Family of Four

Terrapin Therapy

We bought a pair of green Taiwanese terrapins for my daughter and son about 4 years ago at the pasar malam in Taman Paramount, PJ. We were provided gratis a rectangular plastic container to house them.

My daughter named them Fatty and Tinny respectively according to their size. Taking care of the terrapins and watching them grow became a preoccupation of the family. We bought pellets to feed them and from time to time we bought fresh red worms or freeze-dried ones to provide them a more diverse diet.

The two terrapins got along fine for quite sometime. Then, Fatty started a territoriality war and started biting Tinny. Wounds appeared on Tinny’s legs and we had no choice but to separate them.

Tinny was left in the plastic container and we got a large Horlicks bottle for Fatty. Things were going rosy until the Penang cousins came for a visit. They took out the terrapins to race them as if they were F1 cars. In the process, Fatty got hurt and died. We buried Fatty in a large flower pot.

Tinny grew well and we bought a larger container for it. From time to time, to our dismay, we found that it was not eating well. It vomited the pellets ingested regularly. We were most concerned and sought advice from a nearby aquarium operator. He speculated water quality could be the culprit. He also said Taiwanese terrapins have an adaptation problem in Malaysia and the mortality rate was high. We then bought sulphur powder from him to treat the water and indeed Tinny recovered. However, as fate would have it, Tinny got sick again and one morning, I found it floating lifelessly in the container. I buried Tinny in the same flower pot I buried Fatty so that they can be reunited in death.

When my son finished primary school in 2004, we bought a local terrapin (labi) for him. Subsequently, we bought another for my daughter. The first one we called Snappy and the second one, Kingky.

For the next two to three years, the children’s interest was mostly to revolve around these two pets. Both grew well but Kingky grew faster. Kingky is a male and Snappy, a female. Kingky was a voracious eater and was active almost all the time. He would be swimming around the container and splashing water and will respond with his two front feet when we called out to him. Snappy, on the other hand was quiet, preferring to sleep, and coming alive only at certain hours of the day. However, Snappy was most active at night while Kingky will sleep on time every night.

One fine day, a marine scientist friend dropped by the house and we seek her advice on the do's and don’ts of terrapin breeding. After a cursory observation, she noticed that Kingky’s shell was deformed because of a possible lack of calcium in his diet. She suggested we place grounded egg-shells as a supplement into the aquarium water. As space was important, to reduce stress, we put Kingky into a larger container. Snappy refused to take over Kingky’s container preferring to stay in the old one, which was just too small for her to move about.

As Kingky grew larger, we started feeding small fishes to him. When fishes are placed in his aquarium, he will chase them in true hunter-style and devour them happily. His shell also became normal. Snappy, on the other hand, refused to eat fishes and I had to buy dried prawns to give her the additional protein.

Sometime in October, we realized that they were getting too big for us to take care. Both have attempted to escape but we managed to put them back into their aquariums. Kingky needs his fish almost daily and Snappy needs a bigger space to grow healthily. Moreover, we had to change their water daily as the aquarium water gets cloudy and smelly rather quickly.

The moment of truth had arrived. My daughter decided we should set them free once her examinations were over. We decided at first to set them free at the ponds in Central Park, Bandar Utama adjacent to One Utama Shopping Complex. Then we were told that Indonesian workers loved labi and could easily fish them out of those ponds for dinner. Also, we read that Mat Rempits will need terrapin blood to concoct a potion to embolden them when they do their stunts. We decided otherwise.

After much thinking, we decided the big pond in the park in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail was a better bet as it was closed to the public after 8 pm nightly.

One drizzling Saturday afternoon, we placed Kingky in a pail and Snappy in his container and drove to the park. We took photographs of both Kingky and Snappy before we set them free. Snappy dropped like a stone to the bottom of the pond. That was the last we saw of her. Surprisingly, Kingky refused to go. We pushed him from the edge of the pond but he kept returning to the edge.

It was beginning to rain. We had to go. The last we saw of King: he was trying to attach himself to the brick skirting at the age of the pond.

We went to the park a week later. There were no signs of either Snappy or Kingky. As labis are not surface feeders, it is my humble guess that they are at the bottom of the pond, possibly building a colony of their own.

The whole family had showered love on these two terrapins for the time they were with us. We adored them. Watching them each day as they swam and splashed around was thoroughly therapeutic. Seeing Kingky chasing and swallowing the fishes was downright exciting. Witnessing both Kingky and Snappy growing bigger with each passing month has indeed been satisfying.

We pray that God will take care of his creatures. For us, Snappy and Kingky are home at last just like Elsa the lioness in Born Free.

Amen.

Quote of the Day:

" Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms." George Elliot

Heartsong-Heartstrong