Why do snapping turtles eat their babies?

[a.k.v.]

Also, snapping turtles lay 'em and leave 'em. She doesn't know that was her baby. It looks like food. She eats food. We have a snapper that lays eggs each year in our garden and she is gone as soon as the nest is marginally well covered over.

[jasminecollins]

It's also important to remember that cannibalism like this in the wild is fairly practical, because the odds of encountering your OWN offspring are much lower than the odds of encountering another turtle's offspring. You're much more likely to be eating a rival of your offspring than your own offspring.

[spiderdude]

Also, as with most turtles, they lay their eggs somewhere far away from where they live, and then leave them. You are NOT supposed to have the babies hatch and get reintroduced into the same enclose as the adult turtle. In nature, parent and offspring would likely never cross paths. The adult turtle doesn’t know those babies are hers. They have not evolved to sense or smell the scent of her own offspring. To her, that’s just food.

[PakWirePrime]

Was _not_ expecting "Ooh, she snapped, " with that amount of ooey-gooey gravitas. 10/10, would do again.

[LtCdrXander]

When the turtles do it, it's just "nature, " BUT WHEN I DO IT —

[aviator]

This is exactly why you shouldn't keep multiple turtles in the same enclosure. They're not maternal or even social creatures. Even if you have two adults in the same enclosure, it can go well for years and years, then suddenly one of them is missing a leg or even their head.
Not pleasant to see, from experience.

[fourleafclover]

"I brought you into this world, i can take you out of it"

[gem]

Yeah, I feel like we need to remind everyone that these are wild animals at the end of the day. They have their cute moments, but the world ain’t a Disney film.

[tbella]

Hank's face after saying " ooo she snapped" is exactly why he is counted as one of my favorite humans!

[PsychoEkan]

trying to explain different evolutionary strategies in less than 60 seconds isn't to easy. Some have few babies and take care of them very well, some have way to many babies and don't even recognize them as something related to them. And then there's everything in between..

[TLguitar]

"You're so cute I could just eat you up!"

– "Mama, what are you doing with your mouth?"

"Shhh... No talking during dinner".

[jessicasimmons]

Just so you know, I, for one, totally loved the "oooh she snapped" joke lol

[FaeEvergreen]

"You're not genetically valuable" is an S-tier level insult which I will absolutely be using, thank you.

[averycheesypotato]

It’s really the owner’s fault here. Putting the babies in a small pond with mama? That’s not how they do it in the wild!

[jep]

Baby turtles: gets eaten by everything. Only a couple survive
Mama turtles: better have a lot!
Also mama: oohh a snack!

[billtwok]

A snapping turtle visited my pond a couple years ago. I don't know how many eggs she laid, but for the past 5 years we have a single tiny snapping turtle living in our pond.

[pumpkintosz]

I like to imagine this is Hank trying to comfort a room or crying children.

[mechcommander]

The more babies an animal has in one litter, the fewer are expected to reach adulthood. See: fish and turtles.

[NikkiBdraws]

Moms saying "screw it" and eating their babies is one of the stranger parts of nature.

[martian_heidegger]

Some hatchling reptiles have special colourations to signal to adults that they are of the same species and should not be eaten. With varying success.