Found 3 Babies in Garden
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Hi all, I’m new here and all. Over the weekend my stepfather dug up three baby Diamondback Terrapins in the tomato garden which is next to a brackish creek that feeds in Rehoboth River of Delaware. From the shell marking they look like the concentric Carolian type. They have the little swirls on the shell. they are very alert and active. I’ve had decent experience with box turtles, painted, snappers, mud, red ears, and even some of the larger tortoises. However since they are so young I would be most grafeful for any advice on how to take care and feed them. I did read the info on the main Diamondback web site, but any additional tips or info would be great. They are the size of quarters and right now in a 5 gallon tank. I just got them this morning so no food just yet, but will get some various types to get them to eat. I don’t want to send them back to the wild yet as it’s still cold outside, their ‘nest area’ has been disrupted and there are too many things in the area that would love to snack on them (too many seagulls, racoons, possums, stray cats, you name it). Thanks, Will
— In diamondbackterrapins@y…, battlestamps@y… wrote: Hi Will, Welcome to the group. How exciting – many of us in the group have never had the opportunity to see diamondbacks in the wild. Since the hatchlings are from Delaware, they are actually northerns. You’ve got a good head start since you’ve had experience with the other types of turtles. I would set them up similarly with clean water and a basking site. A 25% saltwater solution gives optimum growth but many of our members prefer to keep them in fresh. Some live/plastic plants in their tank will help keep down toe nipping, etc. Make sure they have access to unfiltered sunlight or an aritificial UVB bulb also. You could start them on brine shrimp or bloodworms if their yolk sacs have been absorbed. Best of luck! -Chun
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