Terrapin given new home after being found at Southern Water supply works
The creature was discovered in Southampton last month
A terrapin is settling into a new life at an East Sussex animal rescue centre after being found at a Southern Water supply works in Southampton.
Ecologist Tom Alexander saw the creature, which weighs around 5 kilogrammes and is the size of a large dinner plate, at a river extraction site at Testwoood.
He said:
"I reached over and picked it up and the terrapin didn’t struggle at all.
"I kept it in my bath at home while I found an animal charity that would agree to rehome it.
"My children loved having him at home and named him Terry.”
The creature has subsequently found to be female and has now renamed as Terri.
She is being cared for at the Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare in Ringmer near Lewes.
Amelia Thomas, Rehoming Manager at Raystede, said: “
Terrapins are often bought as pets as they are small and relatively cheap but there is woefully little information about how to keep them. Many owners do not realise that terrapins grow into very large adults!
“Terri is one of our biggest terrapin residents! She spent some time in our isolation unit, being closely monitored by our Small Animal Team. She has now been placed into our large, new terrapin sanctuary just in time for hibernation season.
"All our terrapins will live permanently at Raystede and Terri and her friends will live out their years happily here with us."
It is estimated there are currently over 4,000 terrapins living in the wild in the UK, mainly in London where the human population is dense, and more terrapin owners live.