Species
Alligator snapping turtle
Macrochelys temminckii
North America's largest freshwater turtle, which lures fish with a worm-like tongue.
Photo Unknown photographer (opens in a new tab) / iNaturalist, CC0 1.0 (opens in a new tab)
At a glance
- Size
- Shell up to about 80 cm long in big males
- Weight
- Adults commonly 20 to 80 kg; exceptional males over 100 kg
- Habitat
- Deep rivers, oxbows and swamps with muddy bottoms
- Diet
- Fish, turtles, snails, crayfish, carrion, nuts and fruit
- In Georgia
- The Flint and Chattahoochee river systems of southwest Georgia
- Rabies vector
- No
Identification
- Key marks
- Massive head with a hooked beak; three tall, knobbed ridges along the shell; eyes on the sides of the head
- Told apart from
- Common snapping turtle, which has a smoother shell and eyes facing more upward
- Told apart from
- Suwannee alligator snapping turtle, which lives only in the Suwannee river system
- Where to look
- Rarely seen; occasionally caught by anglers or seen crossing roads near rivers
Behaviour
An alligator snapping turtle lies still on the bottom with its mouth open, wiggling a pink, worm-like flap on its tongue. Fish come to the lure and the jaws close. It spends almost its whole life underwater, and only females leave the river, to nest.
Why they matter
As scavengers and predators they help keep rivers clean and balanced. They take many years to mature and were heavily harvested in the past, so the loss of adults hits them hard; they are now protected across much of their range.
Reproduction and lifecycle
Nest — Dug by the female in sand or soil near the river
Eggs — Usually 8 to 52
Incubation — About 100 to 140 days
Hatchlings — About 4 cm long, with the adult's rough shell
Maturity — At 11 to 13 years or more
Lifespan — Many decades
Living around people
- Never try to pick one up. The bite is extremely powerful, and lifting by the tail injures the spine.
- An alligator snapping turtle caught on a line is best released by cutting the line close to the mouth.
Misconceptions
- Alligator snappers attack people in the water. They lie still and avoid people; the danger is only to hands that handle them.
Related species
Seasonal activity
When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breeding | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Active nests | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Notes | Inactive in deep water | Inactive | Becoming active | Courtship | Females nesting | Nesting | Feeding | Hatching | Hatchlings emerge | Feeding | Slowing down | Inactive |
Where it lives
Recorded in 8 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.
If you found one
Answer a few questions and you will get a specific answer for what you are looking at.
I found an animal