DD1 has found tiny a tiny Terrapin in the garden....................?

[jmg1]

I have put him in a tupperware container with a bit of water and will try to find a large pond for him.

Poor little thing is obviously scared!

I have no idea what/if he would like to eat, any ideas?

ah! i want it! Guess if you google you will find out about food for it.

ooohh i used to keep terrapins, mine ate dried maggots, bought in a tub from the pet shop, they also liked any sort of meat. make sure your dd is very careful about washing her hands after handling it, my dad got blood poisoning from our terrapins water, he did have a very deep cut, but cant be too careful. they get very big too, ours were the size of dinner plates, just thought id warn you!

oh yeah, just to add that they like to be able to get out of the water, so any pond you put him in has to have places where he can climb out and sun himself.

Cheers!

There is a huge pond not too far away and I have seen bigger Terrapins in there before and hundreds of toads. Trouble is a few weeks ago it was drained and was being refurbished, hope the work has been completed now.
As we found him I feel responsible for his wellbeing.
My kids are mesmerised!

Hi jmg1,

If you don't intend to keep the terrapin, your best bet is to take it to the RSPCA or similar, as it is illegal to release terrapins into the wild.

They are classified as an alien invasive species (I think they are from South America, but don't quote me on that!), and destroy native wildlife in ponds...

If you do intend to keep it I second the being careful post earlier, it is possible to catch diseases from their water, and they can bite (and have quite sharp 'beaks') You can get information from the RSPCA / Pets 'R' Us store about how to keep them, what to feed them etc.

HTH

ah how sweet, dont like the sound of how big it will get or its beak tho! i found a baby tortoise in my garden a few years a go, tiny little thing, i found my elderly neighbours in tears coz she thought she'd lost it. her face was a picture when he was returned

I used to have a terrapin and loved him to bits. He ate worms from the garden and had some dried cuttlefish from the petshop. He also needed a permanent heatsource if I remember rightly. This was a long time ago and tbh he didn't survive long, despite tender and loving care!

Definitely shouldn't put him in a pond though - 1973magpie is right. Do get some official advice about it.