Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I went to the doctor for what I thought were bug bites. Turns out I have staph/MSRA. Is there any chance of spreading this to my snakes? I don't plan to handle them until the sores are closed, but I've already handled them with the sores open...are they in any danger??

>>I went to the doctor for what I thought were bug bites. Turns out I have staph/MSRA. Is there any chance of spreading this to my snakes? I don't plan to handle them until the sores are closed, but I've already handled them with the sores open...are they in any danger??

staph aureus is a normal bacteria of your skin, i believe it is only present in warm blooded animals. the mr part is resistance to the antibiotic methicillin. staph infections are treated with antibiotics, however the over/misuse have resulted in a number of resistant strains. methicillin was the strongest available anitbiotic for treatment of staph, until resistant strains emerged. this is a big problem in hospitals. if you get sick, stay out of the hospital, lol!!!
anyhow it should not effect your snakes. however you should not handle your snakes with open wounds so YOU don't get an inadvertent infection.
-----
odelay odelay odelay hee hoooo...
heeeeya huhhhh!
~Back in the saddle (Aerosmith)

staph aureus is a normal bacteria of your skin, i believe it is only present in warm blooded animals. the mr part is resistance to the antibiotic methicillin. staph infections are treated with antibiotics, however the over/misuse have resulted in a number of resistant strains. methicillin was the strongest available anitbiotic for treatment of staph, until resistant strains emerged. this is a big problem in hospitals. if you get sick, stay out of the hospital, lol!!!
anyhow it should not effect your snakes. however you should not handle your snakes with open wounds so YOU don't get an inadvertent infection.]

Dave- good to see you back! How have you been? Keeping any kingsnakes?

hey I forgot.. what kinda work are you in again that you know so much about medical stuff?
-----
www.Bluerosy.com

"They that can give up essential liberty, to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty or safety." -Benjamin Franklin

>>hey I forgot.. what kinda work are you in again that you know so much about medical stuff?

I have been doing an apprenticeship with "Tim the Sorcerer"...

>>"They that can give up essential liberty, to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty or safety." -Benjamin Franklin

molon labe'

-----
odelay odelay odelay hee hoooo...
heeeeya huhhhh!
~Back in the saddle (Aerosmith)

Staph is a common inhabitant of almost all animals. It is an opportunist in that it does not usually cause any harm (yes even MRSA usually goes undetected) until the host is weakened or immunocompromised. There is no reason to think that a snake could not have MRSA as a normal commensal bacteria, nor is there any reason to think that they would not be susceptible to the infection if they were weakened in any way. I would strongly urge you to not handle your snakes if you can avoid it. I would keep an eye out for any signs of any kind of infections, skin lesions, or respiratory disease. You and your snakes will most likely be fine and I doubt you will see any of those things but there is no reason why it couldn't happen.

I guess that makes sense. I'm feeling bad about it--I just got new snakes in, and I'm having to hold off on basic stuff now. Here's hoping the staph doesn't get in to my blood--person I knew in HS had that happen and spent a while in the hospital. I about crapped myself when I heard the doctor say I had staph cause of that.

There are also two different forms of MRSA. there is a hospital acquired form which is more dangerous and a cutaneous form which is more common in the general public (outside of hospitals), more easily transmissible, but less dangerous. It sounds like you have the second type. Good luck with it though.