Can dogs be allergic to BTS?

[EverydayThor]

Hi everybody,

Loki started his first shed today (yay!) and we let our Golden Retriever Chacha smell some of the shed scales to get him used to Loki's smell.
Surprisingly, Chacha started sneezing and salivating quite strongly, as if the scales were itching his nose big time.
Did anybody ever have a similar experience? I could not find anything online in this regard (except for Information that crickets and locusts can carry strong allergens - but Loki did not get any of these yet. So far only cat/dog food and gutloaded mealworms).


Thanks a lot!

[splashy07]

I have never heard of either human or animal being allergic to a reptile.

[kingofnobbys]

Nor I, dog scared of reptile yes.

The dry shed from a skink can be very brittle and if the scales and bits of old skin are small enough, they can be like dust and get into the nasal passages and make one sneeze.

Watering eyes …. I'd be looking at other environmental sources of allergens that may be causing an allergic reaction , perhaps grass or plant pollens or something in the house or on you.

[EverydayThor]

I would have been surprised to hear of an allergy as well.
The reaction is direct and only to the shed skin. The first time I let him get close enough to Loki to get a whiff of its smell, the reaction was similar. It does not seem to be anything from around as Chacha does not react to anything else here.
Maybe small scale particles or something of the substrate then… Will keep an eye on it!