This Turtle

Taking a little break from us to show you some scenes from our pet turtle. If you’ve been to our house, you’ve probably met him. While most water turtles people come across are the common red-eared sliders, our turtle is a diamondback terrapin. Having owned several different turtle species before, I think the diamondback terrapin is definitely one of the smarter ones. I had one as a kid, too, and was struck by how much smarter he was compared to our other turtles.

This turtle is indeed smarter than all our other pet turtles. He may not be able to talk, but he gives Mr. P plenty of attitude. If he thinks his water is too dirty, he’ll overturn his water filter to let Mr. P know its time to clean it. In the mornings, I often see him doing an upward dog yoga stretch. If his food has been soaking in the tank for more than 5 minutes, he refuses to eat it. And if you leave the lid of his tank even the smallest bit open, you immediately see him trying to figure out how to get out of the tank.