risks?

Question
I think turtles are cute... they seem easy to take care of ... actually i know nothing about turtles... is there any book you recommend thats useful for turtle owners?

i heard from my aunt that turtles carry "diseases"
no way... haha is that true? and what specific turtle lives for 100 years?  

Answer
Cute? Yes, some are incredibly beautiful (Radiated and Star tortoises, Wood turtles, and so on are some of my favorites for looks)

Easy to take care of? Not really. While some are certainly easier than others, they are generally harder to take care of than a tank of fish, caged birds, and so on. With most turtles and tortoises, you need to provide special light, heat, humidity, diet, health care, and caging needs.

A lot of people will tell you you can do just fine with a fish tank, or even letting it roam freely in the house, but there are problems with this sort of thing, and most people, even a lot of people working in pet shops, really honestly do not know how to care for turtles.

Books, not really any one special. I DO suggest the local library- they usually have some good ones you can look through to find the one that you like the best.

Mostly, I prefer the Internet. My favorite starting point is www.tortoise.org. THey have some good info (for Californians, and even some of the rest of us) and some great links.

Diseases- yes, this is true. Turtles can carry Salmonella, which can make you quite sick. On the other hand, so do things like cold chicken, cold hard boiled eggs, money, and so forth. There is no special health risk with turtles as long as you practice basic cleanliness (wash your hands after handling, keep the cage clean, etc.)

Some turtles can carry some parasites that are annoying, but not a risk to people. More importantly, people can give turtles illness, especially colds and such!

Lives 100 years? A LOT of turtle and tortoise species are thought to live that long. In fact, no one is really sure how old many turtles and tortoises living today are since there is no reliable way of telling the age of an older turtle. It is thought that ther are some giant tortoises (Galapagos or Aldaberan) that may be about 200 years old!

The oldest tortoise that we have pretty good records on is thought to have been at least 186 years old when it died. Here is the Guiness Book of World Records entry- http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/index.asp?id=51345

If you DO decide to get a turtle pet- remember that even in captivity, even most common turtles can live 20 years or more!