Good Ecological System

I released my 5 terrapins this afternoon at the pond near Rebecca’s house. I’m not sure if it is against the law, but I wanted my terrapins to be happy & this was the best place for them to thrive in. Besides, Rebecca’s 3 terrapins were released there some months ago & are surviving very well.

Initially I decided to bring them to that pond in the evening, so that nobody would spot me. But later decided to go there in the afternoon coz the place would be most crowded in the evening (after work, after school & those going to the market for dinner). And the biggest plus point was that I would get to take photos of them in the afternoon sun, as compared to the miserable amount of light coming from the nearby lamp posts.

It was a sad moment for me, as I picked up an old shoe box & put my terrapins into the cardboard box laid with old newspaper, to make the bumpy ride on the bus more comfortable for them. One by one, I put them into the shoe box & surprisingly, they love being on newspaper! I didn’t know that… =)

I walked to take bus 14 there, occasionally lifting up the box cover to make sure that they are not suffocating inside. It is so cute to see their little black eyes peering out at me, whenever I smiled & gazed at them fondly. I don’t know if terrapins have feelings (except animal instinct & pain), but I knew I was going to miss them.

My terrapins have been a part of my life for about 10 months now & I have fed, washed, watched & played with them throughout this time together. They were an important part of my family, especially during these 3 months when I have been jobless. They were my only daily responsibility & I cared for them as well as I can. I even bought them neon fishes twice, as a treat, aside from their usual terrapin food.

I guess the best part about having terrapins as pets is when they look at you once in awhile & you wonder what they are thinking. For one of them (Charlotte) whom I dote on a lot, it could be a fond gaze at this owner who watches over me every day. For another, it could be looking at me & wondering when I would put them in a bigger & more spacious environment. What’s for sure is that my terrapins didn’t want to flee from me. They just wanted a more spacious environment to live in. More space for swimming, more rocks to sun themselves on & lots of terrapin food to gobble daily.

It is just unfortunate that few owners are able to afford to have a spacious & deep tank of approximately 30 - 40 inches in length (minimum) to house a few terrapins comfortably. For a baby terrapin, the minimum water level required is at least 8 – 10 cm in height. Not to forget that terrapins will need a higher level of water to swim in, as they grow bigger. Personally, it would be good to have a tank of this size, leaving it in the open in, for example, the field of a semi-detached or bungalow home. Most HDB flats do not have sufficient space to keep such a tank for semi-aquatic terrapins. It becomes somewhat like a home-based pond for them to wonder around, sun themselves at various spots, swim like nobody’s business & stay happy every day.

This pond at Bedok is a very spot for my terrapins. The water level is about 30cm deep & the amount of swimming area is huge, covering a curvy layout of approximately 50 m2 (10m by 5m). This pond is also filled with all kinds of fishes, including sucker fishes that clean up the green algae in the pond. At one large corner of the pond, there is a huge array of solid rocks surrounding a man-made fountain, which makes it very scenic for both aquatic animals & passer-bys.

I find it quite an excellent ecological system that compliments both fish & terrapins (those that I put in today & those that were already there). Why? Coz fish & terrapin feed on fish, which occasionally die due to natural death… & that becomes their natural source of food. Terrapins don’t have terrapin food to eat in the wild. In addition, they are occasional passer-bys who throw in food for the fishes to eat & terrapins adapt by learning to eat these food too. So I’m very happy for my terrapins, knowing that they will survive & thrive in this ecologically friendly environment.

Lifting the cover of the shoe box, I talked to my terrapins for a few seconds before releasing them one by one into the deep, cool & refreshing water below. Unlike Rebecca’s terrapins, my terrapins did not scurry away immediately. My terrapins are cautious terrapins, picking this up from their owner. It was so fun to watch them checking out their new environment & in my mind, I was hoping that they considered this bumpy bus ride there reasonable to finally get to live in such a spaciously wonderful pond! I so glad for them, as I watched them slowly swim off one by one (my terrapins have always been rather individualistic by nature).

Although I knew they couldn’t hear me, I began talking to them, as I walked around the edge of the pond, keeping a close eye on them, as I watched them explore different corners of their new home. My heart held a mixture of sadness, yet happiness, seeing that they no longer scratch at the corners of the tank, hoping to find a way out & into the green grass that they saw every day below my balcony.

My heart jumped when I saw Jacey (my biggest terrapin) sniffing out a larger terrapin & then following it around. Jacey has found a friend! Yeh! And I’m sure he would find more, coz he’s always been rather easy-going, yet having a courageous heart. In fact, I almost wanted to cry when I waved at Jacey while he was swimming towards my direction. You know why? Coz Jacey saw the familiar hand-sign that I normally do every day & he stopped to look at me. He gazed at me for about 3 seconds before slowly swimming off. My heart just melted as I wondered whether he was acknowledging my efforts in putting them into this magnificent new home. Either way, he looked happy to be free… =)

Charlotte has the most innocent eyes that I have ever seen since the first day I saw her. And by far, she’s the most gentle & nicest of the lot. I saw her imitating another bigger terrapin nibble & bite some flesh off a dead fish that was lying on the bottom of the pond. She was the smallest of my terrapins & I was so glad to see her learning how to find food from other terrapins. That warmed my heart, as I took a last look around the pond, before going home.

I was kind of brooding on the bus home, coz I missed my terrapins. Every day when I wake up, I would carry their tank up to my balcony ledge to feed & sun them. I will miss these times… especially since I’ll be waking up each day, alone & without my terrapins that I have showered so much care ever since day one. Thank God for the scientific discovery of the digital camera… for I have taken 233MB of photos & video clips of them since July this year. It is just unfortunate that my other photos taken in the earlier months are not recoverable due to my old PC hard-disk crash. Nevertheless, I’m still very thankful… & I still miss them very much.