Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey,

I also caught "The Big Squeeze" on the Animal Planet the other night. It was interesting, but did overdramatize the possible danger of owning constrictors, or coming into contact with them in the wild. For that reason the show wasn't really fair to responsible snake keepers, and does instill more fear in the public than there needs to be. On the other hand, it may make people who are not really serious about owning such a snake think twice before getting one (maybe preventing an accidental bite or an overabundance of snakes that need a good home once they get to be too much to handle).

I guess it all comes down to being a RESPONSIBLE and educated pet owner, as is the case with any animal. Maybe burms aren't quite as domesticated as my dogs, but I know mine knows and recognizes me.

The only statement that really worries me is reference to burms possibly carrying rabies. I was bit by Pandora (my albino) recently when she mistook my hand for a meal. I calmly sat there on the floor with her until she let go - about ten seconds worth of teeth, no constriction or anything. She must have known it was me. Anyway, I went to the DR only because I wasn't sure when I had my last tetanus shot. They didn't mention getting any other treatment. The man that was bitten on the Big Squeeze mentioned he had like 21 shots, including rabies shots. The medical staff that treated him stated that snakes eat prey that DO carry rabies, so it was possible that he would contract it. Is this possible? Can it only be totally ruled out if you know the bunnies you buy are from captive raised farms? I don't know where my pet store gets them from honestly. I guess if rabies is a risk it would be one that would outweigh keeping the snake. I can handle getting bit because of not being cautious enough or because of her honest mistake, but not contracting a serious disease.
"Over 20 people die every year from constrictors or from infections related to them."

Any feedback???

Robert

From what I know, which is limited, it is not possible to contract rabies from a reptile. The disease dies quickly inside a body whose temperature is not constant. Basically, the cold blood causes the disease to die. I don't think there is any case of anyone contracting rabies from any reptile, especially captive kept snakes. But, like I said what I know is very limited.

That cold-blooded animals in general, don't carry rabies. And if they do, which I doubt, I've never ever heard of anyone getting rabies for a reptile, let alone snakes. So no fear
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Randilyn -;,-
Desolate Gray: Reptiles

>>From what I know, which is limited, it is not possible to contract rabies from a reptile. The disease dies quickly inside a body whose temperature is not constant. Basically, the cold blood causes the disease to die. I don't think there is any case of anyone contracting rabies from any reptile, especially captive kept snakes. But, like I said what I know is very limited.

Even reptiles have their own baseline temperature constants to which they then supplement with outside heat sources such as the thermal energy of the sun in order to raise their body temperature to desirable levels. The thing with rabies is that it is more of a problem with a high enough constant body temperature than just a plain constant temperature. Opossums for example are resistant (but not totally immune) to contracting rabies because their body temperature is not high enough on average to incubate the virus long enough for it to be able to reproduce and spread within the animal's body.

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Wyvern

Taken from the Franklin County, Ohio website.....

"most rabies are found in wildlife, such as skunks, bats, and raccoons. Pets get rabies from wildlife. Dogs and cats pose the greatest risk in spreading the disease from wildlife to people. Birds and reptiles do not carry rabies."

I think the odds of feeder bunnies carrying rabies are so phenomenonally low... I mean, most pet snakes eat rodents or rabbits, and I get bitten by smaller snakes on a weekly basis, and the smaller ones would be just as likely to carry rabies from feeder animals as larger ones.
If you have to worry about feeder animals carrying rabies, I wouldn't buy any meat from the grocery store either, you know? Those are mammals too.
If, on the other hand, your snake has been eating wild bats, then I guess you could possibly have a problem.
(where I live we have had a problem with slow rabies in bats in the last few years, so I'm not trying to spread horrible myths about bats).

This is an interesting question. I don't know if it is certain that a reptile could transmit rabies to a human after ingesting rabid prey. I would hope the producers of the show followed through on their research. Theoretically it could be possible. If one feeds a road-killed racoon for instance and it was a rabies carrier (which is highly likely)and immediately swallowing the snake tagged you... I suppose it is possible. Reptiles do not carry rabies however- only mammals carry rabies. Another consideration is that small prey such as rodents or rabbits have such high metabolic rates that a bite from a rabid animal would more than likely kill them from shock. Rodents and rabbits rarely carry rabies because they do not ordinarily survive the attack to become carriers.
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Marcia Pimentel
Tango River Reptiles
GiantFeeders

According to a 2001 study, only 3 cases of rabies in rabbits were confirmed by a laboratory. The same number of horses was reported. All three rabbits were infected with "raccoon rabies", and two were actually observed being attacked by raccoons through the wire.

Even IF you fed an infected rabbit to a snake, the rabies virus does not infect reptiles, and they certainly cannot pass it on to another mammal.

K. Royer

>>According to a 2001 study, only 3 cases of rabies in rabbits were confirmed by a laboratory. The same number of horses was reported. All three rabbits were infected with "raccoon rabies", and two were actually observed being attacked by raccoons through the wire.
>>

I do believe that there has been at least one case in the early 1990's of a pet hamster testing positive for rabies.

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Wyvern

>>Another consideration is that small prey such as rodents or rabbits have such high metabolic rates that a bite from a rabid animal would more than likely kill them from shock. Rodents and rabbits rarely carry rabies because they do not ordinarily survive the attack to become carriers.
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If the small animal survives the attack and becomes contagious, they more often than not crawl off and die alone while in the earlier 'dumb' stage of the illness rather than the later 'agressive' stage... mainly because their metabolisms are high and they simply cannot forage for enough food to keep going. Larger animals such as raccoons, foxes, dogs, cats, however are more prone to reaching the later stages of the illness as they can survive much longer periods without regular food intake. Also an animal does not always have to be attacked to become infected. If the mother is harboring the virus she can pass it off onto nursing young. Raccoons especially are being found to have the ability of harboring the virus for weeks or even months before actually starting to exhibit signs of the disease.

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Wyvern

no,reptiles do not carry rabies.I also watched the animal planets big squeeze,but hell i watched it several months ago(i dont know when this message was posted by you,but it is june now)and the animals shouldnt have rabies,i breed all my food for my snakes and therefore they are clean and sterile,with the cleanest cages ever,all my pets cages stay squeaky clean.