Snapping Turtle
Snapping turtles are large, hard-shelled reptiles often found in and around permanent bodies of water in eastern Colorado.
About This Species
Snapping turtles are large, hard-shelled reptiles often found in and around permanent bodies of water in eastern Colorado. Their powerful jaws and long, snake-like neck make them fearsome predators.
While firm data is scarce, evidence out of Canada shows that snapping turtles can live over 100 years.
More Information:
Physical Characteristics
Adult
Upper shell relatively smooth, lengthwise ridges not very prominent.
Juvenile
Upper shell with three longitudinal ridges.
Hatchling
Upper shell rough, with conspicuous ridges, cryptically resembling a dead cottonwood leaf.
Hard shell, often with attached mud or algae; rear edge of upper shell saw-toothed; tail as long as or longer than upper shell, with crest of large bony scales; head large, with hooked jaws; lower shell relatively small, composed of nine shields; limbs strong, with webbed toes and powerful claws; upper shell up to nearly 20 inches long, but usually less than 14 inches.
Mature males have an anal opening farther from base of tail, usually beyond rear edge of upper shell, and are larger than females. Females have an anal opening closer to the base of the tail, under the rear edge of the shell.
Range
Fairly common in the lowlands of eastern Colorado and can be found in urban, suburban, and rural areas.
Habitat
Usually in permanent streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, and reservoirs; sometimes in temporary ponds and pools along intermittent streams.
Diet
Snapping turtles will eat anything they can fit in their mouths, with their diets focused on fish, amphibians, reptiles (even other turtles), small mammals and birds, although their predation of young waterfowl seems to be exaggerated. They also forage aquatic vegetation and will eat carrion if available.
Reproduction
Snapping turtles nest in open areas up to several hundred yards from water, often after soaking rains soften the soil, mostly from late May to early July (peak in June). Females lay 25-80 eggs in the clutch and are incubated by the soil from nine to 18 weeks. Hatchlings generally emerge from nests in late summer and early fall. Depending on climate, snapping turtles may not mature until they are a decade old.