The Newest, Cutest Baby Animals from the World's Zoos & Aquariums

Rare Baby Albino Snapping Turtles

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North Dakota’s Red River Zoo got a rare surprise last week when an anonymous donor dropped off two albino Common Snapping Turtles. Albinism is caused by a lack of melanin pigment and albino Snapping Turtles account for only one in every 30,000. In the wild, albino turtles rarely live to adulthood as their distinct coloring makes them stand out to predators as tasty snacks.  

Albino snapping turtle hatchling red river zoo rs1 

Albino snapping turtle hatchling red river zoo rs2

Photo credits: Red River Zoo

http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9/35146470001?isVid=1&publisherID=35121359001

If you find yourself in or around Fargo, ND, you can visit the hatchlings Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 4PM (weather permitting) throughout the winter.

7 responses to “Rare Baby Albino Snapping Turtles”

  1. Tom Flapwell Avatar
    Tom Flapwell

    I wanna scratch their chins. 🙂

    Reply
  2. Speedmaster Avatar
    Speedmaster

    VERY cute!!! 😉

    Reply
  3. kathryn Avatar
    kathryn

    sooooo cute
    2/26/2010

    Reply
  4. j Avatar
    j

    I am naming mu child Turtle in honour of this animal

    Reply
  5. c barnette Avatar
    c barnette

    dude these turtles are beast

    Reply
  6. toffay@cableone.net Avatar
    toffay@cableone.net

    Long time ago but maybe someone will see this anyway. Doesn’t this turtle have leucism not albinism? I have been trying to read up on this but am still quite confused as different sources that I would consider authoritative seem to say different things. I would be interested to see what others think.

    Reply
  7. Andrew Bleiman Avatar
    Andrew Bleiman

    Because the turtle has red eyes, this would indicate albinism, which is caused by a lack of melanin pigment. With no melanin, which provides coloration in various parts of the eye, the red blood cells in the retina show through. In leucism, animals typically have normal eye color but have partial loss of melanin and other pigments, such as xanthin. Without being able to track down the original source of this material from 7 years ago, we have to assume the turtle is albino based on the red eyes. Thanks for reading ZooBorns!

    Reply

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