Habits of a Common Snapping Turtle

Feeding

• Common snapping turtles are omnivorous. They feed on water-dwelling plants, birds, insects, fish and small mammals. When they are hunting for food, common snapping turtles often bury themselves in mud, leaving part of their heads exposed to see and smell potential food sources. Common snapping turtles can live without food for months at a time when it is scarce. Although these reptiles have few predators, their eggs are eaten by many other animals, including coyotes and skunks.

Habitat

• Common snapping turtles live on the muddy bottoms of ponds, swamps and rivers. Although best suited for aquatic habitats, they can also be seen on land in the spring and summer when there has been a large amount of rainfall. Many snapping turtles are killed by passing cars.

Defense Mechanisms

• Although common snapping turtles have a fearsome reputation because of their habit of snapping, they actually prefer to move quickly away from an enemy if they feel threatened. Snapping turtles usually snap only when they feel like they are in real danger, especially when they are on land. Another defense mechanism is the strong, pungent musk odor they emit when threatened.

Reproduction

• Female snapping turtles lay eggs from late spring through early summer. The gestation period is around 18 weeks. The turtles migrate across land to a suitable nesting location in an open area with exposure to sunlight, where they dig a hole for their eggs. Temperature plays a key role at this stage as cooler eggs -- below 77 degrees F -- will become female turtles and those incubated at a higher temperature will become males. Although female common snapping turtles can lay up to 40 eggs at a time, many are eaten by predators within a few days.