Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 11:20 am
Its illegal to own baby turtles except for scientific, educational, or display reasons. Why ? because the fact that they carry salmonella. the ownership of baby turtles under 4" inch shell in the US was banned and is now illegal.
Will the police come to your house and take them away ?
Absoluty not....
They care more about pet stores selling them by mass quantities. Then a local citizen who owns a few himself. Really owning baby turtles and getting past the law has many loop holes. The Police cant really question the scientific reasons why you own baby turtles. Easy simply.... its a school project !
To best answer your question. Try to find the non emergency number to your police station and ask the local police station in your area if its legal to own red ear sliders.
THIS IS WIKI
U.S. State Law
Some states have other laws and regulations regarding possession of red-eared slider because they can be an invasive species where they are not native and have been introduced through the pet trade. As of July 1, 2007, it is illegal in Florida to sell any wild type red-eared slider, as they interbreed with the local yellow-bellied slider population – Trachemys scripta scripta is another subspecies of the same species, and intergrades typically combine the markings of the two subspecies. However, unusual color varieties such as albino and pastel red-eared Slider, which are derived from captive breeding, are still allowed for sale.[11]
