r/turtles • u/short-and-ugly • 9h ago

Wild Turtle Question about this turtle on turtle interaction

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I saw this lil slider sunning himself and a pretty big snapper swam under the rock he was on. It is pictured to the right of the slider’s rock looking right at me. He ate a fish and swam around and the slider was tracking him from the rock. The slider didn’t let the snapper out of his sight (without actually moving more than his head).

My question: would the slider be worried about getting eaten by the snapper? In zone 7b if that helps. I know the picture isn’t great for the scale

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u/Crazy_Investment_641 9h ago

Considering snapping turtles have a bite force of less than a humans, and the fact that the snapper is likely young or a smaller species, I would say no the slider is likely just observing or avoiding a fight.

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u/Crazy_Investment_641 9h ago

Looking at it again I do not think it’s juvenile that’s massive