Pet turtle and Salmonella

Do you know pet turtle under 4-inch long is illegal for sale in the United States? The ban has been in place since 1975.

The reason is quite simple, turtle of all sizes might carry salmonella.
The easiest way to get it is to put a turtle in your mouth. Unfortunately, it is something small children might do often.

The 4" size was chosen because anything bigger would be harder to put into your mouth.

Every turtle owner must know about salmonella. Wash your hands after handled your pet turtle can help. You may also use Disposable Gripper Sleeves.

I guess if you have a small turtle and you want to sell it, you probably have to wait until it's bigger lol. Not exactly a solution if the species isn't going to grow bigger than 4".

hahaha, i read that article on yahoo the other morning. people are just plain stupid >.> who would leave their small child alone with a turtle? all reptile carry salmonella, but it is in their feces, and guess what? turtles swim in their feces all day long!! of course they are going to be a bacteria hot spot! and what child in their right mind would put a turtle in their mouth? ive heard of legos up the nose, but never a turtle in the mouth -.- the first time my child ever does that, imma smack em...really hard. i bet they'll never do it again OR ill give em a snapping turtle and see how much lips and tongue they have left...they'll have a mortal fear of turtles forever! mwahahaha

Manda just hit the nail on the head. All reptiles naturally have salmonella in their digestive tracts. The difference with turtles, its that they defecate in their water, and if not cleaned regularly, the water basically turns into a breeding ground for the salmonella bacteria, and then the turtle, swimming in the water, its covered in it. This would rarely ever happen with other reptiles.

You guys just reminded me of Manda's new snake. Swimming in his own little pool all day with feces in there. Wash your hands, Manda.

Personally I think the ban is stupid. We don't see a problem with salmonella in other countries where there is no such ban.
I don't ever recall putting stuff into my mouth when I was a kid either. It is really not a common trait of kids, it just happens with some of them.

(10-08-2012 01:07 PM)Thor Wrote:  You guys just reminded me of Manda's new snake. Swimming in his own little pool all day with feces in there. Wash your hands, Manda.

Personally I think the ban is stupid. We don't see a problem with salmonella in other countries where there is no such ban.
I don't ever recall putting stuff into my mouth when I was a kid either. It is really not a common trait of kids, it just happens with some of them.

I agree it is stupid. The problem is a lack of parenting. But, pointless laws are a way of life in the U.S., lol. I'm actually from the generation of kids that caused that law to go into effect. You could buy these tiny green turtles cheap almost anywhere, and they sold these little, trays I guess you would call them, to keep them in. Kinda like this



It was a tiny amount of water, and normally was put in a childs room, rarely cleaned enough, and even less likely to be cleaned properly and disinfected. So the little bowls were rampant with salmonella. You wouldn't even have to put it in your mouth, just touch the bowl, not wash your hands, eat a sandwich, and bam, salmonella. So they just banned the turtles under 4". Not only was it to keep kids from putting them in their mouths, but you had to by a bigger tank, it was a larger investment, and you couldn't get the turtle and everything needed for it for under $15 to shut a kid up and have it fit neatly on the end of a dresser in the childs room.

By forcing people buying bigger turtles, it is not going to stop people from not washing their hands before eating their food. It looks to me the problem is really how to properly taking care of turtles. Correctly/better maintained turtle tanks obviously are cleaner with less undesirable viruses, germs in them. Bigger turtle isn't going to make people take care of it better. Of course there is personal hygiene problem since it is still required to wash your hands afterward even if the turtle tank is extremely clean.

This case also reminds me how poorly the general mass taking care of their fish, or rather how quickly they kill their new fish off. Some fish also have diseases. A few years ago I learned there is a marine fish disease that can be transmitted to humans as well. There are germs, viruses everywhere. We can't just keep coming up with laws trying to protect people from their own fault.

Think about that, some people don't wash their hands after using the restroom. That caused me never try to open a public restroom door from the inside with my hands directly because of that dirty handle. Imagine how many germs and potential viruses from sick people can be on there? After all that unpleasant imagination, I don't believe there should be a law to force people wash their hands after using the restroom.

Not so long ago there was a debate in New York City about passing a law to forbid the sale of large soda in movie theaters? "Because it's unhealthy".

I think I am going off the topic lol, but my point is we don't need laws to protect us from ourselves.
On the other hand we absolutely need better education for pet owners.

This is so weird because my nephew just got a little bitty turtle from Florida. His other aunt bought it down there and brought it back to Kentucky. The turtle is smaller than four inches.

This is the first time I heard of the law. But I did know about the problem with salmonella and turtles. I did not know the salmonella was because the turtles were swimming in feces. So a small tortoise (not sure of spelling, sorry) running around the house wouldnt have this problem then?

All reptiles have different strains of Salmonella ssp. in their digestive tracts. Chances are that any tortoise will have the same amount of salmonella in their feces as any other turtle, lizard, or snake. The difference is that an aquatic turtle is constantly defecating in warm water, which gives the salmonella the perfect medium in which to grow and reproduce. If the water isn't cleaned regularly, you can have a full blown germ lab going on. And, the turtle is living and swimming in this petri dish. That would never happen with a tortoise, as salmonella would die in most warm, dry conditions. You should still wash your hands after handling a tortoise, or cleaning up it's feces, but the chance of rampant reproduction of the salmonella bacteria is nowhere near as great, nor is the tortoise as likely to "live" in the bacteria, if that makes sense.

I think turtles are great pets, it's just that a little extra care must be taken. Here in Florida there are plenty of places that loophole the 4" law. So they aren't hard to find.

(10-08-2012 12:39 PM)Fishbone Wrote:  Manda just hit the nail on the head. All reptiles naturally have salmonella in their digestive tracts. The difference with turtles, its that they defecate in their water, and if not cleaned regularly, the water basically turns into a breeding ground for the salmonella bacteria, and then the turtle, swimming in the water, its covered in it. This would rarely ever happen with other reptiles.

Yup, this right here, thank you so much. Best way to avoid this is good clean husbandry, and a bit of common sense. Get a nice filtration system (I use a zoomed filter for my turtles, but use what ever you want.)