Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had an albino boa and a JCP before I went to college. I had to sell them because most colleges wont allow that sort of stuff, especially a military one. I graduated 2 years ago, I have a wife, and a child on the way. I really want to get another python. My wife is very concerned about the salmonella issue. I obviously dont want to risk anything when it comes to a newborn baby of mine. Are the risks significant enough to warrant concern? Especially if I take the usual precautions of not letting the baby hold the snake(duh) and wash my hands after handling the snake.

Congradulations on your coming child, now onto the topic. I know turtles are more of a salmonella risk than snakes are, and honestly I am not very concerned with getting salmonella from any of my animals. I'm a lot more careless than I probably should be with washing my hands between handling a snake and eating, but I haven't had any problems. Granted I also have a much stronger immune system than a toddler would have, so when I do education programs I'm pretty careful about making sure everybody washes their hands after touching any animals.
So as long as you aren't stupid about it, you wash your hands after handling the snake before doing anything else, and be sure the enclosure is well beyond toddler-reach, you should be fine. I would definitely not consider it a very significant risk.
I might also suggest looking into the smaller, tamer species of python like Antaresia(Childrens, Spotteds, etc) and Ball Pythons, they would be better for teaching your kid about snakes once they get a little older.
-Eric

>> Are the risks significant enough to warrant concern? Especially if I take the usual precautions of not letting the baby hold the snake(duh) and wash my hands after handling the snake.

Infants are, of course, in a special category. But you sound like you're performing your due diligence. Have you read this?

www.arav.org/SalmonellaOwner.htm

Thanks, that was a great article. I guess I'll have to wait a while....maybe. It's definately something to think about.

Well, if you get a GTP then I would worry too much (I would'nt let a GTP be held by a toddler) But yes as long as she/he is'nt putting it in her/his mouth or rubbing all over it for 15 mins then sucking on her/his hands for an hour salmonella is not a giant problem. Hope this helps, good luck at getting a new snake.

And I take extra care to wash my hands and use those clorox wipes in canister on everything a reptile has touched.I tell you Lysol or Clorox wipes are lifesaver.So is Purell. Its all about a little extra hygiene.When I dump water dishes I do it all in one day so I can clean out the sink with bleach when Im done..Ive had reptiles for 4yrs without any incident, my hubbys been on Chemo for about 4mnths now, I still worry sometimes.If he got sick because of my hobby I would feel really really bad..
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Congrats on the personal growth you have experienced. University, wife, kids... likely career as well. Congrats!

Now back to your question.

Salmonella is present in the environment everywhere. Here are some facts:

**Poultry carries salmonella, will your bride avoid poultry?
**Washing hands removes the risk of salmonella.
**Never clean animal furniture in the same place food is cooked or food stuff is washed (avoid the kitchen).
**The only way to get sick with salmonella is oral contact with a salmonella source (feces or poultry are the two main sources).

I or my staff have this discussion with folks every day. Salmonella is such a non-issue. If it were a real big bad problem poutrly would be outlawed until it was salmonella free.

FWIW techniques to make poultry salmonella free exist but the marketplace will not allow producers to "irradiate" the foods with gamma waves. Sad indeed.
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AMAZON REPTILE CENTER

NAMED BEST REPTILE STORE IN LOS ANGELES

>> Salmonella is such a non-issue. If it were a real big bad problem poutrly would be outlawed until it was salmonella free.
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Salmonellosis is an important cause of diarrheal illness in humans, causing approximately 1.4 million illnesses and 600 deaths annually in the United States.(tinyurl.com/ybm5zr)

Perhaps you meant, it is only an "issue" if you or a loved one gets seriously ill or dies.

Of course, no one would talk about "banning" poultry lol any more than we should talk about banning reptile ownership. Certainly, the world is filled with lots of things which can hurt or kill us. It is all a matter of risk assessment and risk avoidance or risk mitigation - in short education and then choice.

But referring to salmonellosis as a "non-issue" is not only wishful thinking, but misleading, as is your statement that washing your hands "removes the risk" of contracting salmonellosis in a household (although surely it is never a bad thing in one's hygiene protocol ).

I think the article referred to in an earlier post (www.arav.org/SalmonellaOwner.htm) gives some practical - and straight - information on the subject for reptile owners. If I lived with a baby or toddler or a severely immunocompromised person, I would think long and hard about whether having reptiles around was prudent. At the least, it would complicate my housekeeping and animal husbandry.

