Snapping Turtles

The "Most Dangerous" award goes to the snapping turtle, out of all the turtle species. Snapping turtles have long necks and powerful jaws that combined with the vicious temper make them very hard to handle safely. If you have to handle this type of turtle, the best way to do it is to carry them by the tail. Extra attention is required around the sharp toothed rear edge on the rough carapace. This part is usually coated with green algae. The shell of the snapping turtle is usually dark brown, rough and covered in algae. Their head is big and can't be withdrawn into the shell.

The size of a snapping turtle can be up to 18 inches and their weight varies between 20 and 64 lbs. A subspecies of the snapping turtle is the alligator snapping turtle, with a length of 30 inches and 235 lbs, this is the largest freshwater turtle.

Snapping Turtles Behavior

Snapping Turtles have an aggressive reputation, they tend to be aggressive and snap at everything that they can reach. Only in the water they tend to be shy and they will retreat from everything unless it their lunch. Their eating includes baby ducks, frogs, fish, crabs, vegetation and other small reptiles. They hide in the mud until prey gets near and then snap at it, they are not active hunters. Snapping turtle are more aggressive on land than they are in the water, they are calm creatures won't rise to a threat. They are solitary animals, only in the mating season they come together, from April to November. The female snapping turtles lay about 80 eggs during the nesting season, from May to September.

Locations of The Snapping Turtles

Eastern and Central United States are the locations where the snapping turtles are mostly found. Snapping turtles usually prefer slow moving waters or calm ponds with freshwater and soft muddy bottoms. Their habitat includes a lot of vegetation, tree trunks and submerged bush.

Specific Types of Turtles:

  • The Bog Turtles - There are small turtles in the world, but the Bog turtle is the smallest and is one of the most rare turtles around. The Bog turtle rarely grows four inches.
  • The Musk Turtles - Musk turtles, also known as stinkpots, seem to prefer deep, still water in lakes, ponds, and sluggish streams with muddy bottoms and an abundance of plant life.
  • The Painted Turtles - The Painted Turtle must be the most common widespread turtle. Their size varies between five and six inches, so they are among the small sized turtles.
  • The Slider Turtles - The colors that you can see on slider turtles are usually red or olive green. The skin and shell of a slider turtle is splotched with red or yellow.
  • The Snapping Turtles - The "Most Dangerous" award goes to the snapping turtle, out of all the turtle species. Snapping turtles have long necks and powerful jaws that combined with the vicious temper make them very hard to handle safely.
  • The Soft Shell Turtles - They are called Soft Shell Turtles but their shell is not soft at all, actually their shells are as hard as any turtle shell.
  • The Box Turtles - Box turtles are a land species but they can occasionally be found near or in the water. They prefer swamps of moist open woods but they are very well adapted to live on land.
  • The Mud Turtles - Mud turtles are divided into five species, K. baurii, K. Subrubrum, K.s. hippocrepis, K. flavescens, and the K.hirtopes murrayi. The colors of the mud turtles tend to be dull, compared to other types of turtles.