Snapping turtles have a reputation for being aggressive when threatened. Less known is their impressive capacity to survive on land for extended periods.
Thanks to sturdy lungs, efficient moisture retention, and tolerance of temperature swings, a healthy snapping turtle can generally stay out of the water for up to 3 days at a time.
However, very hot and dry conditions can shorten survival to just 8 hours without water access. Ultimately, snapping turtles depend on aquatic habitats nearby to thrive long, even though they adapt well to temporary land excursions.
In this blog post, we’ll explore why they leave water and how long they can survive away from their wet refuge.
How Long Can A Snapping Turtle Be Out Of Water?
The amount of time a snapping turtle can survive out of water depends on several factors. A healthy snapping turtle can generally stay out of the water for up to several months thanks to adaptations like sturdy lungs and moisture-retaining bladder storage.
However, extremely hot, dry conditions may shorten their survival on land to just 8 hours out of the water. Young, injured, or compromised turtles may only endure a few days at most away from a water source before becoming critically threatened by dehydration and exposure.
An average limit for healthy adults appears to be around 3 days away from water access before risks increase substantially.
Ultimately, snapping turtles remain dependent on aquatic habitats for long-term survival even though they have remarkable temporary land abilities.
How Long Can Snapping Turtles Stay Out of Water?
Snapping turtles have a surprising capacity to survive for extended durations out of the water thanks to some key evolutionary adaptations:
- Snapping turtles can breathe air – They have lungs as well as gills, allowing them to obtain oxygen on land.
- They conserve water efficiently – Their bladder stores water, and special glands eliminate waste while retaining moisture.
- They can tolerate extreme temperatures. Being cold-blooded, snapping turtles become largely inactive on land. Their metabolism slows drastically, allowing survival without food.
Taking into account these remarkable adaptations, a healthy snapping turtle can generally survive on land for up to several months. During winter hibernation, they can even spend more than six months away from water!
However, sweltering and dry conditions may shorten this duration. Ideally, land vacations longer than a month may require some pooling of rainwater or moist substrate for periodic hydration.
Dehydration poses the most imminent threat should a snapping turtle become trapped away from water for too long.
Can Snapping Turtles Breathe on Land?
Yes, snapping turtles can breathe perfectly fine while out of water.
Unlike many aquatic turtles that have specially adapted skin in their throat area for underwater respiration, snapping turtles do not have such anatomical features. They lack visible external gills or glandular tissue in the throat.
Instead, snapping turtles rely predominantly on their lungs for breathing. Their sturdy lungs have enough capacity and efficiency to provide adequate oxygen exchange whether the turtle is in water or on land. The same respiratory system powers their breathing in both environments.
| Type | Breathing Mechanism | Works on Land? |
|---|---|---|
| Lungs | Expand/contract to move air in/out | Yes |
| Gills/glandular tissue | Oxygen exchange with surrounded water | No |
This lung-based respiration allows snapping turtles to meet their oxygen needs while out of the water for survival over extended durations, provided the conditions are reasonably humid.
By contrast, some sea turtle species have such deficient lung capacity that they will suffocate if unable to reach water within several hours.
Why Do Snapping Turtles Need Water?
While capable of surviving on land, snapping turtles live most of their life inside or near water bodies. Aquatic habitats meet several key needs:
- Food source – Their natural prey (insects, fish, frogs, plants) is abundantly available near water.
- Temperature regulation – The water allows basking while preventing overheating.
- Safety – The water offers more protection from predators than being exposed on land.
- Migration – Moving across land takes high energy, risks dehydration, and exposes them to threats. Staying near water enables migration across aquatic networks.
In essence, despite their temporary land abilities, water enables snapping turtles to thrive much better in the long term.
The adaptations that facilitate terrestrial survival were likely rooted in need to migrate safely between water systems and survive periodic droughts.
Their anatomy shows they are still most suited to an aquatic life strategy centered around underwater hunting.
Why and When Do Snapping Turtles Come Out of Water?
Snapping turtles will voluntarily leave their aquatic domains and make excursions on land for a variety of reasons:
Breathing Oxygen
To breathe oxygen, oddly enough!
Snapping turtles will occasionally rest in open areas out of the water during the day to engage in basking. By exposing their body to sunlight, they allow their cold-blooded metabolism to speed up temporarily.
This increased metabolic activity powered by the sun helps snapping turtles gain more energy and uptake more oxygen from the air through lung breathing.
After basking to warm up and “catch their breath”, they’ll usually return to the depths for security.
Nesting Season
The primary reason snapping turtles leave the water is to migrate over land during the breeding season.
Female snapping turtles lumber ashore to painstakingly excavate nests and lay eggs during spring/summer. The eggs incubate underground over summer, safe from aquatic predators that would consume them.
When the young hatch months later, they emerge from their nest to head to the water immediately. Meanwhile, their mother slowly treks back to her normal aquatic range after laying her eggs.
Scarcity of Food
On occasion, food scarcity in their home range may motivate snapping turtles to depart the water temporarily while searching for new hunting grounds. Drought conditions that dry up wetlands can initiate such journeys.
Cold Water
When the water becomes too cold during early winter, some snapping turtles will leave to bury themselves in the bottom mud of muddy lake beds or shallow wetlands.
In such cold-water habitats, overwintering buried in the mud allows survival better than remaining active in frigid waters.
Search for New Habitat
Rarely, significant disturbances to their aquatic habitats may cause snapping turtles to embark over land to fulfill an automatic search for a new home range.
Such journeys happen infrequently but illustrate the resilience of snapping turtles thanks to their temporary land adaptations.
In general, though, snapping turtles spend over 95% of their time in or very close to water. Their biology shows they strongly prefer aquatic habitats when available. Getting stranded too far away can turn risky for survival.
What Should You Do If You Find a Snapping Turtle Away from the Water?
If you encounter a snapping turtle on land that seems lost, lazy, or in danger, here are some tips:
- Be cautious in approach – Do not pick up or antagonize them due to their powerful bite. They usually avoid interactions unless threatened. Give them adequate space.
- Note the location – If the turtle seems in imminent danger or unlikely to self-correct its course, take note of the precise area you observed for rescue purposes.
- Contact wildlife officials – Most states have a unique wildlife department phone number to report issues. Some may offer official assistance for turtles that need transport back to suitable habitats.
- Provide temporary hydration – You can provide dishes of clean water nearby without touching the distressed turtle directly to prevent dehydration. But do not leave the situation unattended for too long.
- Avoid relocation yourself – Unless you have special training and permits, in most areas, it is illegal for unauthorized people to capture and relocate snapping turtles. Moreover, amateur handling risks further injury to both parties. Wait for trained officials.
- Observation from a distance – If the turtle seems aware and capable but is merely taking temporary refuge, observe from a distance if it can self-correct over the next day or two. Healthy turtles resting or briefly migrating may resolve on their own without interference.
In essence, caution, observation, and seeking expert official guidance are key should you discover snapping turtles away from water for concerning durations.
Avoid antagonizing them; give them adequate space and time before concluding that hands-on intervention is necessary.
Conclusion
Snapping turtles can be out of the water for upwards of several months – much longer than many other aquatic turtle species.
Thanks to sturdy lungs, moisture-conserving bodily features, and a capacity to become dormant, they can survive temporary land excursions.
However, they fundamentally rely on aquatic habitats nearby to thrive long-term. While adaptable if needed for migration, nesting, or finding refuge, snapping turtles strongly prefer staying inside water as much as possible where food and protection abound.
Patience, space, and caretaking are required should one become stranded excessively far away from water for too long. With expert assistance, even most stranded individuals can make it back safely to their wet refuge.
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