i have a newborn snapping turtle...?

Question

i found him the other day allmost dead, fried, in the middel of the road.
so i saved him and i refuse to let him go..
what do i feed him, what do i gie him to play with, do i get a tank?
helpp

Answer 1

I would seriously reconsider not letting him go. Snapping turtles get VERY big and live VERY long. They really are not practical as pets. It sounds like you did good by getting him out of the hot sun, but you may want to hand him off to a rehabilitator who can get him back on his feet and back into the wild where he will truly be HAPPY for many years : )

www.chelydra.org has some good info. about the natural history of snappers and their habitat requirements in captivity.

Do know that technically it is illegal to keep animals such as this unless you have a license to rehabilitate wild animals.

Answer 2

My daughter found a box turtle a few years ago and made him a home in an old aquarium. He just stood there, all day long, looking sad; you don't really think about a turtle having feelings. We live in the country, where children are always "finding pets".
My feelings about "found pets" changed when I opened the front door - it was a warm spring night, the crickets were chirping and that turtle turned his head towards the door and listened - he perked right up and then he started walking across the aquarium, towards the sound of the crickets. The next day my daughter took him back to where she found him. Animals have feelings; it was great that you saved him from the road, now save him from a boring, sad life in a tank - let him go into a stream or lake nearby where you found him.

Answer 3

I would put it back in a pond. Snapping turtles are very dangerous and with any size can bite off your fingers. They really do not make good pets.