Elon the musk turtle rehomed by RSPCA after record 1,579 days
The ‘stinkpot’ turtle was abandoned during lockdown and has been cared for at Brighton Reptile Rescue.
Elon the musk turtle – also known as the stinkpot turtle – has been rehomed by the RSPCA after being looked after for 1,579 days, which is the charity’s longest ever search for a new owner for a reptile.
Staff at the charity’s Brighton Reptile Rescue centre first took in Elon when he was abandoned during lockdown.
But despite describing him as a “personable chap”, the centre has taken four years to find the right new owner who has space to keep a musk turtle.
Head of reptiles at Brighton Fred Bark said: “Elon was quite a personable chap really and he was easy to handle when musk turtles can often be smelly and quite bitey.
“Musk turtles can live for a long time, up to 60 years. Elon was fully grown when he was abandoned, but we don’t know much about him before then.
“It’s a long-term commitment for anyone taking on a reptile like this. We had plenty of interest in Elon from the six to 10 age group.
“But we needed adopters who had an enclosure with some space, an area of land as well as water as musk turtles have all the care needs of a reptile and a fish.
“We’re so pleased that we have been able to find Elon a home as it seems he has been with us forever.”
The musk turtle – sternotherus odoratus – is native to the eastern United States and south-eastern Canada and has the nickname stinkpot turtle because it can release a foul musky odour from scent glands on the edge of its shell to deter predators.
The Brighton centre has also rehomed a group of nine tarantulas found in rubbish sacks left outside Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare in Lewes before Christmas.
Mr Bark said: “We’re also looking for homes for a number of royal pythons who have been with us for a while.
“We have around 20 in at the moment and as snakes go they are not too difficult to care for, provided people have the right equipment and do their research on how to look after them.”
The RSPCA said it dealt with 846 incidents of animals being abandoned across England and Wales between December 18 and 31, the highest number for this period since 2018.
