Chelydra serpentina  
The snapper is Canada`s largest freshwater turtle. It can attain a shell length of 45 cm and weights exceeding 15 kg. Its serpentine neck, massive head, muscular legs, and relatively long tail make it seem even larger.

Snappers are defensive if confronted on land, but, in the water, they usually slip quietly away from any disturbance. They occur in ponds, lakes, rivers, and streams from Nova Scotia to Saskatchewan.  

They consume a variety of aquatic plants and many kinds of animals including fish, frogs, birds, and small mammals. They are also effective scavengers and clean up dead fish and drowned animals. The round eggs resemble ping-pong balls, and the young usually hatch in September or early October.

The Common Snapping Turtle is an aggressive, freshwater turtle usually found in ponds, streams, and canals. It spends most of its life in the water. These nocturnal (active at night) turtles live in eastern North America. Snapping turtles are so fearless that they have been known to attack people. Snapping turtles have an average life span of about 30-40 years.

Anatomy:
The Common Snapping Turtle has powerful jaws, a sharp beak, and no teeth. It has a long tail, and each webbed foot has five clawed toes. This turtle, like all turtles, has no vocal cords and can only make hissing and grunting sounds. It grows to be up to 18.5 inches (47 cm) long and weighs up to about 85 pounds (38.5 kg). Male snapping turtles are larger than the females. The color of the shell ranges from brown to olive green to black to tan. The color of its skin also varies and can be gray, brown, yellow, tan, or black.

Diet:
Snapping Turtles are omnivores; they eat plants, small fish, frogs, insects, snakes, and even dead animals that they find (carrion).

Size:
The carapace length of common snappers frequently exceeds one foot with a record length of 18 ½ inches (Pritchard). The average adult weight is thirty pounds, but 40-60 pounders are not uncommon (Dillon). Snappers grow fast! That 2-inch baby you brought home to a ten-gallon aquarium can be 4 inches in one year and 8 inches in two. It will eventually require either a pond setting or a gigantic aquarium (more than a hundred gallons).

Messiness:
Snappers are both voracious eaters and highly aquatic. This combination equals frequent water changes! The best filtration cannot keep up with smelly snapper wastes. You must be prepared to do complete water changes at least once a week if not more often.

Aesthetics:
If you want a beautiful tank landscaped with plants, you do not want a snapper! Your little charge will rearrange the tank to his or her liking, uprooting plants and pushing everything including rocks and the filter into new positions. Snapper tanks must be kept simple.

Expense:
The initial investment for any turtle amounts to several hundred dollars for a tank, filter, heater, UVB lighting, and a basking light. Larger tanks and equipment for your eventual "behemoth" will cost much more.

Aggressiveness:
Yes, it`s true that snappers are more docile in their aquatic environment than on land. They sit quietly and give you long soulful stares - hungry stares!!! Snappers will eat anything including your fingers! They charge their food, and your digits can easily be mistaken for worms in a feeding frenzy. You cannot mix them with other turtles including other snappers. Even small snappers can cause serious harm to each other. They will also attempt to eat all the other inhabitants of your prized outdoor pond, including ducks and ornamental fish.

Longevity:
The life span of the common snapper has been estimated at 30-40 years (Dillon). Are you prepared to commit one third to one half of your life to your friend? What if you move? If you are thinking you can just release your turtle in a few years, remember that most states still permit the harvesting of snappers. You wouldn`t want your buddy to end up in a can of soup! And zoos are "full up" with unwanted snappers and other reptiles. Most are no longer accepting ex-pets.

The common name is derived from its powerful jaws which makes a snapping sound when closed. Snapping turtles are sought out and hunted for food or killed because of the myth that they attack everything ranging from ducks to sunbathers. The truth is that for the most part, snapping turtles are shy vegetarians and only snap in self defence.

In June and July, female snappers are often seen attempting to navigate across highways in search of a nesting site. If you want to try to move a turtle off a roadway, be aware that behind their stout head is a deceptively long neck which can lash-out with amazing speed, propelling the strong snapping mouth with great accuracy. The best approach is to grip the back of the shell on both sides. Never lift a snapper by the tail. This can harm their spine and even kill them.