Are Turtles getting a bad rap????
- Thread starter TheTortoiseWhisperer
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yes.... People are just fussy over them
You can get salmonella from human babies, too...otoh, washing your hands after handling turtles (and rugrats) will take care of the problem.
To answer your question: Yes. Yes they are getting a bad rap. The article stated that the ban on anything under 4" was the most effective way to prevent the spread of salmonella. That is just stupid. So at 3.9" they are all contaminated and our children are all gonna die, but magically when they grow a little more and hit 4.0", they are magically cured and everything is going to be okay. The ignorance of some people will never cease to amaze me... How could a person even write such a ridiculous thing? And how do you explain the MILLIONS of children, like me, like my daughter, who grow up handling reptiles daily and never get sick? Its a good thing we have smart people like this and our law makers to save us from ourselves. A journalist like the author of this article really needs to find better ways to spend their time. Maybe they could spend more time reporting on all the important things that Hollywood stars are doing, and who the stars think we should vote for... 
In a way, I like seeing articles like this one. Currently you actually hear of few cases where turtles (or any reptiles) are where the disease came from, more often lately it's been food items. Good news for reptile owners. Now the part I really like is with these articles out there, it keeps reminding folks that reptiles may not be proper pets for children unless parents supervise them due to the reinforced need for the hand washing, the not drinking their water nor placing the animal within their mouth (the actual reason for the mentioned size). While I would like to see more information about what percentage of those outbreaks were due to reptiles and while I don't like the negative stigma reptiles carry, I do see a silver lining to such articles.
Thank you Jacqui, I love to read your post because you seem to always explain all the little details that I miss, such as what's the deal with the 4" specification and thank you Tom, Terry and Chase for your input too.
Terry Allan Hall said:
I'm going to start telling people that's why I don't want any more kids. Dogged the salmonella bullet thus far, why risk it!
I do agree with what has been said about it being good in the sense that it's driving home how these are not children's toys.
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