Are you wondering how big do snapping turtles get? It’s important to know how big a turtle will get because you have to know how to properly take care of it, and what kind of tank you are going to need. Today, I am going to help you answer that question about how big do snapping turtles get.
How big do snapping turtles get? Snapping turtles can reach sizes between 15 and 26 inches in length, and can weigh up to 175 pounds. There are a lot of factors that will determine how big a turtle will get, here is a list of the most important factors:
- Age
- The Diet
- Gender
- UV light
- Habitat
The size and the weight of a snapping turtle can drastically differ from individual to individual, based on the factors that I just mentioned. So let’s take a closer look at how those factors will influence how big a snapping turtle will get.
Age
All snapping turtles start their lives as eggs. Those eggs are very small, and they are usually between 1 and 1.5 inches in length. So baby snapping turtles are not very big either. But this will change very soon.
During the first years of their lives, snapping turtles will grow very fast. This rapid growth will last for 2 or 4 years and then it will considerably start to slow down.
You can expect that a juvenile snapping turtle will get from 2 to 3 inches in a very short period of time. But as your turtle gets older, it can take anywhere from 12 to 18 months for it to grow another inch.
In the wild age plays another important role. The older a turtle is, the bigger it will get to be. When a turtle gets bigger, there will be fewer animals that can hurt it. This basically means that the bigger a turtle is, the bigger it will get to be. I know it sounds strange, but let me give you an example to clarify things.
The Galapagos tortoises are some of the biggest turtles in the world. And one of the reasons why they get to be so big is that after they reach a certain size there are no predators around that can hurt them. So after a certain size, they are able to grow even bigger without any effort because there is basically nothing that can hurt them. So they can easily search for food without having to worry that something will attack them. They don’t have to look for a safe place to sleep, they can sleep anywhere because nothing can hurt them. The same principle also applies to the snapping turtle to some extent.
As snapping turtles get bigger, there are fewer animals that can hurt them, and this allows them to survive and grow even bigger.
The diet of a turtle is also very different based on age, younger snapping turtles prefer to eat a lot more meat than adult snapping turtles. A diet that contains more proteins usually helps turtles grow faster, but sometimes a diet that contains a lot of proteins can do more bad than good for the turtle.
The Diet of Snapping Turtles
The diet represents one of the most important factors that influence the growth of a snapping turtle.
Snapping turtles are omnivorous, this means that they will eat meat, as well as plants. In general, the diet of a snapping turtle consists of:
- Berries
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Insects
- Worms
- Fish
- Meat
- Turtle pellets
Berries, fruits, vegetables, and other plants, contain a lot of vitamins and nutrients that help them remain healthy, but in general, they don’t offer too many things that help with the growth directly.
On the other hand, meat contains a lot of protein, and protein is directly responsible for the growth of the turtle. In general, the more meat the turtle eats, the bigger and faster it will grow. This is one of the reasons why baby and juvenile turtles, prefer meat over other types of food, grow faster than adults.
But too much protein can also be a bad thing. If a turtle eats too much protein, it will start pyramiding. When a turtle is pyramiding, individual scutes will begin to rise above the normal dome shape of the shell to form what appear to be pyramids.
In general, pyramiding is not very dangerous, the only time it can be considered dangerous is when the bumps become too pronounced. If your turtle already shows signs of pyramiding you shouldn’t worry too much about its health, because it shouldn’t be affected in any way at this point. But you should definitely reconsider your diet.
Pyramiding is usually more common in pet turtles, but it can still happen to wild turtles as well.
If a turtle doesn’t eat, it will start to lose weight and its growth will be halted until it finds a proper food source.
If a turtle doesn’t have a proper diet, it can still grow, just not at a normal rate. By proper diet, I mean a good balance of meat, which contains proteins, fruits, and vegetables, that contain vitamins and various nutrients, and pellets, which usually contain a mix of everything a turtle needs.
If you want to your turtle to have a good and balanced diet, I would recommend you to check out this article where I, and the rest of the members of Turtleowner.com, choose the best turtle food on the market: Buyer’s Guide: Best Turtle Food
Difference Between Male and Female Snapping Turtles
In general female turtles tend to be a little bigger than male turtles. The size difference is not always very significant, but females are usually bigger by at least half, or 1 inch, and even bigger in some cases.
Turtles don’t have a very flexible bodies. So when a female turtle is pregnant, it’s impossible for her belly to get bigger. They need to keep the eggs inside them, so they need a little more space than males do. This is why they are a little bigger than the males of their species.
UVB Light
UVB light is a light spectrum of the UV light that plays a very important role in the life of most reptiles, and that also includes turtles. UVB light plays a vital role in the production of Vitamin D3 which is essential for the calcium in the body. Without UVB light turtles wouldn’t be able to get the proper amount of calcium which can lead to improper bone and shell growth.
Turtles get UVB light by basking. When turtles bask they try to find a place where the sun rays are very powerful, so they usually climb on big rocks or any place that is closer to the sun. When they find the best spot, they simply lay in the sun for hours. During this time they are exposed to UVB rays.
Pet turtles have basking areas that are equipped with a UVB Bulb, that replicates the effects of the UVB rays that come from the sun.
A turtle that doesn’t have access to UVB will have much slower growth or none at all. In the wild, there are places that are more exposed to the sun than others, but turtles will usually search until they are able to find a place that offers a good amount of UVB light. So in the wild turtles don’t usually have problems with the UVB light.
Pet turtles are almost entirely reliant on UVB Bulbs. In general, most UVB bulbs will get the job done, but if you want to know more details about, and the different types that are available, then you should read my article: Guide for Lighting and Heating a Turtle Tank and Basking Area, there you will find a lot more information on this subject.
Now let’s talk about the differences between pet and wild turtles, and how their habitat can influence their growth.
Difference Between Pet and Wild Snapping Turtles
In general pet, turtles tend to be bigger than wild turtles. This is because they have access to better conditions.
If you are properly taking care of a snapping turtle, then it should definitely get bigger than a wild one. This is because wild turtles don’t always have access to enough food, the weather doesn’t always help them with the UVB rays and they are under a constant threat from predators.
And there is also one other major factor that wild turtles have to deal with, and pet turtles don’t the winter. During the winter wild turtles hibernate. When they hibernate they are basically just sleeping until the bad weather passes.
During the time that they are hibernating, they use a lot of energy, vitamins, calcium, and proteins, to survive. If they didn’t have to hibernate they would have used them to grow, and not to survive the winter.
While turtles hibernate they also don’t have the chance to gather any kind of nutrients, and they don’t have access to any UVB rays. So basically every year pet turtles have 12 months at their disposal to grow, while wild turtles only have 7 to 9 months.
If you want to know how turtles and tortoises hibernate, and how they use the nutrients stored to survive, you should check out this article: How to Help Your Turtle Hibernate.
So no matter how you look at it, pet turtles have a bigger chance of growing bigger than most wild turtles.
Related Questions
How do I keep my turtle small? You can’t keep a turtle small, any attempt to do so will only affect its health. If you want a small turtle then you should get a turtle species that stay small, here you can find a list of turtles that stay small and don’t grow: Best Pet Turtles That Stay Small and Don’t Grow
How can I make my turtle grow faster? The only way that you can make a turtle grow faster is to ensure that it has everything that it needs, a proper diet, a proper tank, and a proper basking area.
Do turtles grow to the size of their tank? No, how big a turtle will grow depends on its species and the living conditions. If you have a very small tank, there is a good chance that your turtle will outgrow it.
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