Turtle Talk with the Turtle Man...

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Originally posted by Chaserfan:
in Florida I saw some of those little tiny turtles you can keep in a small bowl. was going to buy them but I remember a show talking about how many of them spread disease. always kind of fasinated by turtles

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yeah, those guys are everywhere down here...

However, what they don't tell you is that the Turtles will out grow the bowl... QUICK... my turtles started out a little smaller than a 50 cent piece, they are now about as big as the palm of my hand, and I've only had them since August.

As for diseases, yes, turtles can easily pass on Salmonella. But only if kept inproperly. Those bowls you mentioned are not filtered and open to all kinds of things, thus creating the bacteria in the water and on the turtle. If properly kept and taken care of, they can be great pets.

hmm I always thought those little flat green turtles stayed really small.

Actually... over 12"... some are about 16" - 18"... Now that's a big Cooter... [img]wink.gif[/img]

you need to go hunting for a small snapper! dude I used to work with had one for a while, crazy creature

I could be called an "expert" on turtles, I have been keeping them since I was 5, so that's 20 years.

I have had hundreds, with breeds from all the continents of the earth they inhabit. I used to have almost all 230+ species' common and scientific names burned into my memory.

Firstly, turtles are not low maintenance.

Without a heavy duty filtration system, you will be changing their water and scrubbing out their aquariums at least once a week.

Secondly, turtles are no more prone to diseases like salmonella than any other organism on earth.

This myth that turtles are prone to disease rises from the saturated pet market in the 60s and 70s when they used to sell hatchling red-eared sliders and cooters like hotcakes.

People would take them home and keep them in filthy unsuitable habitats.

Due to the small size of the animal, children were prone to sticking them in their mouths and not washing their hands after handling them.

Some of those children got salmonella as a result.

There was some hubbub in the media about it, and the government made the sale and ownership of any turtle under 4 inches in length ILLEGAL in the US.

To this day, it is still illegal to own or sell a turtle under 4 inches in shell length except for educational or scientific purposes. The turtles you are seeing sold are illegal, but still sold without problems for the most part as no one is reporting or activley enforcing the law.

But it is still a huge hindrance to hobbyists at times.

It is archaic and ignorant to brand turtles as disease carriers anymore than snakes or lizards or chickens. But the myth persists.

As for Chaser's comment on a "small" snapper, this is a huge mistake. Snapping turtles are only small when they are hatchlings. They can easily grow to over 50-75 lbs. And they are very aggressive.

Alligator Snapping turtles can weigh over a hundred pounds or more.

They also can outlive their owners.

Most people are not cutout for owning and maintaining turtles, and millions die every year as a result.