episode: -> Battle of the Tortoises (乌龟)! <-
Uh, strictly speaking, tortoises are purely land animals.
They have thick muscular "stumps" (feet) to carry its body and heavy shell on the dry lands.
This is only layman's explanation, not a scientific one.
There are also the turtles.
Turtles carry a shell on their back too, but have strong powerful flippers to paddle against the water instead.
They are adapted to live in water and would only return to land to lay their eggs.
Now come the terrapins.
Terrapins are amphibious.
They are adapted to survive both on land and in water.
They have webbed feet to swim in water and to crawl on land.
I house three beautiful terrapins - red-earred slider terrapins. :)
Two females and a male.
Both females are elder and larger than the male.
All have already reached maturity.
My terrapins are of different personalities..
.. Male is extremely fierce and always bites my females, but is as timid as a mouse whenever I come close.
.. Female #1 (oldest and wisest?) is very docile, gentle and mild. She always minds her own business.
.. Female #2 (younger and impulsive?) is very greedy and seems only interested in food and its freedom.
However, I witnessed a battle between the two females yesterday night.
[I separated the male and females so the male can stop biting them non-stop.]
I never thought they would ever fight. :(
It appears that Female #2 was provoking and picking a fight with Female #1.
Female #1 kept shrinking into its shell and moving away from Female #2's advances.
Female #2 opened its mouth more than ten times (during the five minutes I was watching) to try bite Female #1's limbs. :(
After failing to bite Female #1 on her face and arms, Female #2 resorted to attempt sneaking its face into Female #1's shell behind to try bite her tail and backside. -_-"
Seriously zzzz. x_x
I pushed Female #2 away from Female #1 immediately.
I don't want my poor terrapins to be injured in any way.
[They are already injured enough from the males fearful tyranny and bites.]
On a (r a n d o m) sidenote, I did a Google Search on some of the Albino terrapins (白乌龟) I happened to read about last week. :)
They are so adorable and cute! ^^
Though if they exist in the wild, it is without a doubt that they have zero chance to survive due to the lack of camouflage mechanisms. :(
Here are some pretty adorable shots I gathered! :)
Blood(shot) red eyes! o.O
Pinkish (so cutie pies! ^^) with faint lines and pigmentation! :)
They look so sweet, yet so timid! :D
~ Beautiful Season ~
=*- 6:24 pm -*=