Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, this is a strange question, but I just want to be sure that it's ok...Yesterday my ig was out of his cage and my dogs just LOVE him. They kept going up to him with their tails wagging like crazy, sniffing and licking his head. My Ig just ate the attention up. He held his head up high and actually leaned towards them to be "kissed" My question is: Is this harmful in anyway to my dogs?? Can they get sick from salmonella or anything else? I'm assuming that they can't due to the fact that their bodies are much different than humans...but I'm not sure.

Also, just so you all don't worry...I am supervising them VERY closely and this never happened before. I usually keep the dogs and ig separated. But, the ig has become very used to the dogs and the dogs always cry and whine to see the ig up close. My one female dog actually lays by his cage and whines until the ig walks over to her in his cage. My male dog is a little more cautious of my ig since about a year and a half ago he got too nosey and scared the ig into nipping him on the nose. I took my dog to the vet just in case and they gave me antibiotics just in case also. It was not a bad bite though. It just scared me. I kept telling him to stay away and kept pushing him away but he just HAD to see the ig! Since then, the ig had been changed into an open cage from a glass aquarium and has become very used to the dogs, since the dogs are always near the cage as soon as he moves to the lower sections of his cage....
Sorry this is so long....so will it harm either animal???
Thanks for reading!
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~Heather~
3 German Shepherd Dogs (Tasha, Austin, & Kaiya)
1 Iguana (Irwin)
4 Firebelly Toads (Kirby, Gus, Pico, & Tiki)
3 Red-Eared Slider Hatchlings (Otis, Jasper, & Jade)
1 Southern Painted Hatchling (Milo)
Check out my website with most of my pets!

Yep dogs can contract salmonella
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Cindy
PHFaust

Email Cindy

Land of the Outcasts!

Alrighty then...guess this won't ever happen again! They'll just have to be lovers from a distance.
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~Heather~
3 German Shepherd Dogs (Tasha, Austin, & Kaiya)
1 Iguana (Irwin)
4 Firebelly Toads (Kirby, Gus, Pico, & Tiki)
3 Red-Eared Slider Hatchlings (Otis, Jasper, & Jade)
1 Southern Painted Hatchling (Milo)
Check out my website with most of my pets!

While its possible for a dog to contract salmonella I'm highly doubtful they'd get it from licking an iguana. Canine saliva is much more acidic than a humans... They have the ability to eat things you and I wouldn't even think were food without so much as batting an eyelash... and this includes rotting stuff...full of bacteria but if measured their oral bacteria load is significantly lower than ours in proportion to their size. I wouldn't worry overly much if you dog gives the iggy an occassional kiss...Its not gonna hurt him.. my dogs have eaten much worse when my back was turned.. (They like to go tidbit diving in the kitty litter pan.. a habit I haven't been able to break them of yet) and haven't suffered for it a bit.. and I've had reptiles and dogs in the same areas for over 10 years.. including iguanas.. monitors and snakes..though my snakes and monitor were never enthusiastic about the dogs being around.. the iguanas didn't mind at all...for the most part.
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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
3.5.3 Leopard geckos (2.0 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 0.1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short), 1.0 Rainwater Albino (Mycah), 0.4 Poss. Het. Albino (Annika, Lace, Rain and Aris) and 2.1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice, Malfeas, and Mystic))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
3 cats (Ashe, Sahara and Hercules)
6 Fish (4 Red Danios, 1 Cardinal Fish, and 1 Tiger Barb)
8 Ramshorn snails
"And a Partridge in a Pear Tree!"

I dont doubt that iguana can carry salmonella, but i'm curious if somebody ever heard of anybody actually contracting the disease ? Most of us have iguana that they handle quite a bit or let them free roam. I doubt that everybody change clothes or wash the floor, furniture and everything their iguana comes in contact with (me first)everytime they get their iguana.
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Mizar 21
1.0 Collared lizard (Ganymede)
1.0 Leopard Gecko (Gethsemani)
1.0 Nerodia Fasciata (Serpentard)
1.0 rescued iguana (Gomez)
1.2 Cats

Acutally, all reptiles on the face of this planet carry some form of salmonella. It's just that there's something like a few hundred (or more) strains of it, and an awful lot are not harmful to humans. then there's some that are moderatly harmful (ever felt queasy after eating out? probably some salmonella strain), then there's one or two which are horrendous (very rare). I've had mild salmonella from being unsafe when cleaning my herps (all who-knows-how-many of them), mostly I felt real sick for like a day, then it was gone. So, yes, iguanas do carry it, but so does chicken, or poultry of any sort, and even alot of veggies get contaminated (I heard a report once that a particularly virulent strain was found on some lettuce used at a school). So in short, it's just about everywhere, it's just a matter of how bad of a strain it is.
-katie

Before I asked this question I had the same opinion as you, and actually I'm still thinking that it can't be that be of a risk to the dogs. I was figuring that if people are feeding a raw diet (BARF diet for those of you familiar with it) to some of their dogs that kissing an ig every once in a while really shouldn't hurt them. I read that they can carry and contract salmonella, but the cases of it in dogs is very small.

Soooo....... I guess if it does happen I won't freak out, but it won't be something I allow to happen all the time!

Thanks for everyone's help!
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~Heather~
3 German Shepherd Dogs (Tasha, Austin, & Kaiya)
1 Iguana (Irwin)
4 Firebelly Toads (Kirby, Gus, Pico, & Tiki)
3 Red-Eared Slider Hatchlings (Otis, Jasper, & Jade)
1 Southern Painted Hatchling (Milo)
Check out my website with most of my pets!

i had a dog that would do the same thing. we couldnt keep her away from it. she died from a twisted gut. the litter is not very digestable. and the vet said somehow it exspands in the tummy. it was a very slow and painful death. we know it was from the kitty litter because after she died her body let alot of it out in her poo. it just keept building up inside her. just wanted to warn you. take care.
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brandy

We're careful with her. She's a mix breed shepherd/husky and is 10 now.. been doing it since we got he in 97 and probably before that. Its just a royal pain in the butt... But we believe she's got lymphoma now.. Just have to get the money up to take her in for needle aspirations and if she does she probably won't be with us much longer. She's been a good dog...and if she's terminally ill we'll have her put to sleep.....no reason to make her suffer through it...
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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
3.5.3 Leopard geckos (2.0 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 0.1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short), 1.0 Rainwater Albino (Mycah), 0.4 Poss. Het. Albino (Annika, Lace, Rain and Aris) and 2.1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice, Malfeas, and Mystic))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
3 cats (Ashe, Sahara and Hercules)
6 Fish (4 Red Danios, 1 Cardinal Fish, and 1 Tiger Barb)
8 Ramshorn snails
"And a Partridge in a Pear Tree!"

aww im so sorry to hear that. its always hard to have them put down. but you have to do whats best for them. good luck
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brandy

In my opinion, no. This is based on my family and I kissing our iguana, Iggi, every day for the past 3 years. Iggi also kisses us back. Yes, I know iguanas don't have lips. If Iggi had any Salomnella, we would all be dead, or wishing we were dead, years ago.
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Lamar, Debbie, Nathaniel and Iggi :>~