Mating

• Snapping turtles are territorial, and when the male turtles wake up in the spring, they start defending their territory. Some fighting may occur, and dominant males will force other males to leave their territory. Mating is aggressive and can take place between April and November.
  
  

Nesting

• A female snapping turtle will look for a sandy, sunny area in which to make her nest and may migrate anywhere from two to nine miles in order to find the right spot. Male turtles move close to nesting sites in order to find females and mate with them. Turtles like nests that are close to small streams. Dams, gravel pits and roads are popular spots. Once a female finds a good site, she will use it over and over again throughout her life. Turtle embryos stop growing soon after fertilization and don't start growing again until the eggs are laid. This gives the female time to find a good spot to make her nest. The bowl-shaped nest is usually between 3 and 7 inches deep.
  
  

Eggs

• Females lay anywhere from 22 to 62 eggs. After she lays them, she'll fill the nest hole with sand and press it down to help hide the eggs. Then she leaves. Up to 90 percent of the nests are destroyed by raccoons, foxes, skunks and other predators. What eggs do survive will hatch in 90 to 120 days.
  
  

Hatchlings

• Hatchlings are about 1 inch long with an egg tooth that falls off after a few weeks. They carry a small yolk sac under the flat part of their shell that they absorb over a period of several days. As soon as they dig out of their nest, they head straight for the nearest water. Predators eat the majority of hatchlings and only a handful survive.
  
  

Hibernating

• Snapping turtles hibernate in shallow water, by burying themselves in mud during the winter. Males hibernate on top of females. Hibernating turtles don't breathe. In the northern part of their range, they may go as long as six months without breathing. Instead, they get oxygen by pushing their head out of the mud and letting gas enter through the membranes of their mouth and throat.
  
  

Food

• Snapping turtles are omnivores. About 65 percent of their diet is aquatic vegetation. However, they also eat fish, small frogs, crustaceans, insects and snakes. Occasionally they'll eat water birds and, rarely, small mammals. Live prey is usually eaten by juveniles in the spring. When aquatic vegetation becomes available, it becomes the main part of the adult turtle's diet.