Gives Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles a whole new meaning.

Another visit to my reptile friends at the East Bay Vivarium today prompted my non-reptilian friends to question the rule that turtles under four inches can only be sold for educational or scientific purposes. I'd seen the sign during every visit and thought it was odd, but the thought was always fleeting because I would suddenly become distracted with a baby tree frog or yellow anaconda. Turtles are cute and all, but they have never been my thing.

A quick Google search on the oh-so-eloquent phrase "why turtles less than 4 inches only educational" (yes, that's really what I typed in) revealed that this is actually an FDA regulation:

"The sale of turtles with a carapace length of less than 4 inches has been banned in the U.S. since 1975 because of the public health impact of turtle-associated salmonellosis."

OK... but all turtles can transmit Salmonella, so why restrict sales on just the baby turtles? A more eloquent search on "turtles under 4 inches" got me to About.com, which tells us:

"Four inches was chosen with the thought that most young children wouldn't try to put a turtle larger than this in their mouth (of course, putting a turtle in your mouth isn't the only way to be infected with Salmonella). However, restricting turtle sales to those greater than 4 inches probably also helps reduce the incidence of Salmonellosis by reducing turtle sales, since hatchlings are much more irresistible than larger turtles. Also, kids are probably less inclined to play with the larger turtles in the first place."

And here's the public service announcement: think twice the next time you order turtle soup.