Chelydra serpentina inhabits almost any type of water body, from rivers, lakes and reservoirs to marshes, temporary ponds, hill streams and tidal creeks. Snapping Turtles feed on a wide variety of animal and plant matter, and undergo extensive scavenging activities also on large species.

The species has been introduced to the European region as a result of release from captive sources. European records include Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain (Canary Islands), United Kingdom (England) (CABI 2022, NBN Atlas), Greece (Kalaentzis et al. 2023), and, from citizen science (iNaturalist), Spain (mainland), France (mainland), Belgium, and Italy (peninsula). This list is unlikely to be complete.

The species occurs as native throughout North America east of the Rocky Mountains, occurring northwards as far as the Great Lakes region and Nova Scotia, and southwards as far as Florida and the Nueces River (Texas) (Iverson 1992, Ernst and Lovich 2009). Feral turtles have been recorded from California (US), China, Japan, and Taiwan.

Conservation actions are not applicable. Monitoring of populations in Europe is recommended.