{"id":529,"date":"2026-06-12T10:03:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T10:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=529"},"modified":"2026-06-12T10:03:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T10:03:14","slug":"is-it-illegal-to-sell-turtles-under-4-inches-long-in-colorado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=529","title":{"rendered":"Is it illegal to sell turtles under 4 inches long in Colorado?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<h2>Yes.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p>The sale and distribution of turtles with shells less than 4 inches long have been banned in the U.S. since 1975.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=527\">Watch: Democratic candidate forum for Colorado Attorney General<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The federal Food and Drug Administration implemented the ban to reduce the spread of turtle-associated salmonella. Children are the most susceptible, though individuals who are elderly, pregnant or immunocompromised are also at risk.<\/p>\n<p>Even if a turtle looks healthy, it can spread the virus through its droppings. Smaller turtles are more likely to spread salmonella because their size allows children to easily play with them and put them in their mouths.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=525\">What to do in Colorado this week: The Colorado Renaissance Festival is upon us<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Small turtles have been linked to numerous salmonella outbreaks in the U.S. since the 1960s, including a 2023-2024 outbreak that infected at least 63 people in 22 states, a 2022-2023 outbreak that infected 80 people in 24 states, and a 2020-2021 outbreak that infected 43 people in 12 states.<\/p>\n<p><em>This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The Colorado Sun partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs \u2014 bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=523\">Three Democrats made their cases for attorney general while Jena Griswold skipped another debate<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Sources<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Food and Drug Administration Salmonella and turtle safety<\/li>\n<li>Code of Federal Regulations 21 CFR 1240.62<\/li>\n<li>Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Investigation update<\/li>\n<li>Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Significant health impact of US small turtle-related Salmonella outbreak<\/li>\n<li>Zoonoses Public Health Multistate outbreak of turtle-associated salmonellosis<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yes. The sale and distribution of turtles with shells less than 4 inches long has been banned in the U.S. since 1975.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Is it illegal to sell turtles under 4 inches long in Colorado? - Colorado Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=529\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is it illegal to sell turtles under 4 inches long in Colorado? - Colorado Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yes. 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