My 4 year old contracted salmonellosis right after this Thanksgiving, and due to all the travelling and eating we did at various places, it was impossible to determine where it came from. Fact is, we own many snakes, as well as turtles and a bearded dragon. We've always taken all the proper precautions, but one can never be too careful. This is the first time I've encountered this in over 20 years of keeping reptiles, and hopefully the last (I've turned into an anti-bacterial drill sargeant). I hope everyone takes this issue as seriously as I now do - especially if you have kids. Seeing my son sick like that broke my heart

>>I hope everyone takes this issue as seriously as I now do - especially if you have kids. Seeing my son sick like that broke my heart

My daughter too contracted salmonella.. From orange juice. It turns out orange juice is not REQUIRED to be pasteurized so she got sick. I am glad to hear your boy is now well.

My statement that salmonella is a "non-issue" and a "hygiene-issue" are relating to REPTILE BORNE salmonella. To contract salmonella from a herp based source there MUST be oral-fecal contact. Food borne disease can only be minimized not avoided. We all get it from time to time and it is because of bad practices of the restaurant.

Keep in mind my experience and viewpoint is from a business standpoint as well as having the experience of educating literally thousands of retail buyers.

If simple handwashing and other basic procedures are followed nobody gets salmonella from reptiles. I don't, my staff doesn't, my customers and their children don't. It is when these basic practices are not followed that someone gets sick. It is simply a common sense approach I propose, not a reactionary one. Keep in mind my staff and I handle hundreds if not thousands of animals on a daily basis. We have no worker's comp issues (knock, knock).

To avoid salmonella from animals all that is required is care and thought and definitely does not require ALARM. I always hope to minimize alarm as this is what the HSUS, PETA, API and others always use to try and BAN reptiles.
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AMAZON REPTILE CENTER

NAMED BEST REPTILE STORE IN LOS ANGELES

"To avoid salmonella from animals all that is required is care and thought and definitely does not require ALARM. I always hope to minimize alarm as this is what the HSUS, PETA, API and others always use to try and BAN reptiles."

While unnecessary ALARM may be detrimental to the hobby, I do believe that over-educating people within this hobby in ways to eliminate rather than simply reduce the risk can have only positive consequences.
Reptiles routinely come in contact with the fecal matter in their enclosures even if it is removed the same day. I believe it is possible to have indirect contact with this which could cause illness.
With a bit of overkill w/ regards to prevention at all costs, one thing the fanatic 'ban everything' crowd will not be able to refer to is an unconcerned or cavalier attitude toward responsible herp keeping.
On another note my son had his first experience feeding f/t rats to some of our spotted and carpet pythons. He used the 18" forceps, which he held himself as I directed him from less than a half inch away. Daddy's proud

He's right. More people probably die from tetanus or the flu than that.

That's a NON-issue.

Chris

It is very possible to get salmonella from handling reptiles. Everytime you handle a reptile you should ALWAYS use hand sanitizer immediately afterwards and make sure your caging is as sanitary as possible. WHY?

In 1998 I had been breeding leopard geckos and bearded dragons for about 2 years and around the same time I had my first Child. I was pretty good about keeping my animals cages clean and always used antibacterial hand soap when washing my hands after cleaning cages so I figured there was little to no risk of having my child around my beloved reptiles. However when she was about 9 months old, she was crawling around and walking around the living room, same room that I typically would let my dragons run around for some exercise and a break from being in their enclosure. Well my daughter one day started acting like she didnt feel well and then the same day we noticed her diaper stool had blood in it. We immediately took her to the doctor to find that she had come down with salmonella poisoning from my dragons. She was treated and all was ok soon but if we had not reacted like we did to get her fast treatment it could have gotten bad very quickly for her.

So to say Salmonella is not a risk, is just not true, it is a rick, but with the right measures, it can be avoided.

While it is true that the most common strains of Salmonella are not very potent, there are a few strains that are...particularly with infants. These are more likely to be encountered with imported stock, or those coming from dealers who import multiple species from multiple countries. It is best to buy captive born out of generations of captive born from reputable breeders. However, if the guidelines above are followed there is very little risk involved. No risk is exaggerating.

Thanks for all the input. I think I might just wait it out. I'm a very impatient guy though. I was all hyped about moving out of my parents house and being able to get a few reptiles that I always wanted. My job doesnt help either. I'm about 2 months from my navy wings of gold and shortly after that I'll be going on deployments flying either prowlers or hornets. But I find a way around everything. I've really wanted to go all out on the enclosures and have just 2 or 3 reptiles. I have always went overkill on my enclosures. Blackheaded pythons and amazon basin emeralds top my wanted list. Thanks again guys.