Is a Turtle safe....

Turtles under 4 inches have been banned in the US since 1975. What age is your nephew? Children 5 and under are definitely not good candidates to have a turtle. Turtles do carry salmonella and it can give humans salmonellosis. The major considerations in this decisions are his age and his health status and the health of those in his household..any one with liver disease, organ transplants, compromised immune systems or chronic health issues should not have turtles as pets. If indeed you decide to get him one make sure everyone that will be in contact with it understands that the salmonella can show negative in one test of the turtle yet show positive a few days or even hours later..so you need to always treat the turtle as if it DOES have salmonella. That includes washing hands very thoroughly each time the turtle is handled and making sure that the turtle never has any contact with any foods or the areas foods will be prepared..if the bathtub is used to bath or play with the turtle then it has to be disinfected with bleach in order to kill the bacteria. Even though the sink seems easily cleaned it should never house or contain the turtle...one small spot of bacteria not cleaned can cause a hospitalization of an exposed person. If all health criteria are met then the only concern is being very strict with the hygiene of the area the turtle comes in contact with..and their feces needs to be treated as contaminated. A turtle can be a great pet if treated properly..but can expose a family to life threatening illness if the guidelines aren't followed exactly...and the Center of Disease control warns that even if you buy the turtle at a pet store it can still be infected...Check out the CDC's website for confirmation of this information and good luck with your decision....I had a box turtle as a child...we followed strict rules and no one got sick but we were 10 years old and had no one with any health issues!!!

If you can buy turtles in your pet shop,go for it!I had three 'small shelled' turtles for years and they are great as pets.....feed them every day,play with them if you wnat and clean their tank twice a month.....but,this was back when we were allowed to purchase them from our shops,now a days you can't,it's illegal.....as long as they are taken care of and happy,they will treat you with respect too....turtles are very smart when it comes to being in captivity and a lot of people don't know this

I don't know howard. I knew a just a few people who had turtles and they seemed to be okay. I never much cared for them. How could you play with them. You really couldn't hold them and cuddle them. I have always had dogs and cats.

Growing up we always had turtles. I heard they can carry salmonella. But if you wash your hands after handling them, you should be ok. Is he getting one from a pet store? Then it should be pretty safe. Like I said, I always had a turtle, and I am still here.

I think that is a strange choice for a pet. But I am not sure if it will carry any disease. But the fact remains that turtles live a long life, so probability of they being carriers of disease is logically feasible. But, I am not sure how much a turtle will love to live in such hostile environment.

Turtles carry salmonella and children don't wash their hands well after handling turtles. I personally would not keep one as a pet for that reason only. I guess if the child is well supervised while handling the turtle it would be ok.

I dont think you can buy them anymore. They stopped selling them years ago the little ones right?When I was younger we always had a little turtle in a cute little aquirum with a nice palm tree and the turtle would sit on top of it. But if you see any for sale I would definetly get him one I think they make great little pets.

If you get your turtle from a pet store you shouldn't have a problem. But here are some other considerations. You will need a tank of reasonable size, a place for the turtle to warm itself, lights and food. You'll also need some items for the care of the turtle and the equipment. Lloyd

I love turtles!!! We found a turtle in our back yard when I was a kid. My parents only allowed us to keep him for a few days..but I have always been fascinated with turtles ever since. I was not aware that turltles carry salmonella that is good to know. it sounds like for young kids that turtes are not a good pet choice.Thank you for this post...it is good information for parents. Happy pet hunting!!!

We had a painted turtle for years, and I loved our little "speedy" as did my daughter. He was pretty low maintenance, ate goldfish, etc...I swear to this day that Speedy responded to my voice. Anyway, salmonella is an issue with turtles, you need to remember to wash your hands after handling. We used to keep a bottle of hand sanitizer by his tank, in addition to hand washing. We had him for 5 years until my husband was attempting to hang a picture above where his tank was and the picture fell, Speedy didn't get his head out of the way fast enough. Guess he wasn't so "speedy" at all. Sorry, long day I'm starting to get loopy. Anyway, with the health issue tothink of have you thought about a hamster or maybe a chinchilla? They make great pets, I don't know if they carry disease or not though.

where i live, ontario canada. turtles are allegal because they carry selmanella bacteria and are deadly to children under 5, elderly people, pregnant women, and people with illnesses like cancer. be very careful and don't let them walk around the counters and when you clean the tank wash hands well and even when handling. i don't recommend them for kids.

I never heard of a turtle disease but today i learned something through this post. We never keep turtules as pet in our place but heheh i like the soup of turtles. Anyway thanks to that best response guy you really might be a walking encyclopodia

I'm not sure but they stink..... after he smells it, he won't want it... trust me my 4 year old lives with her father and he bought her turtles... she said they stink so bad she doesn't want them

yes..it's safe! as long as when you touch the turtles..u should first wash your hands before and after to avoid contamination of salmonella..but not all turtles have salmonellas...i even own 2 RES (red eared slider) turtles

Like any reptile they can carry salmonella. You simply have to make sure he washes his hands after touching him and to be honest, unless he is very young and there is a big chance of him putting his hands in his mouth as he's holding the turtle it's quite safe. Just normal "after pet handling" care should be enough. I wash after holding any animal, just in case! LOL