Baby turtles seem like an adorable, low-maintenance pet for a child.
But the problem is that baby turtles grow up to be adult turtles, and Red-Eared Sliders - the most commonly traded turtle - live about 50 years. The semi-aquatic reptiles also need a lot more than a small plastic aquarium and a fake palm tree to live happily.
It is illegal here to buy baby Red-Eared Sliders because they can pass on salmonella poisoning. Still, they can be found for sale at swap meets and open markets in Chinatown, among other places.
We wrote about the problems with their popularity this week, and you can read that article here. Many of these turtles are abandoned, and left to either die or threaten other native animal populations.
Members of the Orange County branch of the California Turtle and Tortoise Club passed along these photos of thousands of baby Red-Eared Sliders that were found smuggled in a San Pedro home on July 4. About half of the 10,000 turtles found packed tightly in the boxes below died.
The dehydrated turtles desperately tried to escape the boxes when they were opened:
But the problem is that baby turtles grow up to be adult turtles, and Red-Eared Sliders - the most commonly traded turtle - live about 50 years. The semi-aquatic reptiles also need a lot more than a small plastic aquarium and a fake palm tree to live happily.
It is illegal here to buy baby Red-Eared Sliders because they can pass on salmonella poisoning. Still, they can be found for sale at swap meets and open markets in Chinatown, among other places.
We wrote about the problems with their popularity this week, and you can read that article here. Many of these turtles are abandoned, and left to either die or threaten other native animal populations.
Members of the Orange County branch of the California Turtle and Tortoise Club passed along these photos of thousands of baby Red-Eared Sliders that were found smuggled in a San Pedro home on July 4. About half of the 10,000 turtles found packed tightly in the boxes below died.
The dehydrated turtles desperately tried to escape the boxes when they were opened:
Leave a comment