A DORSET aquarium is reminding people about the importance of responsible exotic pet ownership.

With Christmas just seven 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 live for 30 plus years, and require large tanks with specialist equipment.”

Made popular in the early 1990s, thousands of the North America-native reptiles 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.

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 getting an exotic pet.