Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm going on 10 years kissing my Iguana with no salmonella, yet.

Brett

3 years here and no samanilla yet either. i've also been bitten once by Oscar, and it didnt even get infected.
I dont think that all iggs are carriers, it's just common enough to warn people about the risks involved with owning any reptile. Also, young children and the elderly are much more likely to get sick from it. Maybe you just have a super buff imune system.

More than likely, you've had it and you just didn't know about it. Mild salmonella poisoning is common enough. Mostly, it comes from foods like undercooked eggs and chicken. Healthy adults feel no more ill effect than stomach irritation and flu-like symptoms... it's usually the immuno compromised folks, like young children, people with HIV and the elderly, who are hospitalized as a result of salmonella.

From what I understand (and this is coming from our zoo vet), all reptiles carry salmonella but not all shed it. In other words, your iguana most likely has it, but might not be 'contagious', so to speak. Furthermore, salmonella is contracted through the fecal-oral route: it is found in the poop of an infected animal, and then it can get onto their skin, then onto our skin, and, if we don't wash our hands throuroughly, into our mouths and digestive tracts.

Reptiles aren't the only carriers, they're just the most famous ones. Pet gerbils and hamsters have recently been reported to carry it, and we've known for years that chickens and other birds are common carriers.

My own belief is that owners of animals like iguanas tend to have hardier immune systems in the long run and eventually develop a resistence to things like Salmonella. That's not to say you'll never get it, just that it won't make you very sick and you won't get it very often.

That's just my understanding, though. Again, it's based on what my vet and our zoo vets have told me. Feel free to contradict if you know for a fact that something I said was wrong...

Alika
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~Alika~
1.0.0 green iguanas
0.1.0 cockatiels
1.0.0 senegal parrots
0.1.0 blue-fronted amazons
0.0.1 red belly piranha

Well, I too kiss my ig boy...going on 7 1/2 years now, without any serious bouts of anything. But, if I'm honest about it, I have to wonder if sometimes when I'm just feeling a little under the weather or have a stomach ache if maybe it is a touch of the ol samonella?? Who knows...I do try to keep my hands washed, especially when the boy is in "poop paint" mode.
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Ann

Well i have kissed him but dont do this very often. More out of my fear of being bit, than salmonella. I have had ozzy for about 4 years now and no salmonella yet, than im aware of anyway. I have wondered if somehow cause we are exposed, we become more resistant to it maybe, not sure. I do take pretty good percautions though, i wear latex gloves usually when i clean his cage. I work as a dental assistant so contamination control is something always in the back of my head. Force of habit more than anything. But yea i have kissed him a few times, when hes in sweet ig mode. LOL Wouldnt dream of it during breeding season though. I seen a photo on this site i think someone posted where a ig bit them in the face, and it was pretty nasty. Not something im taking a chance on thats for sure. Tami

Every member of my family kisses Iggi, at least once a day. My wife kisses Iggi uncountable times every day, ending with a goodnight kiss, after she tucks her into her bed, and covers her with her blanket. If Iggi ever had any Salmonella, we would all have been sick years ago. However, we give Iggi a bath first thing every morning, rinsing her off if she poops in the tub. Because of all this kissing, Iggi has taught herself how to "kiss" us back. To give us a kiss, Iggi will stick her tongue out, and simultaneously pull her tongue away from the roof of her mouth. This makes a smaking sound, to mimic the sound we make with our lips, when we kiss her. Iggi never does this when she is just tongue flicks something to smell it. She is silent when she does that.

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Lamar, Debbie, Nathaniel and Iggi :>~