4' law? Someone please explain.

[Newbie Ball]

My sister wants a turtle, or tortoise. I want to get her one for her birthday, however I came across the 4' law, I live in NY state.

Anyone mind explaining to me the reason behind it? Does this mean I can't have any turtles under 4'?

[MarkS]

I think you mean 4" (inches) 4' (feet) would be a pretty big turtle.

The 4" law only pertains to people selling turtles, it has nothing to do with people owning them. The law was passed back in the 60's (maybe it was the 70's? sorrry I don't remember) and had to do with dime stores and such selling baby hatchling red eared sliders to anybody who had the money (I don't remember exactly how much they were, but they were pretty cheap, kind of like goldfish) There was a rash of salmonellosis in kids who were putting the turtles in their mouths. (you could pretend to bite the head off of your turtle by putting the turtles head in your mouth, the turtle would retract his head inside his shell and you could pull it out of your mouth and show your friends that your turtles head was missing, (no I didn't do this myself, but I know kids who did) The arbitrary size of 4" was selected because it was thought that this was too big for kids to fit in their mouths. (legislation at it's finest... )

It's still legal to sell turtles for scientific/educational/export purposes that are under 4"

But, as in all things, if you have questions about legality of any animal it's best to check with your local governing body to see what kinds of animal ordinance they have in place.