BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT!!! I think it's actually criminal for anyone to advertise red ear sliders as anything but a major commitment requiring devotion, dollars and square footage. It's also important to have knowledge about water filtration and basic aquarium upkeep. It's ridiculous to sell those starter tanks that are 20 gallons and a few basic supplies and send someone home with a cute baby turtle and NOT EXPLAIN that in a mere 3-4 months you will have to take up a major portion of an average sized living room with a habitat for what will soon be a reptilian BEAST! Our electric bill alone has gone up 30.00 per month from running our tank. The incidences of people releasing their turtles into the wild is probably way under reported and I'm guessing the majority of sliders end up in the closest body of water larger than a puddle. Just the other day hubby and I were visiting the local lake to visit the multitude of orphan sliders and barreling down the concrete spillway was an obviously recent drop off trying to get to the real water! It was so sad to see a large slider that had probably been someone's pet desperately trying to get to safety. I wanted to jump down and shoe him the way. But in too old to be climbing around concrete reservoirs. So we went back the next day to make sure he made it safely. We saw no turtle debris so we can only assume he made it. If anyone knows of any legislation in the works, of which I could sign, that bans the sale of red ear sliders, I would like to sign it. You should need a permit to keep a slider. There are enough domesticated sliders in the world as it is. Thanks for listening to me rant! Now back to shopping for yet MORE equipment for the turtles
