Terrapins are turtles of fresh or brackish water with clawed feet rather than flippers. The name comes from an Algonquian word for the diamondback terrapin, a turtle of salt marshes on the US East and Gulf coasts, named for the diamond pattern on its shell.
Quick answers
What is it?Reptile
Carnivore?Yes
Dangerous?No
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Daytime
Hibernates?Yes
In most of its range it hibernates through the colder months in the mud of creeks and marshes.
Kept as a pet?Sometimes
Widely kept as pets in Europe, and there is an active pet trade in them.
Do people eat it?In places
The diamondback was a gourmet delicacy in the early 1900s and was hunted almost to extinction.
At a glance
Found inNorth America, Europe, Asia
HabitatWetland, Coast
ColoursGreen, Brown, Yellow
SizeSmall
LengthDiamondback shell: 13 cm (males) to 19 cm (females)
WeightDiamondback: about 300 g (males) to 500 g (females)
Legs4
Covered inShell
Lives alone
Lives for20–40 years
Can swim
Lays eggs
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Diamondback: US East Coast from Cape Cod to the Florida Keys, the Gulf of Mexico coast and Bermuda.
- What it eats
- Diamondback: fish, crabs, shrimp, marine snails, clams, mussels, worms, insects and carrion, with a little algae.
Did you know
Lives in salty coastal marshes, neither fresh water nor the open sea, between pond turtles and sea turtles.
Diamondbacks can live in full-strength seawater, using salt glands by their eyes, but they are not true sea turtles.
Diamondbacks live about 25 years in the wild and up to 40 in captivity.
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