Red-eared sliders shed their dirty reputation
If you were a kid in the 1960s or early 1970s, you probably had a red-eared slider as a pet — or at least one of your friends did. The baby turtles with dark-green shells, striped legs and faces marked by a red streak behind the eye were the “it” pet for a generation of kids until the Food and Drug Administration banned their sale.
Now, the pocket-sized turtles may be ready to make a comeback.
The sale of turtles with shells smaller than 4 inches was banned in 1975 because the sweet-faced reptiles harbored a dirty little secret: They shed salmonella. Kids became infected with the dangerous germ after putting their turtle-tainted fingers — or the turtles themselves — in their mouths. Regulators figured by banning turtles smaller than 4 inches, they’d curb the pet’s popularity, and at least bigger shells wouldn’t be able to fit into kids’ mouths.
Salmonella poisoning strikes kids particularly hard, and can cause vomiting, diarrhea, joint aches, headaches, and in some cases even death. A 4-week-old infant in Florida died earlier this year from salmonella acquired from a pet turtle, says Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine.
Before the ban went into place in 1975, an estimated 100,000 cases of salmonella sickness occurred each year as the result of baby turtles and other pet reptiles, Sundlof says. Since the tiny-turtle prohibition, that number has gone down by about a quarter.
Help in high places
Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana believes it’s time to lift the baby turtle ban. Arguing that new technology developed in her home state makes turtles safer to keep as pets, she introduced an amendment to the FDA Revitalization Act to once again permit their sale.
The Siebeling method, developed at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, disinfects turtle eggs so baby turtles can emerge salmonella-free. Landrieu’s amendment calls for states in which turtles are raised — primarily Louisiana and Mississippi — to issue a certificate of sanitization signed by a federally certified veterinarian to ensure that turtles offered for sale have been treated by the Siebeling or a similar method.
The Senate passed the bill containing Landrieu’s amendment last month, and the House is expected to vote Thursday. Will it pass? “I think we have a pretty good chance,” Landrieu says.
But while the Siebeling method can drastically reduce the presence of salmonella in turtles, it doesn’t eradicate it. That’s because turtles can continue to shed salmonella throughout their lives even after treatment.
“The bacteria is in their in-*test*-('")inal tract. Sometimes they shed it, sometimes they don’t, so it’s not easy to tell when the animals are perfectly salmonella-free, even following treatment,” Sundlof says.
Despite their dirty reputation, the little turtles would likely become a big hit with kids and parents if the ban were lifted, says Helen Ogaldez, an assistant manager at Fairwood Pet Center in Renton, Wash.
“I think if they were made legal, people would learn more about them and be able to purchase and care for them properly,” she says.
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If you were a kid in the 1960s or early 1970s, you probably had a red-eared slider as a pet — or at least one of your friends did. The baby turtles with dark-green shells, striped legs and faces marked by a red streak behind the eye were the “it” pet for a generation of kids until the Food and Drug Administration banned their sale.
Now, the pocket-sized turtles may be ready to make a comeback.
The sale of turtles with shells smaller than 4 inches was banned in 1975 because the sweet-faced reptiles harbored a dirty little secret: They shed salmonella. Kids became infected with the dangerous germ after putting their turtle-tainted fingers — or the turtles themselves — in their mouths. Regulators figured by banning turtles smaller than 4 inches, they’d curb the pet’s popularity, and at least bigger shells wouldn’t be able to fit into kids’ mouths.
Salmonella poisoning strikes kids particularly hard, and can cause vomiting, diarrhea, joint aches, headaches, and in some cases even death. A 4-week-old infant in Florida died earlier this year from salmonella acquired from a pet turtle, says Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine.
Before the ban went into place in 1975, an estimated 100,000 cases of salmonella sickness occurred each year as the result of baby turtles and other pet reptiles, Sundlof says. Since the tiny-turtle prohibition, that number has gone down by about a quarter.
Help in high places
Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana believes it’s time to lift the baby turtle ban. Arguing that new technology developed in her home state makes turtles safer to keep as pets, she introduced an amendment to the FDA Revitalization Act to once again permit their sale.
The Siebeling method, developed at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, disinfects turtle eggs so baby turtles can emerge salmonella-free. Landrieu’s amendment calls for states in which turtles are raised — primarily Louisiana and Mississippi — to issue a certificate of sanitization signed by a federally certified veterinarian to ensure that turtles offered for sale have been treated by the Siebeling or a similar method.
The Senate passed the bill containing Landrieu’s amendment last month, and the House is expected to vote Thursday. Will it pass? “I think we have a pretty good chance,” Landrieu says.
But while the Siebeling method can drastically reduce the presence of salmonella in turtles, it doesn’t eradicate it. That’s because turtles can continue to shed salmonella throughout their lives even after treatment.
“The bacteria is in their in-*test*-('")inal tract. Sometimes they shed it, sometimes they don’t, so it’s not easy to tell when the animals are perfectly salmonella-free, even following treatment,” Sundlof says.
Despite their dirty reputation, the little turtles would likely become a big hit with kids and parents if the ban were lifted, says Helen Ogaldez, an assistant manager at Fairwood Pet Center in Renton, Wash.
“I think if they were made legal, people would learn more about them and be able to purchase and care for them properly,” she says.
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