Are Terrapins Domestic?

I have been keeping 5 terrapins as pets for almost a year now. Two are my first generation shell-backs & the other 3 are the younger ones. I gave them names judging from their looks & behaviour.

Over these past months, I have been caring & watching over them. To be honest, all of them have a certain bonding towards me, as compared to my other family members. I'm the only person who can walk up to them & at least 3 will stay on their rock or tredding water in the water, looking at me, without desperately scrambling away to hide from this huge 'un-turtle-like' moving creature.

By far, I can say that I have tried to be the best 'master' to them as possible. These are some of the things that I have done for them so far...

1) Washed & scrubbed their tank every few days
2) Feed them often
3) Carrying their heavy tank up to my balcony ledge to provide as much sunlight as possible
4) Watch them swim & crawl up onto their rock to gaze around their surroundings
5) Take photos & video clips of their first day at my house & even occasionally up till now
6) Change their rock & wood structure occasionally so that they won't get bored
7) Let them walk around freely inside my kitchen balcony toilet
8) Bought small neon fishes to accompany them & as nutritional 'live' feeds for them
9) Bought a sucker fish to clean up the green algae in their tank (They didn't eat it)
10) Bought water cress plant for them to have some fiber in their diet
11) Bought a bigger tank for them when they grew bigger

In fact, Rebecca thinks that I pamper them too much, till they become spoilt & demanding.

But these recent weeks, I have begun noticing that my bigger terrapins (Jacey & Terry) have grown very much more fidgety than before. Despite the comfortable rock structure & water level for them to soak in, they started to scratch the sides all around the tank, refused to go on land to bask in the sun & displayed an obvious lost of appetite for their turtle food. No matter how I try to coax them, feed them, change their rock structure, add more or lesser water, etc… it just didn’t help much. They just spend most of their time struggling to get out of the tank.

Thoughts began to swirl around my mind, wondering whether I should release them into an open pond or nature reserve, so that they can wonder free & easy, without the enclosure of this tank. I have read up about terrapins before & know that they have small brains, meaning that they are not very smart. But they have very keen eyesight, so I made use of this strength of theirs to communicate my actions to them via hand actions & head movements. I'm glad that they have learnt to respond to these signs & will scramble towards me whenever I show them their turtle food bottle.

But still... they seem to become more unhappy with their lack of space & freedom, as they grow bigger. I tried to put myself in their position & concluded that I too would feel unhappy & bored to stay in a tank like this all my life, just floating on the water & staring outside at all the greenery.

It would be a matter of time before I release them & I know that I will miss them. I have been getting up to feed them before washing their tank for almost over the past year. But I believe they will be much happier basking & swimming in freedom. Afterall, these fellas can live till 40 years of age. And 40 years of life imprisonment is not very healthy for them... or should I say, for anyone.

Thanks to God, Rebecca & her student Sarah, I will soon be getting a hamster & nice big cage as my Christmas present. I will buy the necessary accessories before that, so that I can prepare everything before the arrival of my new pet.

Hamsters when domesticated (unlike terrapins) enjoy living in solitude & with the company of human beings. They love being held & cuddled. Care for them well & they will show you that they appreciate your love & company! I wonder what I should name him / her... Hmm... =)