Rare Hybrid Snapping Turtle Planted Paludarium (Only 50 in the World)

In this week’s video, we add a one-of-kind hybrid snapping turtle to the animal room! This is not something I intended for at all, but the opportunity presented itself and I took it.

Last month we toured the Moorecroft Conservation Foundation (https://youtu.be/EMknY9jQLnw?t=928) and saw a tone of incredible turtles. While there, I talked about how I would be getting some of the turtles we saw. I’m still doing that, but something else happened.

As Charley showed up around, we saw a group of snapping turtles. These weren’t your ordinary snappers, though. He explained that they were Common Snapper and Alligator Snapper Hybrids, which came from the late Fred Grunwald. It wasn’t thought that they could interbreed, but one day, Fred’s turtles did exactly that. Apparently there’s likely less than 50 in the entire world!

I didn’t intent on getting one of these turtles, but Charley said that they needed homes. I know that I’m in a unique position where I can provide for this animal into adulthood, so I decided to take the opportunity. In this video, I show you how I designed a grow-out paludarium for it. Enjoy and let me know what you think in the comments!

FritzZyme BioDome was provided with a paid promotion by Fritz Aquatics
https://fritzaquatics.com/products/bio-dome

Moorecroft Conservation Foundation
https://moorcroftconservationfoundation.org/
https://www.instagram.com/moorcroftconservation/

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00:00 Turtle Unboxing
00:25 My New Turtle
00:55 Only 50 in the World?
02:08 Deciding on an Tank
02:29 Enclosure Modifications
02:54 DIY Reptile Screens
03:27 Substrate Selection
04:30 Hardscaping the Setup
05:22 Selecting the Plants
06:57 Plant Preparation
07:24 Adding the Plants
08:25 Filtration
09:10 Adding the Water
09:26 Finished Design
10:29 Turtle Explores Paludarium
11:07 Final Thoughts

#snappingturtle #paludarium #serpadesign

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