h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Building a pond in the Spring/Summer and want to put a Terrapin/Turtle in, I have seen them at the local pond throughout the year but what would be the best type/breed for an outside pond in the South of England (all year round)

In the UK you should'nt be putting turtles or terrapins outside, unless you have a totally secure pond where they cannot escape. These creatures are not native to the UK, the ones that have been dumped or escaped into the wild are responsible for driving away or eating our own native species of aquatic wildlife. It is illegal to let these creatures into the wild and totally irresponsible for anyone to consider putting these tropical turtles outside into a non-tropical climate.

Well I do not intent to DUMP said creature/s into just anyone's back garden or any old pond like so many people have done. I was simply looking in to and considering making a pond habitat solely for a Turtle/Terrapin within in my own garden. I don’t make things by half either and I am fully aware of these creatures as I do own a Snapping Alligator Turtle in an indoor tropical setup. I suppose this would be seen as inhumane and animal beating too? Are pet shops inhumane and beating animals? Or are they just irresponsible for selling pets which maybe of a Tropical descent?

I already have a wildlife pond and another fish pond so this was to be simply something different.

I understand that these creatures maybe not be of this area, this town, this country but is providing them with a home when they are already in the country such a nasty thing to do or should they be killed instead of giving them a home?

It’s like feeding the birds isn’t it, by doing that we encourage Grey Squirrels into the garden, now they are a pest and destroy certain other wildlife.


is using this at the end of a reply like saying you are big man/women on campus?

My appologies.
I should have asked first if you had any experience with these creatures, clearly you do.
I've seen the devastation that non native creatures and plants can do to our habitat, some people seem to take this very lightly indeed.
It was not my intention to offend you i am sorry.

Yes i do have issues with exotic animals being sold as pets and kept in cages to be viewed, i can't help that. It's so much nicer to see these creatures enjoying their natural habitat. That does'nt mean i would see them killed, though in some cases this would probably be kinder than having an owner that does'nt understand their requirements or needs.

No does'nt mean i'm a big woman on campus, i carry no weight around these parts. It was just stating that i was ranting, i seem to have been doing alot of that lately

Haha, at last someone with a sense of humour on this website, I wasn’t implying or I didn’t mean to imply you carry any weight, I am sure you are a lovely lady.

Have kept Tropical pets for many years now and would hope I know how to keep them by now. However with some it's always important to ask as you don’t stop learning new things.

So is that a NO to Terrapins outside then?

What pleasure do you get from these kind of creatures? It's not like owning a cat or dog that you can get a reaction from.

And are you implying i'm fat?

I like strange and different creatures, have had dogs, cats all in the past but they dont seem to fit in much with a busy work life and most exoctic creatures are a lot less maintenance. You dont get the warmth you do from a Cat or Dog but they can be friendly and sometimes happy to see you especially when they know it's dinner time.

haha, no I did'nt say you was fat, would you hold it against me?

I can understand the fascination with such creatures. I guess i would expect alot more from a pet than to see it eat a locust I do have an interest in our native reptiles, amphibians and insects and love to watch the newts in my pond and photograph the weird bugs i get in the garden

If i was fat, then i probably would have no choice but to hold it against you, but as i'm not you get off scot free

People eat Locust's though anyway, they do much more than that anway just like tropical fish you dont buy them to pet them you get them to watch them. I find them all fascinating, I used to have a Mexican walking fish (Water Salamander) and it was great just watching it patrol the tank floor and some of it's funny antics.

I did'nt think you was, fancy a Locust?

Salamanders are strange creatures, especially the giant salmander. Do you only have water creatures?

I'll pass on the locust if you do't mind, i'm trying to give them up ya know

Locusts and Grubs are very nutritional.

Most of the creatures I have are water one's but also have some land, Giant African Land Snails, 6year old Herman Tortoise, 2year old Horsfield and a leopard Gecko. Also have an adopted Squirrel who comes to the back door to feed on Digestive biscuits and if you knock on the window he kind of understands this to mean more digestives and comes running.

Leopard gecko! I really like them, especially their eyes.
Do you use peat or organic composted bark for your snails? _@_'.' Where i work, we have a lady come in now and again for composted bark to use for her land snails. She brought one in to show us, it was huge! All i could think of was the big slime trail it would leave

Have used mostly peat up till recently, have started using composted bark though as it is apparently healthier for them. Each one at the moment is the size of a coffee cup and their favourite food is water melon.

So what pets do you have then?

How big will the snails finally get?

I don't have any pets at the moment. My last cat had to be put to sleep in 2004, he was old and his kidneys were failing. It was so hard for me to part with him, he was my best friend and companion I made the decision not to have any more pets for a while, as i can't bear to lose them. Also i wanted to be able to go away on holiday without worrying that my pet would be pining
I have however been adopted by my neighbours cat. When his owner goes away he gets very lonely and takes every opportunity to get into my home. I've given up trying to keep him out as he's quicker than me getting in the front door He also likes to keep me company when i'm in the garden, which is nice.

I'm told, dont know how reliable the info I am told is but they will get to the size of a football, 12" long

That is the sad thing of dogs and cats, never got over my old Boxer, had her from when she was a tiny pup and grew up with her. Dont mind cats but I tend to find them a bit selfish as they are only interested in attention when they want it.

The good thing with Turtles/Tortoise's and such like, they live for a very long time.

Good grief! A foot long snail raiding your veggie plot could do some serious damage The largest one i've seen was probably around 6inches and quite wide too.

I had a tortoise when i was a child, but it died after waking up from hibernation too early. My dad put it into the greenhouse to keep warm, but it escaped and died from the cold.

Lucky enough to have a very large garden, about 200ft long by 25ft wide, so making a second seperate veg plot which will just basically be as a feeder plot for the animals and cretures.

I had a Hermans Tortoise a few years back which died coming out of hibernation, sad thing that was

Wow, your garden is even longer than mine Do you just grow veggies or do you like flowers aswell?
I love my garden and everything that grows and lives in it

Been doing a fair bit of re-landscaping with it over the last couple of years and probably only just using about 20% of it at the moment, the plan is to build an adventure playground at the back of the garden for my Grandaughter so I am still kind of landscaping at the moment. We have plants in the garden more things like Shrubs and the like and Tree's, not really a great plant lover, I more like the idea of growing stuff that can be used for eating. So we have a veg patch and lots of different fruit bush'es at the moment, and at some point in this year I am planning on putting different fruit tree's in so that I have fruit and veg on tap.

Sadly my Polly Tunnel Blew down the other day Bought one of those large Greenhouse/Polly Tunnels from Ebay and it just did'nt stand up to the wind.