Ok let me clear some things up here. Turtles are perfectly legal to own in new jersey as long as you have a permit to keep them and provide documentation that they were obtained legally, NOT wild caught. As new jersey residents you are not allowed to sell turtles to new jersey residents but you can sell them to a person in another state. You are allowed to posses painted turtles and I believe snappers without any sort of permit, but all other species need one, and are simple to obtain. As for salomanela turtles and all reptiles are a threat to spread this. However, if you keep a turtle under proper care in a clean cage with filtration you won't get salomanela. Also it is a federal law that you can't sell turtles under 4 inches. This is perhaps the dumbest law of all time. As a result pet stores in other states sell full adult wild caught turtles, because they can't sell captive born babies. Most die after being brought into captivity because they are not properly cared for, and stress very easily from being ripped from their environment. New Jersey is annoying with its laws but not allowing turtles to be sold in pet stores has allowed many of our native turtles to have really strong populations throughout the state.....other states can't say the same. As for longevity they live a incredibly long time, I have a collection and most of the turtles I've had my entire life, one in particular is at least 45 years old and still produces eggs each year. Some of these turtles will outlive me and I'm 25.
