COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—Fly-by-night hucksters who have been hawking tiny turtles in small plastic tanks for about $10 a pop on Colorado Springs roadsides this summer may be giving customers more than they bargained for—like a trip to the hospital.
That is because baby turtles—often no bigger around than a silver dollar—are literally swimming with the potentially deadly bacteria salmonella. One only need touch a turtle then touch that hand to the mouth to come down with a serious bout of fever and intestinal distress.
Young children are at especially high risk because they tend to be the recipients of these tiny turtles, tend to put everything they can reach in their mouths, and are especially vulnerable to the bacteria.
In the mid-1970s, there was something of a baby pet turtle craze that caused an estimated 250,000 cases of reptile-associated salmonellosis, primarily in children. The problem was so bad the Food and Drug Administration banned the sale or distribution of turtles with shells smaller than 4 inches across. Immediately, the number of cases of reptile-associated salmonellosis dropped by 77 percent.
Though the turtle sales are illegal, Springs police are not rounding up the itinerant sales force, said police spokesman Steve Noblitt. “It is a federal law,” he said. “So the federal authorities would enforce it.”
It is not just turtles that cause salmonella. All reptiles from snakes to iguanas tend to carry the nasty bacteria. In 1996, an estimated 60 children were sickened by a Komodo dragon exhibit at the Denver Zoo.
“About 90 percent of reptiles carry salmonella,” said El Paso County Health Department epidemiologist Rachel Jervis. She said even handling a turtle’s food or cage, or touching an area where it has been, is enough to pass on salmonella.
El Paso County has not seen an outbreak in salmonella poisoning this summer, but Jervis cautioned people need to wash their hands whenever they come in contact with reptiles and take other precautions.
Chad Brinkley, manager of Scales N Tails, a local reptile shop, said there is another reason. In the last few weeks, he has had about 30 people give him baby turtles they bought for $10 and no longer want.
“They find out that it takes a lot to take care of a turtle,” he said. They need a large tank, heated rocks, food, sun lamps, filters. A proper habitat can cost between $200 and $300.
“If they don’t have the right habitat, they will die. They may seem like a good pet for a child, but they really are not.”
Brinkley is raising the dozens of turtles turned in to his shop and will likely sell them a year or two from now when they reach legal size. He expects he will take in more. He has seen several people selling turtles along Academy Boulevard. They fly under the radar.
“Breeding baby turtles is cheap. It is easy,” he said. “The guys selling the turtles here are getting them from Texas and bringing them up here, making a lot of money. You shut one down, another one will just spring up.”
