Comments on: Chinese What-Is-It

By: macrojon

macrojon — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 20:36:39 +0000

As a guy who hatches around 3500 alligator snappers per year I can tell you that it is without a doubt an alligator snapper. No doubt. Tens of thousands of these baby turtles are exported worldwide for the pet trade. It is legal and since they are captive born no wild population is affected. It is now illegal to commercially take alligator snappers in any state in the Union. The pressure for turtle meat has almost eliminated this turtle from the wild. They are slow to recover from such pressure and now the out of control raccoon populations threaten every nest a female lays. If that bullet is dodged the relentless fire ants consume anything that nests on or in the ground. The turtle in China is probably an escapee about 8 to 10 years old. Many are exported there. I have a DVD devoted to this species on my website that dispels most myth and separates fact from fiction.

By: Jeremy_Wells

Jeremy_Wells — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 16:07:44 +0000

My guess is a pet that was starting to get to big and scary and was let go. We used to pick up half dollar sized snappers when I was a kid and keep them in an aquarium fed on earthworms all summer, then let them go in the fall. Of course this was in Kentucky, not Louisiana, so they were common snappers, not alligator snappers. However my uncle used to run float traps for snappers and this is a small one by any standards. (Also, turtle meat aficianadoes should forget that noodling stuff. Way too easy to loose a finger. The best way is to use a couple of milk jugs attached to a 1 1/2′ to 2′ piece of 2X4 as floats. Attach a strong leader to the 2X4 and use a big fishing hook and a bluegill as bait.)

By: One Eyed Cat

One Eyed Cat — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 03:21:37 +0000

Tabitca They know the Chinese see most any animal as food. It is not just a guy thing to keep mentioning it

By: herpjitsu

herpjitsu — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 14:11:47 +0000

It is nice that you are so confident in your abilities, but I don’t think that there is enough information available in the picture for you, me or any other herpertologist to make a positive identification one way or the other.

By: Toirtis

Toirtis — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 06:15:20 +0000

“It looks more like a deeply ridged common snapper to me, but I can’t clearly make out the side of the shell for a positive identification.”

It is an alligator snapper alright…trust me, my degree in herpetology was based on my speciality in Chelonia.

By: herpjitsu

herpjitsu — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 00:29:57 +0000

It looks more like a deeply ridged common snapper to me, but I can’t clearly make out the side of the shell for a positive identification. You can’t always differentiate common and alligator snappers by the ridges. The sure fire way to tell is to look for the 3 extra scutes on the edge of the carapace in the alligator snapper. There are three on each side and they look out of place as they break up the neat line of scutes that forms a ring aroung the carapace. You can just make them out in the picture of the small alligator snapper in the article, but you can’t tell for sure in the picture in question.

Also, the article states “P.S. On the Internet Macrochelys is often incorrectly referred to as Macroclemmys or Macroclemys.” It was noted in 1995 that the genus Macrochelys has precedence over Macroclemys, and the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles adopted this revision in 2000. It is still more commonly referred to as Macroclemys because the new name hasn’t dissemenated into the general vocabualry yet. It is not like taxonomist send out public notifications when they change names like that.

By: Toirtis

Toirtis — Wed, 31 May 2006 22:36:11 +0000

Wel, there we be…an alligator snapper, sho ’nuff. Now, the real question, is how did it get there? Although it could easily be a released pet brought back from the US (baby alligator snappers are common and cheap enough in the trade), it seems a rather remote area…still, I am not terribly surprised.

By: Tabitca

Tabitca — Wed, 31 May 2006 20:11:27 +0000

I think it looks very confused poor thing. Could have been someone’s exotic pet which they got rid of? Especially if it snapped at them.

Why do you guys have to turn everything into food?

By: kaboobi

kaboobi — Wed, 31 May 2006 16:04:32 +0000

Being from southern Louisiana, I have seen many, many alligator snapping turtles. I have seen them as big as 200lbs personally. The description is certainly pretty close of a alligator snapper. If this is indeed one, its a baby… I’d hate to think what they’d see if they caught an alligator gar! now that is a living cryptid!!

By: cfcbhoy

cfcbhoy — Wed, 31 May 2006 09:17:06 +0000

#6. JJames2 - Alligator snappers can have a tail as long as their shell in some instances

Here and here are good shots of the tail.