BTS + salmonella

[NorthEastBlue]

So I finally got my BTS and now my wifes is friend said they carry salmonella. My wife is a germ nut and has already handled him and is fine . She already googled it and we now know that most reptiles, as well as many other animals, can carry salmonella.

Can anyone tell me the last time they heard of someone catching salmonella from there bluey?

Jeremy.

[starscream3232]

I've been working with reptiles on and off for 20 years and have never had salmonella or heard of anyone that I know keeping reptiles have a problem with it. It is true that reptiles can carry the bateria. I think that if you follow basic hygiene after handling your skink you will have no problems. I work in the food industry and work with a lot of raw product "can" contain salmonella. So I believe the same hygiene when handling raw foods should apply when handling reptiles. A google search reveals that pretty much anything can give salmonella if you're not careful. I think the risk is the same if you have a reptile or not. So I wouldn't worry too much. As long as you got your skink from a repeatable keeper from clean conditions you should have no worrys. Just follow simple hygiene and enjoy your new skink.

[jdheff1982]

Salmonella is found in a wide varierty of animals and even in humans. A persons' immune system is going to dictate how easily they contract it. Do not worry about it. As long as she follows an after-handling cleaning regime, she should be ok. I've been around reptiles for quite a while, and have yet had salmonella. I think the captive breed BTS's are less likely to carry salmonella than their wild counterparts.

[SmaugTheBluey]

I know someone who has over 8 fully sized pythons, 4 adult tegus, and a savanna monitor kisses all of them and, got salmonella from a dog. reptiles are not infested with salmonella like many people think, its an old wives tale. Salmonella isn't airborne so as long as you wash your hands and any surfaces he's touched and will be eating off of you should be fine, hopefully it works out

[Dood]

I agree with what everyone else said - I've had reptiles - turtles, snakes, lizards for over 30 years, and have lived on a farm with free range chickens, turkeys, ducks, pigs etc...my while life, and have never caught a debilitating case of salmonella

A neglected reptile kept in a cage full of its fecal matter or with rotting or moldy substrate or slimy water would be a source of disease.

Besides, catching salmonella is often no worse than a touch of "stomach flu" and you don't live in a bubble to avoid that The more dangerous strains of salmonella you hear about in the news usually come from the giant poultry farms were the animals are fed antibiotics every day and the salmonella virus's have become resistant to many antibiotics and more dangerous to people. Or from the "organic" vegetable farms that spray the poop from these chickens as fertilizer

Basically you're more likely to be hospitalized for salmonella from a drop of raw chicken juice or your unwashed veggies than if you let your skink walk across your plate

[Coomassie]

From what I can tell, the rumor that reptiles carry salmonella comes from improper handling of very young water turtles. There was a correlation between salmonella and people handling baby water turtles a number of years ago. I have tried to culture salmonella off my reptiles (when I took micro in college) and couldn't do it. As long as you wash your hands, you have nothing to worry about. Honestly, I let my BTS eat off my plate, both have bit my husband's tongue, and I kiss them all the time. Same with my leopard geckos, crested geckos, snakes, and tortoise, and neither of us has ever gotten sick.

[Fatal_S]

I did have a fat tail gecko (wild caught, from a chain pet store) with confirmed salmonella. It was a pretty nasty strain of salmonella too. It's been treated now, so the gecko is fine. I never contracted it even thought I'm pretty lax with my reptile hygiene-practices.

I've never heard of a skink with it, but I'm sure it's happened somewhere. I give all my reptiles kisses and cuddles and have never been ill from it. I will say that extra caution should be taken with the very young, the very old, and anyone who's immune system is compromised.

I have been told that turtles are most likely to carry salmonella. I've yet to kiss one myself.

[jdheff1982]

I did have a fat tail gecko (wild caught, from a chain pet store) with confirmed salmonella. It was a pretty nasty strain of salmonella too. It's been treated now, so the gecko is fine. I never contracted it even thought I'm pretty lax with my reptile hygiene-practices.

I've never heard of a skink with it, but I'm sure it's happened somewhere. I give all my reptiles kisses and cuddles and have never been ill from it. I will say that extra caution should be taken with the very young, the very old, and anyone who's immune system is compromised.

I have been told that turtles are most likely to carry salmonella. I've yet to kiss one myself.

I bet it'd only happen once, lol! :chomp!:

[critterguy]

All reptiles carry salmonella as commensal organisms in the intestine. So far no successful attempts at curing reptiles of salmonella have been documented. Salmonella can be present for long periods of time on dry surfaces and things that animals have had contact with. Good hygiene is prudent when working with animals to minimize risk. Reptiles carry and shed salmonella at a higher rate than many other animals. I am concerned with the amount of misinformation in this thread. Note that while turtles are most frequently implicated this is merely due to them being much more popular pets than other reptiles.

Coomassie: That is interesting-and not the first time someone has mentioned this on forums. It does go against reams and reams of peer reviewed articles successfully isolating salmonella from fecals, as well as various confirmed cases of salmonella being traced back to reptiles-more info would be of interest. For most healthy people-contracting salmonella could be a couple loose stools, or nothing at all. But it can cause severe complications.

[Fatal_S]

Critterguy, do you have sources for those claims?

[critterguy]

Melanie: You can look at the CDC website for information which should lead to peer review articles on the subject. A google scholar search on salmonella and reptiles is also informative. Case studies of actual cases linked to reptiles can be found as well. If you can find them, please post them here. If I have time I will dig and link them. The number of indirect exposures that were successfully linked is eye opening.

This information is of particular importance to those with reptiles in outreach and education.

Some things to do.
-I personally do not allow young children(<6 say) to actually touch the animals. Same goes for any caretakers of those children. For large groups simply observing the animals will be very educational as well. A fun one is a snake jungle gym to demo how snakes climb without legs.
-handwashing/hand sanitizing is essential. This also goes for any surfaces the animals have crawled on-such as a table borrowed for a presentation
-do not allow people to let animal crawl up arm off hands etc. No draping snakes around necks for example.
-I have found that soap/water and hand sanitizer(60% ethanol/isopropyl) does not harm program animals so long as it is kept away from eyes etc. I like to wash them before taking them out to make sure they are squeaky clean Obviously do not use any animals that have defecated in transit. I do not know how much this reduces risk but with nonporous smooth skin I'm betting it gets a lot of surface bacteria that might otherwise be present.
If possible, parents/children should be informed of risks. I like the simple and cute "It is a great idea to wash your hands after handling any animal...particularly the human animal-we carry more germs than all the others put together!" A release form may be prudent for classroom situations but I have not personally written one before.

[NorthEastBlue]

You guys are just full of great info.
Thank you all for the input, i have begun to take very careful precautions after handling my bluey

Thanks again
Jeremy