Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well I went to one of the reputable pet shops in town for
some items and guess what I found??

At least 10 baby Iguanas in a small enclosure all huddled
around a light bulb for heat. Having a 3 foot Ig myself
this really pisses me off. You would think they could treat
them a little better.

Then, the clencher....2 hatchling Sulcatta's for sale, in
the same aquarium with full grown Russian tortoises. I
approached the sales person and let her know that selling
tortoises under 4" is against the law. She said she told
the owners that but they did not care.

I will not shop there again...Time to call Dept of Ag again.

Thanks for letting me vent!
Linda
Slave to
2 Painted turtles
2 RES
1 Redfoot
1 Iguana

The law says TURTLES under 4" not tortoises. Water turtles were the ones kept in dirty water spreading Salmonella not tortoises.

I will check into this but it is my understanding that
ALL reptiles can carry salmonella. I was not aware that
there was a difference between water turtles and tortoises
I remember some months ago a reptile show got busted and
all turtles confiscated under 4". To be politically correct
tortoises and turtles under 4".

Would they legally able to confiscate them if no law was
broken?

Every animal can carry Salmonella including humans. Pigeons, chickens, and wild birds have a much higher rate of infection than reptiles. Roughly 2% of raw chicken eggs in the grocery store are infected. That is one of the reasons why it is never a good idea to eat undercooked eggs, or feed them to your pets. Many reptiles that feed on eggs, often obtain this infection from grocery store eggs. Store bought chicken and their eggs still remain the #1 mehtod of transmission of Salmonella to people
Back to the law. This was enacted to stop the sale of millions of red ear sliders in the 70's. It really had little to do with the Salmonella issue, but rather the fact that less than 1% lived for more than a few moths. Salmonella was an excuse that was accepted. There were many loopholes left in the law to allow serious breeders and herp keepers to get around the law. If you buy the animal for breeding projects, then your purchase is legal as long as there are no children under the age of twelve in the house. Tortoises were not included in the law because of the higher price. They were not considered a throw away animal like the RES. There would be a limited number of people who would spend $100 or more for a tortoise to hand to their 5 year old child as was the case with RES.

>>The law says TURTLES under 4" not tortoises. Water turtles were the ones kept in dirty water spreading Salmonella not tortoises.

The term "turtles" as defined in the original law included tortoises. The actual text of the law is linked below. The last I heard Richard Fife had successfully lobbyed to have this law reviewed but I don't know the current status of that situation.

T.B
Four inch law

This law includes tortoises as well not just turtles.

This is actually different than the notices that the game commission delivered to me when I owned a pet store. They said turtles only, tortoises were exempt. I noticed that the law was amended several times. Maybe I got the earlier version.

This is actually different than the notices that the game commission delivered to me when I owned a pet store. They said turtles only, tortoises were exempt. I noticed that the law was amended several times. Maybe I got the earlier version. That makes just about everyone on Kingsnake in violation of the Ferderal law.

http://www.tortoise.org/general/4inch.html

Go here, read the actual regulation. It covers all chelonians other than sea turtles, which are covered under another federal law.

Katrina

Where are you located? There is a very nice pet store called 2001: A Fish Odessy in Timonium, MD, that refuses to sell iguanas, sliders, sulcata, Burmese pythons, and the like, and thier reptiles are captive bred only.

Katrina