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The Life Cycle

of a Terrapin

by Isaac H.
 

How to Care

for 

Terrapins

by Leah M.
 

Terrapins at

Hebron-

Harman

by Chynna J.
 

What Do

Terrapins

Look

Like

by Kamaria A.
 

Life as a

Terrapin

by Taylor S.

Ways to

Protect

Terrapins

by Nini

Texas Diamondback

Carolina Diamondback

Content ...
 

	Terrapin Types
	As Unique As Me
	The Tale of the Tail
	Find Out For Yourself

 

Terrapin Types

          Do you want to know the types of terrapins? These are a few of the many kinds. There are Texas, ornate and Carolina diamondbacks. Northern diamondbacks are the ones we have at our school. Did you ever hear of a two headed terrapin? One exists in Japan!

As Unique As Me

Let’s start with body patterns. Mostly all diamondbacks have dots on their skin. Here’s the difference between different types: Carolina terrapins have smaller dots on their skin than the Texas terrapin. Some other terrapins have dashes instead of dots! The shell is tougher than the body, so the shell has a pattern that’s “engraved”. The shells are covered with scales or plates called scutes. The carapace of the shell is usually light brown, gray, or black. It can also be yellow to olive. Ornate diamondbacks have a mountain form on its shell. The carapace of the ornate is almost black and the scutes are bright yellow, making the shell look like a mountain.

The Tale of the Tail

Now… to tell the difference between male and female. Female terrapins are much larger than males. Also, some scientists believe that females have lumps on their tails, while males don’t.

Find Out For Yourself

To compare these types of terrapins you can go to:      

www.neoterrapin.com/genus/

Now go and tell your family and friends what you know!