Turtle Bill; Keeping Turtles as Pets

Update U.S. Sen. David Vitter and U.S. Rep. Rodney Alexander sponsored the turtle amendment. The Farm, Nutrition and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (H.R. 2419) that included the amendment passed 79-14.

Area farmers say turtle bill needed to help industry - A new bill floating in Congress to allow the sale of baby turtles as pets in the United States could keep Louisiana's turtle industry from sliding away.

Louisiana leads the nation in pet turtle exports, with about 5 million to 10 million shipped to international markets annually.
The turtles, mostly red-eared sliders with shell widths of less than 4 inches, are popular pets in other countries such as China but are illegal in the United States.

A salmonella scare in the 1970s led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to outlaw the sale and interstate transportation of baby turtles.
Earlier this month, U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., introduced legislation to permit the sale of pet baby turtles as long as the seller uses proven methods to prevent salmonella.

Salmonella, a bacteria known to cause typhoid and paratyphoid fever, was recently linked to contaminated peanut butter, prompting the FDA to issue a warning to consumers not to eat certain jars of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter.

Complications from salmonella poisoning can include fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps, according to the FDA. For people in poor health or with weakened immune systems, salmonella can invade the bloodstream and cause life-threatening infections.




Comment:

Hopefully this bill will go through, Louisiana needs this help with the economy. This is also needed to bring the turtle market out of the Black Market. I believe with proper documentation this can be made relatively safe and this is far better than the many dishonest pet stores selling them out the back door to unknowing parents with small children.
As well from my experience of professional keeping turtle tanks/aquariums for clients, there was NOT ONE I did not maintain a properly installed well designed UV Sterilizer on as the killing of Salmonella by Level One UV Sterilization is well documented.
As well for this Ultraviolet Sterilizer to be effective, the UV Bulbs MUST be changed every six months and I caution readers from buying the cheap cold cathode UV Bulbs flooding the market or the cheap UV Sterilizers such as the Submariner, AquaTop and similar that cannot maintain level 1 UV Sterilization.

UPDATE 6/26/07:
Florida has a ban on Red Ear Sliders set to go into place July 1, 2007;

"Tallahassee, Florida - Beginning July 1, people no longer may purchase red-eared sliders — common pet store turtles. A new rule passed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) prohibits selling the species. However, anyone who already has a red-eared slider may keep it, under the new rule.

Red-eared sliders already in captivity will not be allowed to breed, so any offspring will have to be surrendered to certified red-eared slider adopters or dealers, or euthanized."


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Ich Treatment; Fish Forum