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isn't it illegal to sell turtles under four inches? when you see them being sold, how do you turn them in or what can you do about it?

today my brother and i went to an electronics sale thing, and they had these tiny, tiny turtles for sale there!! what the heck? they were about an inch long. they were in a carrier about 3 inches by four inches with about 1/4 inch of water.
there was no light, obviously, and the tank was filled with gravel small enough for them to have eaten. one was stumbling around blind and the other had one eye swollen shut.
i couldn't believe them and it was so sad. i know i couldn't afford four more babies even though i had to fight it hard not to buy all of them. i put down everything i was going to buy and walked out. i figured the best thing i could do is take the best care of the one that i have.
but seriously.... how do we stop this kind of thing?? it's already illegal, it just needs to be inforced!!

Good for you, you did the right thing by not buying anything from those jerks. That's the first thing to do. I'm not sure what enforcement agency to call, looking in the government/services area might be a good place to start. The SPCA might be able to help, or you could try calling the non-emergency number for the police. Hopefully somebody else here will know the proper route to take, but i just wanted to congratulate you for not giving them your business. I know it takes a lot of willpower not to rescue mistreated animals by buying them, but it's the right thing to do.

Yup. Just dont buy from those idiots, no matter what..even if they keep their turtles by the dozens in a small bowl with no UVB/A lights, the right thing to do is NOT to buy them. Try the aspca, they might help.

Call the city animal shelter. That would be the ones to confiscate, if SPCA or Humane don't do it.

It's a federal law, so the states are obliged to have it on the books. Enforcement is another story. Even if the states began busting these people and seizing the baby turts, what then? If the feds say the public should be protected from the scourge of baby RES, the only thing the local and state animal control is going to do is euthanize them........it's a Catch 22. Plus if you bust one, two more will pop up to take their place.

I am so happy that I haven't run into anyone selling baby RES yet. I might not be able to control myself. I might A) Grab all of them and run for it. B) Whack seller in the head, then grab them and run for it. What are they going to do, call the police? Then I would have to deal with having many baby turtles to find homes for, but I honestly don't think I could handle it.

I got my RES from a friend, who bought it at a local pet shop. She said when she bought it, it was only like 2 inches, maybe smaller. Practically a hatchling. I didn't realize that was illegal!

They are legal to sell for educational purposes only. So if you tell the seller that you are a teacher or are buying them for the purpose of using them in a school or something, then it's legal. I don't know how anybody is going to enforce that. All the seller has to say is that the buyer claimed to be a teacher.

So a 10 year old kid is going to use a turtle for educational and scientific purposes? It's a bunch of bull to be honest with you..

can i ask...why it's illegal?

goatfarmer123 wrote: i put down everything i was going to buy and walked out.

that was the best move you could make. next move would be contact the ASPCA and report them.

BabyTurtleEver wrote:can i ask...why it's illegal?

because people are idiots. back in the 60's baby turtles were a common household pets. kept in small fishbowls, their habitats weren't kept clean. kids would handle them and not wash their hands. salmonella became very common. instead of stressing proper care and hygeine for the little ones, they were determined to be a salmonella threat and made illegal to buy as babies.

I had heard the 4" rule was because the legislators wanted to ban any turtle small enough to fit into a child's mouth. How dumb is that?

okay both of those reasons are dumb. But it probably is a good thing, since I don't think people realize just how big these turtles can get. I know I didn't, before I got mine.

Yea, that's true. If anything it probably spared a lot of baby turtles from getting in the hands of little kids and ignorant parents who didn't know any better. But unscrupulous people have found ways to reintroduce them back into the pet trade again. I personally would love to have a baby turtle but the pet stores around here have scruples I guess.

a great many of those problems would be solved if the legislator thought to enforce more education on pet ownership. for any pet, exotics especially.