HomeUnited KingdomAre there wild turtles in the UK? Because I saw one for a couple of months hanging around in a pond near me and I was really confused š¢
Are there wild turtles in the UK? Because I saw one for a couple of months hanging around in a pond near me and I was really confused š¢
October 17, 2024
Are there wild turtles in the UK? Because I saw one for a couple of months hanging around in a pond near me and I was really confused š¢
by StarlightRein
15 comments
Pretty sure that’s a tortoise my dude.
Yep. A fair few red-eared terrapins are living out in the wild. Escapes or releases from private owners usually. It’s too cold for them to breed but the adults can survive our winters. Saw one the size of a dinner plate in Sheffield once.
Yes. They are escaped or released pets. There are a few species that exist in the UK.
They can happily survive our winters, but usually it’s too cold for them to breed. If they do breed, the young tend not to survive the winter, or the success rate is so low that numbers don’t increase. They don’t travel very far, so the impact on the wider UK ecosystem is pretty low, but they can cause significant damage to local habitats through predation on native species.
Search back through my profile for the last time this came up and I found loads of information about them which I’ve now forgotten.
A lake near me has snapping turtles in unwanted pets dumped Iād say
Pond near me has a family of turdles floating around.
They will be escaped pets etc.
Back in the 90s when the Teenage Mutant Hero (yeah, I know) Turtles cartoon started getting shown loads of people bought baby red-eared terrapins for next to nothing. They didn’t realise how big these things get, and soon enough they were getting dumped into ponds and rivers. Seems that enough survived to start breeding here.
Lots of terrapins were bought as pets in the late 80s/early 90s ’cause of the ninja turtles fad. Some were released / escaped into the wild. They’ve bred successfully in the UK. There’s a pond next to Cat Hill roundabout in north London near Oakwood that’s had terrapins for over 20 years, maybe longer. I was at uni there in 2003 when it was a middlessex uni campus and saw the terrapins then, visited the area this year and they’re still there.
Escaped and released ones can survive for decades. There’s a pond near me with a few in for years and years. Don’t think they can breed though.
As others have said, they’re former pets, most likely dumped. Unfortunately they can be really bad for the ecosystem of the pond the get released into.
Terrapins yes.
a duck park on my road is full of them
Is this in Glossop haha? I think it’s fake, it’s always in the same place!
15 comments
Pretty sure that’s a tortoise my dude.
Yep. A fair few red-eared terrapins are living out in the wild. Escapes or releases from private owners usually. It’s too cold for them to breed but the adults can survive our winters. Saw one the size of a dinner plate in Sheffield once.
Yes. They are escaped or released pets. There are a few species that exist in the UK.
They can happily survive our winters, but usually it’s too cold for them to breed. If they do breed, the young tend not to survive the winter, or the success rate is so low that numbers don’t increase. They don’t travel very far, so the impact on the wider UK ecosystem is pretty low, but they can cause significant damage to local habitats through predation on native species.
Search back through my profile for the last time this came up and I found loads of information about them which I’ve now forgotten.
A lake near me has snapping turtles in unwanted pets dumped Iād say
Pond near me has a family of turdles floating around.
They will be escaped pets etc.
Back in the 90s when the Teenage Mutant Hero (yeah, I know) Turtles cartoon started getting shown loads of people bought baby red-eared terrapins for next to nothing. They didn’t realise how big these things get, and soon enough they were getting dumped into ponds and rivers. Seems that enough survived to start breeding here.
Lots of terrapins were bought as pets in the late 80s/early 90s ’cause of the ninja turtles fad. Some were released / escaped into the wild. They’ve bred successfully in the UK. There’s a pond next to Cat Hill roundabout in north London near Oakwood that’s had terrapins for over 20 years, maybe longer. I was at uni there in 2003 when it was a middlessex uni campus and saw the terrapins then, visited the area this year and they’re still there.
Escaped and released ones can survive for decades. There’s a pond near me with a few in for years and years. Don’t think they can breed though.
As others have said, they’re former pets, most likely dumped. Unfortunately they can be really bad for the ecosystem of the pond the get released into.
Terrapins yes.
a duck park on my road is full of them
Is this in Glossop haha?
I think it’s fake, it’s always in the same place!
I think there is some in Nottingham.
Wolseley, Staffordshire?