Huge terrapin rescued from water treatment works in Southampton

Terri was kept in a bath until she could be taken to a rescue centre Credit: Southern Water

A large red-eared terrapin has been rescued from a water treatment plant in Southampton.

The reptile, weighing around 5 kilos, was spotted sunning itself near a river extraction point at the Testwood Water Supply Works.

Tom Alexander, a Senior Ecologist at Southern Water 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. The terrapin was around about the size of a large dinner plate, weighed around 5 kilograms and was around 25cm long.

"My children loved having him at home and named him Terry.”

Terri was spotted at the Testwood Water Supply Works Credit: Google Maps

Amelia Thomas, Rehoming Manager at Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare in East Sussex 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!

“We identified this particular terrapin as female and renamed her ‘Terri’.

She 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.

The red-eared terrapin, Trachemys scripta elegans, is native to southern North America.