andylaw79
Über Member
- Location
- Sunny Blackpool - well nearly!
Found a tortoise outside work on Thursday afternoon and apart from going to see The Stone Roses on Friday my weekend went like this…
The Tale of The Airport Tortoise.
Took the tortoise home in a box on Thursday evening after speaking to someone from the RSPCA, they were quite grateful I was willing to rehome it but said if the circumstances, for any reason, changed to give them a call back. They also gave me the number of a specialist reptile pet shop in Blackpool to get some advice from.
Got it home, to a very excited 3 yr old daughter, and transferred it to a bigger box in the dining room and gave it some food and left it get acclimatized to it's new surroundings. Had to explain to my daughter that it was on a special visit and might not be able to stay. My daughter loves tortoises.
Friday morning it hadn't touched any of the food and was a bit lethargic so I called the pet shop for some advice. Was told to bring it in so they could have a look, tell me what species it was and how to look after it properly.
Put the tortoise in a box and went to the pet shop. Got there, explained the situation, where we had found it etc, put the box on the counter and took the lid off - the bloke took one look and said "That's not a tortoise, it's a terrapin. A Yellow Bellied Slider to be precise"
That changed things a bit.
"You need a proper aquarium type set-up with heat lamps, a pool, gravel areas and insects for it to eat." he said.
I asked how much it would cost, thinking a £100 or so I could cope with. He pointed to a set-up in the corner of the shop "You need something like that, about £600-£700"
Christ! I nearly choked on thin-air.
He told me how to look after it in the short-term until I could get the RSPCA to pick it up.
Got home and set up a new temporary home in a plastic crate half-filled with water and some bricks for it to climb onto and rest.
Phoned the woman from the RSPCA and explained the new situation. She said she'd make some calls and get back to me. When she called back, she told me she couldn't find anywhere that could take it locally and the only possibility would be an RSPCA officer from Scotland who wouldn't be able to get to me for a week. The only other option was to try the zoo or see if any friends or relatives would have it or knew someone who would.
By this time I had to go to Manchester so I asked my wife to phone the Zoo for me. Got a text off her later saying the Zoo couldn't take it.
Brilliant, now what was I going to do with it?
On Saturday morning it was last-resort time. Took it to the RSPCA centre in Blackpool, all prepared to explain the situation and just leave it in reception, refuse point blank to take it home again and let them deal with it. That's what they're there for - right?
As I was getting out of the car, a girl, Sarah, who worked there saw me and came over, I explained what had happened and she said, "leave it with me, I'll phone my boyfriend who works in the Birds & Reptile section at Blackpool Zoo, just wait in reception and I'll come through."
Went to reception and had a good chat to the staff about the situation, still prepared to just leave it there, and waited for Sarah. A couple of minutes later she came back.
"The Zoo will take it, go to reception and ask for Steve (that's her boyfriend), he's expecting you," she said "Don't take the terrapin with you, leave it in the car and he'll come out and get it. Officially they're not supposed to take unwanted animals but I explained the situation and he'll sneak it in. There's loads of them in the Flamingo pond so one more won't hurt."
Hot-footed it over to the Zoo, parked as far away from the entrance as I could and went to ask for Steve at reception. A couple of minutes later we were out in the car park and I handed over the terrapin. It was all a bit surreal - like I was smuggling illegal animals.
So there you are, the tortoise which is now a terrapin - a Yellow Bellied Slider to be precise - now has a new home at Blackpool Zoo.
Felt a bit sorry for the poor little thing. Would have liked to have kept it, but a second mortgage to buy, and the space needed for all the equipment was the deal breaker.
The Tale of The Airport Tortoise.
Took the tortoise home in a box on Thursday evening after speaking to someone from the RSPCA, they were quite grateful I was willing to rehome it but said if the circumstances, for any reason, changed to give them a call back. They also gave me the number of a specialist reptile pet shop in Blackpool to get some advice from.
Got it home, to a very excited 3 yr old daughter, and transferred it to a bigger box in the dining room and gave it some food and left it get acclimatized to it's new surroundings. Had to explain to my daughter that it was on a special visit and might not be able to stay. My daughter loves tortoises.
Friday morning it hadn't touched any of the food and was a bit lethargic so I called the pet shop for some advice. Was told to bring it in so they could have a look, tell me what species it was and how to look after it properly.
Put the tortoise in a box and went to the pet shop. Got there, explained the situation, where we had found it etc, put the box on the counter and took the lid off - the bloke took one look and said "That's not a tortoise, it's a terrapin. A Yellow Bellied Slider to be precise"
That changed things a bit.
"You need a proper aquarium type set-up with heat lamps, a pool, gravel areas and insects for it to eat." he said.
I asked how much it would cost, thinking a £100 or so I could cope with. He pointed to a set-up in the corner of the shop "You need something like that, about £600-£700"
Christ! I nearly choked on thin-air.
He told me how to look after it in the short-term until I could get the RSPCA to pick it up.
Got home and set up a new temporary home in a plastic crate half-filled with water and some bricks for it to climb onto and rest.
Phoned the woman from the RSPCA and explained the new situation. She said she'd make some calls and get back to me. When she called back, she told me she couldn't find anywhere that could take it locally and the only possibility would be an RSPCA officer from Scotland who wouldn't be able to get to me for a week. The only other option was to try the zoo or see if any friends or relatives would have it or knew someone who would.
By this time I had to go to Manchester so I asked my wife to phone the Zoo for me. Got a text off her later saying the Zoo couldn't take it.
Brilliant, now what was I going to do with it?
On Saturday morning it was last-resort time. Took it to the RSPCA centre in Blackpool, all prepared to explain the situation and just leave it in reception, refuse point blank to take it home again and let them deal with it. That's what they're there for - right?
As I was getting out of the car, a girl, Sarah, who worked there saw me and came over, I explained what had happened and she said, "leave it with me, I'll phone my boyfriend who works in the Birds & Reptile section at Blackpool Zoo, just wait in reception and I'll come through."
Went to reception and had a good chat to the staff about the situation, still prepared to just leave it there, and waited for Sarah. A couple of minutes later she came back.
"The Zoo will take it, go to reception and ask for Steve (that's her boyfriend), he's expecting you," she said "Don't take the terrapin with you, leave it in the car and he'll come out and get it. Officially they're not supposed to take unwanted animals but I explained the situation and he'll sneak it in. There's loads of them in the Flamingo pond so one more won't hurt."
Hot-footed it over to the Zoo, parked as far away from the entrance as I could and went to ask for Steve at reception. A couple of minutes later we were out in the car park and I handed over the terrapin. It was all a bit surreal - like I was smuggling illegal animals.
So there you are, the tortoise which is now a terrapin - a Yellow Bellied Slider to be precise - now has a new home at Blackpool Zoo.
Felt a bit sorry for the poor little thing. Would have liked to have kept it, but a second mortgage to buy, and the space needed for all the equipment was the deal breaker.
