Alligator Snapping Turtle

Facts about Alligator Snapping Turtle. "Scientific name for the Alligator snapping turtle, a dinosaur-like looking creature is Macroclemys temminckii". The family the Alligator Snapping Turtle come from is Chelydridae. An adult size are one of the largest prehistoric-looking species with an over size head it's a fresh water turtle in North America and one of the largest found in the world. Adult male Alligator Snapping Turtles weighing from 150 to 200 pounds ( 68 to 90 kg) with a thick scaled tail, spiked shell, beak-like jaws. Their lengths of more than 25 inches (63.5 cm) have been reported. Alligator Snapping Turtles primarily along the Mississippi River and streams, canals, and lakes in the southwest and southeastern United States. The Alligator Snapper will stay submerged for up to 40 to 50 minutes at a time, and will only go to the surface for air. The alligator snapping turtle is both a scavenger and an active hunter. They search for food during the night. In the wild, adult alligator snapper turtles are known to eat snails, worms, crayfish, frogs, aquatic plants, and other turtles, clams shellfish, snails, snake, insects, fish, amphibians and even some aquatic plants. When a alligator snapper turtle lives in captivity, they do not require a area of land, if the water is acceptable in depth and temperature. The temperature of water 75 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit (23 to 28 cel) is suitable. The water preferable should be at least shallow enough to allow the alligator snapping turtle to breath when it sticks its neck out of the water. You have to make sure you remove chloramine and chlorine and additives whenever the water is going to be changed. The pH and ammonia content of the water should be checked quite frequently. The hatchling in captives seem to feed basically on fish.
The alligator snapping turtle has an unusual natural way of luring prey to its hunting technique. The tongue contains a small, bright-red almost pinkish, worm-shaped piece of flesh projection (a lure), which is grey at when resting but injected with blood when active, and is wriggled to attract prey on a rivers bottom, draws curious fish or frogs close enough to be snatched into the turtle's mouth.