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New Common Snapper. Is he ok?

1K views 14 replies 3 participants last post by  stustan64 
#1 ·
Hi all, so i have a 3 year old Common Snapper that i have had for, well just under 3 years! When he was young he ate like a pig and had no problems at all. I have just recently been given another baby snapper who is around 12-18 months old, he seems quite settled, however he doesnt seem to be eating as much as my other did at his age. He seems to binge eat then go off his food totally. I have fed him gold fish, chicken breast, shrimp, snails and even tried some reptomin. Also i have noticed he kind of bobs around at the bottom of the tank instead of swimming or walking. More like bouncing. So i really do not know if he is doing ok or what?

So if any one else on here has experienced these problems or anything similar it would be great to hear from you.

Thank you in advance and i hope he is ok.
 
#2 ·
feeding wise it seems pretty normal. mine can sometimes fast for up to a week and i have found the best way with youngsters is to feed smaller meals more often. id avoid goldfish if i were you, try guppies or tetras instead. earthworms are normaly a favourite to get them interested.
as with the other issue, does he float or have trouble sinking?
 
#4 ·
feeding wise it seems pretty normal. mine can sometimes fast for up to a week and i have found the best way with youngsters is to feed smaller meals more often. id avoid goldfish if i were you, try guppies or tetras instead. earthworms are normaly a favourite to get them interested.
as with the other issue, does he float or have trouble sinking?
Cheers for that, just can't remember my other one doing this at all! I understand all are different, but i suppose you just expect the same.

As for the bobbing he does not have any trouble sinking and he certainly does not float!!

Cheers for your input :2thumb:
 
#3 · (Edited)
mine go of food every now and them, as said above smaller meals is some times better, if he going to get a treat (mouse) i fast for a week befor hand. when he went of food eathworms 100% get them munching again

with the ". More like bouncing" mine do the same thing he to lazy to walk and he get better distance if he bounce around.
 
#5 ·
mine go of food every now and them, as said above smaller meals is some times better, if he going to get a treat (mouse) i fast for a week befor hand. when he went of food eathworms 100% get them munching again

with the ". More like bouncing" mine do the same thing he to lazy to walk and he get better distance if he bounce around.
Cheers for your comment.

Will certainly give the earth worms a go!

Glad to hear yours bounces as well! Was starting to think he may have wind or something as i know that can cause that sort of sympton in turtles!

Cheers again for your input :2thumb:
 
#7 ·
I love all things with shells!!! I have a collection of 10 various musks and now 2 snappers!!! When i have the room the Alligator Snapper will be next! So watch this space!

Earth worms will be purchased tomorrow! Do you just dig your own up or buy them?
 
#8 ·
bit of both really, fishing tackle shops and some livefood suppliers stock them or get them from the garden as long as there hasnt been any weed killer or pesticides used.

you cant go wrong with an alligator snapper, they are the ultimate turtle.
mine is great. very shy compared to commons but come out of their shell so to speak. as they grow.
got any pics of your turts?
 
#9 ·
To be honest i have been using this site for a while but really haven't made enough use of it! I will try and get some photos up this weekend if time permits! Also gotta put some more info on my profile too.

Will try the tackle shop first tomorrow as its closer than my normal reptile shop and my car has just decided to drop its engine!

How big is your Alli? What are your plans for housing once he is nearer full grown?
 
#10 ·
mine is about 4-5 inches now but growing surprisingly fast.
heres a pic from a few months ago...


he's in a 4 foot tank atm but has plenty of room left. they are ambush predators so dont really need much swimming space. i prefer to frovide varying water depth with bogwood and floating plants and corkbark for cover.
as he grows he will be moving into an indoor pond like my adult commons.
dont have any pics of setup but i have some of the adults...


 
#11 ·
Very nice! Cheers for that. My first common is in a 4ft tank with around 8 inches of water depth and again he has got all kinds of hiding spots at all levels to bask, hide and ambush food at! My new addition is in a 3ft with around 4 inches of water, again all sorts of different level hidey holes and basking spots. At the moment he is trying to test everything in there (by biting it) he's trying the filter, the bog wood, the cork bark everything! Just not so much on the actual food? Strange little fella!!! Oh well earth worms have been purchased so hopefully that is about to change! Fingers crossed.
 
#12 ·
my male is very destructive! damaged filters and even cracked the glass pushing rocks around! he is much calmer no he's in a pond. hes not even as agressive as he was in a tank.
try chopping the worms in half to get him interested. its trout for my lot today. fish seems to work well.
 
#14 ·
anything really, floating plants, cork bark, bogwood to create little shady areas etc just nothing that he could get trapped under.
 
#15 ·
In the tank i have cork bark and bog wood. Also the filter is an internal. He only seemed to bite things when i first got him. I have given him some cuttle fish (which he seems to enjoy a lot). Where i got him from they just had him in a rather small exo terra viv which only had the one basking spot a filter and nothing else for him to climb on. So i will put the biting of things down to investigating!

Earth worms seem to be going down a treat!!!

Another thing do you heat your snappers water?
 
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