Diet and Predators
Technically, turtles are omnivorous. But, for the most part, alligator snapping turtles are opportunistic predators. Their usual diet includes fish, carcasses, mollusks, amphibians, worms, snakes, water birds, crayfish, aquatic mammals, and other turtles. They will also eat aquatic plants. Large alligator snapping turtles have been known to kill and eat American alligators. Like other reptiles, they refuse to eat when the temperature is extremely cold or hot because they cannot digest their meal.
Although the turtles tend to hunt at night, they can lure small prey during the daytime using their unusual tongues. The tongue of the turtle resembles a pink wriggling worm.
A variety of predators may eat turtle eggs and hatchlings, including snakes, raccoons, skunks, herons, and crows. Humans are the only significant predator of the adults.
Reproduction and Life Cycle
Alligator snapping turtles become sexually mature around 12 years of age. They mate in the spring. About two months later, the female leaves the water to build a nest and deposit between 10 and 50 eggs. She selects a nest site near the water, but high enough or far enough to protect the eggs from flooding. Hatchlings emerge after 100 to 140 days, in early autumn. Their sex is determined by incubation temperature.
In captivity, most turtles live between 20 and 70 years. However, they can potentially live as long as 200 years.
Conservation Status
The IUCN Red List classifies the alligator snapping turtle as a "vulnerable" species. The turtle is listed on CITES Appendix III (United States), with restrictions on its capture in several states within its range and on exportation. Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri are among states in which the turtle is considered endangered.
Threats include collection for the pet trade, habitat destruction, pollution, pesticide accumulation, and trapping for its meat. Although threatened in the wild, the turtle is also kept in captivity. Conservationists are concerned release of captive turtles outside the species' natural range may cause it to become invasive. In 2013, an alligator snapping turtle was captured and euthanized in Oregon. Some states prohibit keeping alligator snapping turtles as pets.
