Terrapins

[Hollie]

I have listed my terrapins under the title 'reptiles' this may not be true and is a clear indication of why I gave them to a specialist.
I inherited Hip and Hop from my friend who moved north. I thought at the time they were the coolest pet to have. I would run a bath and let them swim around like my very own teenage mutant ninja turtles.
They ate dried maggots and seemed content enough with this diet until the day my boyfriend decided to feed them tuna. They were nuts for it and automatically went on hunger strike against the dried food. They then became more aggresive with each other and in order to satisfy them we fed them fresh fish. This made for a very smelly tank which needed constant attention. They also seemed to grow rapidly and my boyfriend suggested we give them to someone who could give them the space they needed to grow.
We learned that its best to really research your new pet especially with the likes of the more 'exotic' creature.

[a.doyle]

That's crazy! I had to look up what terrapins were, I admit how big do you think they would have gotten? I picture Toko (the evil snapping turtle from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Secret of the Ooze, when he gets really big. Yes, that was an obscure geeky reference, but alas, that's what I thought of when I read your post.

[Hollie]

Geeky..yes, but appreciated! Haha.
I was in Lake Como in Italy last year and saw a terrapin on the shore probably at its full size. Hip and Hop could fit in my hand, but I have seen them reach the size of dinner plates.

[kristwind]

You were right in posting the terrapins under reptiles. Reptiles include turtles, crocodilians, lizards, snakes and tuatara (found only in New Zealand). Amphibians are frogs, salamanders and caecilians (found in the tropics only). The biggest difference is that amphibs have permeable skin and undergo metamorphosis (like changing from tadpoles to frogs).

Wondering what a tuatara or a caecilian is?
Tuatara: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...52/Tuatara.jpg

Caecilian: http://www.wildherps.com/images/herp..._caecilian.jpg

[kristwind]

So you either bought a turtle or you found one, or your friend has one, or you just want to know how to tell if they're boys or girls in case you find one someday? Okay I'll tell you.

The claws can give you some clue, because males typically have longer claws (useful for grasping the front of the female's shell to hold her in place during mating), but it's hard to tell if yours has "longer" claws unless you've got a female to compare it to.

The real "tell" is the tail. Gently pull the tail straight out. If it is long and thin and if the vent is close to the body, i.e. not past the edge of the shell, you have a female turtle. If the tail is fat and the vent is past the edge of the shell, congratulations! It's a boy.