ENCLOSURES

Diamondback terrapins, like all other native chelonia, can be housed either indoors or outdoors.  While there are advantages and disadvantages to either method, whichever settings afford the largest setup is best.  Indoor housing is restrictive in size (unless you have access to a basement) and the use of artificial sunlight is necessary.  However, this method does provide protection from predators as well as the elements and tends to be easier to maintain.  Outdoor setups, while demanding a little more maintenance, affords the keeper and the terrapins access to larger housing.  This is important since females can grow up to 9 inches in length.   Adult terrapins can easily be accommodated in outdoor ponds, but if kept indoors, at least a 60 gallon tank would be required for a full-grown adult male and larger accommodations would be necessary for an adult female or pairs.  A word of caution though: all terrapins should be adequately protected from potential predators if kept outdoors.
  Another reason for providing generous space in housing diamondbacks is because terrapins tend to be very messy eaters.  Terrapins are naturally conditioned to bite into the hard shells of crabs, mussels, snails, etc. so their prey is seldom swallowed whole.  Instead, they break off chunks of food with their powerful jaws, leaving  unwanted scraps to float around in the water.  Consequently, unless one feeds them in a separate environment (which is a good practice), terrapins will foul up their water very quickly, even with adequate filtration.
   In addition to a generous body of water, diamondback terrapins also require a large basking area.  Most aquatic turtles benefit from periods of drying out and diamondbacks are certainly no exception.  Providing an adequate basking area will help cut down on fungal infections that can attack the skin and shell.  Basking sites can easily be built from slate, river rocks, cork bark, etc. Care must be taken to ensure that all natural rocks are devoid of sharp edges that could injure the terrapins.  Artificial sites can also be purchased from pet supply stores or shows, in the absence of natural ones.