FaunaClassifieds - Tame snapping turtle

While there are of course individual differences, my experience is that when a wild type (non-morph) common snapper is raised with a lot of human interaction from a young age, you get very tame or docile behavior in a decent number of instances. They will walk out of an in-ground pond and climb into your lap as you sit in the grass if they really know you and trust you. Just as many will recognize the keeper as the bearer of food, some will seek interaction beyond that provision. I am not sure (yet) that the same applies to albinos. I raised a lot of wild type snappers in my pre-teen and teenage years. I think I had my first hatchling when I was around 5 years old or so.

So far, my albino snapper experiences have the visual acuity difference leading to more frequent wild strikes at movement and vibration whether for catching food or acting in perceived defense. I take efforts to protect the eyes of my albino animals so that they are not subject to discomfort from bright light flooding an unpigmented retina, so they tend to maintain better vision than some kept in harsher lighting, but the visual sense is still notably weaker compared to an animal without compromised eye pigmentation. With growth and interaction, I have seen some calming of the striking behavior and less panic when handled, but the rate of progress towards a more calm animal has been way slower than my experiences with wild type snappers. That said, my albino sample size cannot come anywhere close to my wild type snapper sample size yet.

I would trust a wild type Chelydra I have raised to an adult from a neonate more than I would trust a wild type Manouria I have raised to an adult from a neonate despite the menacing appearance of the former and the friendly appearance of the latter. More checkers with snappers. More chess with Burmese.