Snapping on the heels of Reptile Awareness Day, the animal care team at Sea Life Weymouth is keen to stress the importance of responsible exotic pet ownership.

With Christmas just eight weeks away, terrapins are often considered the perfect festive gift by potential owners without careful research going into the challenges owning one requires.

Sarah Everett, senior aquarist at Sea Life Weymouth said: “We are constantly inundated with calls about re-homing unwanted terrapins and turtles.

"Unfortunately it is a trend we are seeing more and more as animals are readily bought as presents for Christmas. A lot of the time people don’t fully understand the challenges of looking after an exotic pet. They buy an animal when it is young because it is cute and small, not realising these animals life for 30 plus years, and require large tanks with specialist equipment.”

Made popular in the early 1990s, thousands of the North America-native reptile were bought by young fans of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cartoon. This led to hundreds of boating lakes, canals and waterways in towns and cities becoming populated with terrapins and small turtles. As the 50p-sized brightly-coloured babies grow to mature adults the size of dinner plates with specialist dietary and accommodation needs, they are sometimes abandoned by owners unable to cope.

In 2016, RSPCA officers helped 352 terrapins (or sliders) in England and Wales - up by 32 per cent compared to five years earlier, in 2011, when they helped 267.

Nicola White, RSPCA exotics specialist said: “The RSPCA would strongly urge people to do their research before buying an exotic pet like a reptile, to ensure they are able to meet the animal’s needs.

“As with all pet reptiles, pond terrapins or ‘sliders’ need to be cared for properly in a set-up that mimics their natural environment as closely as possible.

"While prospective owners want to do the best for their pet, it can be difficult for them to access the kind of high quality, consistent care information that’s needed ensure a pet terrapin’s requirements will be met.

"So the RSPCA has produced an informative pond terrapin care sheet which helps explain the dietary, behavioural, social and environmental needs of these terrapins. ”

Sea Life Weymouth homes 34 terrapins within its Turtle Sanctuary, more than half of which were donated by the public as unwanted pets. Additional residents were bound for the pet trade but seized by customs at border control due to improper paperwork. Now full to capacity, the Animal Care team is urging people to think very carefully before taking the plunge.