No sex, please - we're turtles
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A tale of new homes and happy surprises
My apologies today for the photo of the turtle in her tub. I know that the photo isn’t that good, but I’ve put it in the column for a reason.
I’d like to show you how much the turtle has grown in the time she's been with us, and how small and unsuitable her tub now is.
Just two years ago, when she joined us, she was scarcely larger than a baht-coin. Today, she’s grown so much that she doesn’t have enough room to swim or to exercise. Her home is torturing her - and she’s not yet fully grown.
To Thai people, she’s not really a turtle, a “tao”, but a “ta pap”, a soft-shelled turtle. She is also, unfortunately, a favourite in Chinese restaurants, the reason I haven’t released her anywhere near people. I don’t want anyone to eat her.
I do have a much larger tub, but it’s home to two red-eared sliders. Thai people call them “Japanese turtles”, but in fact they originate in the southern areas of the US.
These two would never accept a soft-shell lady into their home. Besides, they have their own problems.
I put them in the big tub, expecting them to enjoy their new home, but, instead, they pulled apart the water filter I installed to keep their water clean and fresh. They also destroyed their basking area, and when I put in simple air stones to keep the water aerated, they destroyed them too.
Call them juvenile delinquents.
I could handle their destructive tendencies, but then the female began banging her nose against the sides of the tub, again and again. Whenever the basking place was available, she’d push her back legs against it.
She had eggs, they wouldn’t come out, and she was in distress. Meanwhile, the boy, pushed on by turtle testosterone, was chasing her, and she wasn’t interested. Unable to get away from him, she was under even more stress. So now I have three turtles who aren’t happy where they are.
At first, I decide not to release them. The red-ears aren’t Thai, and they really shouldn't be put in the Thai environment. Alas. Too many people have already dumped their red-ears, and this species is so adaptable that it’s taken over much of central Thailand, pushing out the Thai turtle species.
On the other hand, I feel sorry for all three of these turtles.
Finally, friends help me find a large pond in a housing estate where they think the turtles will be safe. One morning, the three move to their new home. They jump into the water without even saying good-bye.
The next day, as I’m cleaning the tubs of the little Indian roofed turtles, a surprise is waiting for me - three newly hatched babies looking up at me and their new world.
It’s too much for me. I’ve separated the boys from the girls. From now on, there’s to be no more turtle sex in my home, for the sake of the environment – and my peace of mind.
