Turtle and Conures

[Aphios]

I have two conures and we recently got a turtle. At times the turtle will be in close proximity to the birds cage, (their habitats are right beside each other) and I just want to make sure that the turtle cannot pass any disease on to my birds. Btw, the turtle is a box turtle.

Thanks!

 

[labell]

Most reptile carry salmonella which is why it is so important to wash your hands after handling any reptile so yes there could be issues with the turtle being that close to the birds.

 

[andrea.b]

My family had a turtle named Franklin for almost 19 years and salmonella was a concern for us because me and my sister handled the turtle a lot and he walked around on the carpet in our basement when my family watched TV. So we tried to keep things as clean as possible by scrubbing his back gently with a tooth brush, changing all the water every two weeks and scrubbed his rocks with a scrub brush (no soap). We never got salmonella from him so I'd say that worked pretty well for keeping salmonella to a minimum. You could try doing the same to keep your birds safe or separate them if your worried. Better safe than sorry.