NANFA-- Re: snapping turtles
Duncan Mahoney (dmahoney_at_usc.edu)
Wed, 06 Sep 2000 09:51:15 -0700
Turtles need lots of calcium in their diets to grow strong shells. Good
sources are whole small fish, snails, and cuttle bone (sold in pet shops
for birds). They also need somewhere to climb out of the water in the sun
like a rock or log. If their shells never get dry, they can get fungal
infections. Part of their tub should be shaded so they have somewhere to
go if they want to cool off. If they don't have some area of water deep
enough to really swim in they won't develop adequate muscles for swimming.
Depending on how cold it gets where you are, your turtles may want to bury
themselves in the mud to "hibernate". It is going to take a pretty big
enclosure (and LOTS of food) to keep 8 snapping turtles happy once they
start growing. HTH Duncan
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