RED-EARED SLIDER
The individual I discovered at my local weir was only about 125mm in length, but red-eared sliders can attain 330mm, which is a big terrapin. These reptiles came originally from the Southern United States and northern Mexico and were imported worldwide as pets. Due to pet releases and escapees, these terrapins can now be found throughout southern Europe. They are very invasive and being stronger and more agile than the resident terrapins, they can displace them.
Young red-eared sliders are bright green with fine yellow lines on their carapace, head, neck and tail. As they mature, their carapace becomes a uniform, dark green and the red eye stipe becomes less vivid.
The red-eared slider prefers shallow, permanent water with plenty of vegetation, so ponds, weirs, backwaters and slow-moving rivers are the places to look for them. Unfortunately, all my photos, are of the terrapin in the water, and so are not as crisp as I would like. Red-eared sliders rarely sunbathe on the banks or edges of their watery home, choosing to rest on rocks or aquatic plants away from the water’s edge. This is because, they are extremely shy and will scarper at the slightest disturbance. These terrapins feed on insects, snails, shellfish, amphibians and aquatic plants.
