Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi I am wondering of anyone knows if the various bugs that affect humans who get traveler's diarrhea can be transmitted to geckos. Just got back from Mexico and wondering if I need to take any special precautions to avoid my gex getting whatever I have, or if these sorts of bugs are generally not transmittable to gex anyway.

If you just got a case of the trots in Mexico chances are you picked up a bit of giardia. I know that reptiles can get giardia, but I don't know if it is the same strain as the kind humans get.

Just make sure to wash your hands well after going to the restroom, as giardia is passed on through the ingestion of contaminated feces.

I'm sure there are other bugs you can pick up in Mexico, but I think giardia is the most common.

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-Ross Payan - www.LeosAnonymous.com

Leos Anonymous

Ball Pythons, Red Striped Leos, and Screaming Fat-Tails

ugh, I don't want to eat any feces, contaminated or not.
Hope you get over the runs soon, best to play it safe with your leo, the last thing you need is for it to have the runs too
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Thanks, this time it's me who's getting the fecal. I should know tomorrow. Ick. I was on antibiotics when I went to Mex so didn't worry about the water/fruits/ice etc... much...figured the antibiotics would kill anything...forgot about parasites.

I wash my hands of course, I was concerned though about possible aerosolization. I saw a show once where they explained how when you flush the toilet you get aerosolization, and the germs get into the air and land on surfaces. Not sure if giardia are small enough to go airborne, supposedly bacteria and viruses are. I was concerned because I sometimes bathe geckos in the bathroom sink. Also I don't know if soap and water kills everything.