconds)

All Turtles have a high mortality rate.
Up here there is a issue every year during hatch, seems mankind decided to build a highway right threw the middle of a well known nesting ground of the painted Turtle, now folks run over thousands of babies on there way back to the lake, Flat tires, and many accidents...go figure...its a slaughter highway.
The best thing to do concerning this little turtle is Release.
Turtles are Mothers Scavengers like the Crow/Vulture.
Everyone has given some great advice, you can also offer Krill.
If it were I, I would find a body of water known to harbor this little ones and release.
Good luck
Arty