Getting to know you

Wow... Looking at them, I can't help but realise that these baby terrapins are still little! Its so amazing to watch them wonder their way about, stretching their necks, peering to the left & to the right, yawning (or burping, I can't tell the difference), frantic swimming, floating motionless underwater, blinking their eyes, scurrying off the wood, sticking their head out of the water & pulling back all their limbs when asleep.

And guess what? Little Terry (Yup, I gave him a name) does even more! He's the intelligent terrapin that explored various ways to climb this wood, observing me (on the wood) while I clear my table, as well as learning to grab food with its claws & chew it! Its so cute... sometimes he even wipes its mouth (& sometimes eyes or face) after eating! This fella really knows how to yawn... Always yawn with a huge big mouth! Not shy at all... So cute... =)

Today I taught Terry to recognise me, when I show him hand-signs... somewhat like sign language. Firstly, I taught him to recognise that's me (& not anyone else in the family) by waving my index finger up & down. I practiced doing it a few times, whenever I pass by the tank. Initally, Terry would sense someone approaching & scurry into the water, paddling furiously. After I have spent hours (yesterday & today) just watching & smiling at him, he soon got used to me.

I think the turning point was when I changed the water this afternoon. Like I said before, this is a very intelligent terrapin. I would guess that most creatures would be afraid when they are taken out of the water, while the owners change the tank. Maybe they don't know that the owner is changing the water for them. So, both my terrapins were afraid when I took them out. However, when I have changed everything & put them back into the clean water... Wow... you can see the difference! They really appreciated the clean, clear water! After that, he just stared at me whenever I watched him. No longer did he scurry away. Perhaps he has learnt that I took him out for a reason... for whatever reason he may not know, but for a good reason... since now he has cleaner water to live in. Thus, after this incident, he wasn't afraid of me anymore! =)

The second hand-sign that I taught Terry was to show him an upright index finger whenever he struggled when I picked him up. When he struggled hard, I would look at him intently & say "Umm!" while showing him the upright index finger. I think this hand-sign made him focus on my finger that was close to his face & he stopped struggling. Not just once, but for a few instances, this worked. Little Terry is learning... He's a smart terrapin... Really... I'm glad to have him around.

Terry has gotten more used to me by the late afternoon. After shaking my index finger in front of him, I slowly move my finger closer to him, trying to touch his head. At first, he withdrew & wanted to dive back into the water. So I move my finger closer, then moved it away. After awhile, I tried it again & pulled away before getting too close. After a few times, I moved closer, then closer... till I gently touched his head for a split second, before moving away again. I repeated this a few times at separate intervals & soon he allows me to touch his head, without drawing away. By night time, he's quite accustomed to me... I even touch his nose & mouth sometimes. Just stroke a little bit, then move away. He didn't draw back anymore... Yeh! =)

Little Jacey is [presently] much different from Terry. Yup, she's the female terrapin. Jacey is still very afraid of me. Even when she peers out of the water & see me watching or touching Terry, she still scurries away into the water. So far, I've only managed to establish a few seconds of eye contact with her. She's still very cautious & would wake up at almost every slight sound or jerk of the tank. After 2 days, she still refuses to eat (or at least I haven't seen her eating). Its a bit worrying, but I can't force her to eat, except to drop some turtle sticks & hope that she discovers that its food & at least try to swim towards it (before taking a bite). Most of the time, Jacey stays below the water & even takes naps underwater. I have only seen her sleep on the wood once, when I was out for the entire night for Sylvester's birthday. Both of them looked very cute, all curled up asleep on the wood.

Then again, its not that Jacey isn't responding... just that she's very afraid of many things... even when I drop a turtle stick, she would swim away. Now she spends most of her time below the piece of wood, where I allowed a short passage for underwater (& under the wood) swimming. Jacey loves this spot, I don't know why. Terry prefers to swim around the tank & busk himself on top of the wood.

Terry & Jacey are also different in other ways. Although Terry is very good at exploring many ways & areas of climbing the wood, he's struggles in climbing up the wood. Jacey, on the other hand, although only knowing how to hold on (not climb up) from two sides of the wood, is quite a strong climber! She doesn't even struggle when gripping onto the wood! I have seen her clinging on with one paw! Tremendous amount of strength, I would say! =)

So far the turtle sticks are working out quite alright. At least Terry recognises it as food, although I'm not sure if Jacey recognises it, or she's still afraid to eat. Just today, I dropped in a tiny piece of minced meat from my fishball noodles. Wow! At once, Terry was there, munching at it! I'm not sure if I saw correctly, but I think I saw a glitter in his eyes as he tasted the saucy minced meat, which definitely tasted much better than the turtle sticks. Wow... I still remember how Terry rushed at it & such tiny delight shone from his eyes!

I tried to feed a bit more, in small sizes... Terry ate a little more, before he was full & swam away. Sadly, Jacey still doesn't want to eat, although I was glad that she noticed Terry chewing on the minced meat. She actually went forward, as if to smell... but Terry pushed her away, before she could attempt a bite. I dropped more minced meat at the other end of the tank, but Jacey still didn't eat. I wonder if the sauce of the minced meat would make it more appetizing for them...

Goodnight, Terry & Jacey... I'm going to sleep soon. Got to work tomorrow... I hope she gets some rest while I'm away at work. They are an interesting bunch! Indeed, even creatures have their own personalities... =)