Kissing Skinks and Salmonella?

[Scincus]

This may be a naive question, but is it safe to be kissing a skink (or other reptiles for that matter)? I've heard the classic 'you'll get salmonella,' but I'm curious to know if salmonella is as common in reptiles as people say they are or if it's just people overreacting because of a select few cases.

[jdheff1982]

I believe we had a discussion here about this not long ago. The contraction of salmonella appears to be dependent on the person's immune system. Strong immune systems will still contract, but the person may never even know they have it or exhibit mild symptoms. The one's with weakened immune systems and young children appear to be more susceptible.

Heck, I've got an uncle who "raised" an iguana very poorly sometime in his past. He made some comment recently that iguana's have salmonella bad. I told him that all animals, even non-reptiles, have salmonella. That's when he chimed in his dumb comment. I knew after that, there was no amount of education I could provide that he would listen to. He also thought his iguana had leprosy because it kept losing toes. More like stuck skin restricting blood flow and the toe falling off as a result of it.

The chances of contracting salmonella are reduced quite a bit if you take simple precautionary steps in keeping yourself clean before and after handling your reptile. However, I would venture to say that a good portion of reptile owners probably do not wash before and after handling and do not contract salmonella; that is my opinion only.

[Dood]

^Yeah that ^

There are THOUSANDS of different serotypes/strains of Salmonella bacteria and only a few are deadly, most are contracted through fecal matter so someone who keeps their reptile cage dirty and kisses their pet is much more likely to catch an infectious dose of salmonella than those who frequently remove wastes and regularly clean the habitats.

[Ray Gurgui]

I would be more worried about getting bitten on the lip or face , than Salmonella.

[Fatal_S]

I am extremely skeptical of the claim that all reptiles have salmonella, or even that it's common in pet reptiles. I've kissed just about every reptile I've met, including the wild ones, and have never had an issue. I have had one reptile with confirmed salmonella - a WC gecko who's nose was swelling after I bought it from a pet store was confirmed to have a nasty case of salmonella (was a big pain to deal with, no more pet store animals for me).

That said, I don't want to get sued over saying it's safe, so my official word is don't go kissing reptiles.

[Coomassie]

I just want to say two things. The first is that I have a horrible immune system. I'm not like in danger of dying from an infection but pretty much any illness hits, and I come down with it. My husband sneezes and I've got the plague. The second is that I kiss my reptiles (all of them) and I let them climb all over me and my apartment. I let my skinks take bites out of my food and crawl on the kitchen counters. No one has gotten salmonella in my apartment.

I also I want to say that I tried to culture salmonella from one of golden geckos and I was unsuccessful.

[digger]

Give them bites of your food, Coomassie??!!? Isn't that dangerous, i.e. you might not get it back if they like it?

[Coomassie]

Give them bites of your food, Coomassie??!!? Isn't that dangerous, i.e. you might not get it back if they like it?

Coomassie once stole an english muffin with peanut butter and banana from my husband. He made it down the couch before I wrestled it away from him. I never knew his little legs could move so fast. He also once made off with an apple scone. I've found that they generally can't make off with entire apples and I let them eat off my plate if I'm eating scrabbled eggs.

[Scincus]

Thanks for all the responses! I'm not going to worry to much about it since it seems pretty uncommon. (And Azúl is pretty clean most of the time, so it should be fine, and if not then oh well).

[Fatal_S]

To be safe, show extra caution with very young children, the elderly, and anyone who's immune-compromised. As in clean hands thoroughly after any touching, and no kissing/cuddling. Just to be safe

[digger]

[quote="Coomassie"] I let them eat off my plate if I'm eating scrabbled eggs.[/quote]

yeah, eggs are a favorite. We just give Stripe his own plate

[jdheff1982]

If it makes you feel any better, my corn snake chomped my lower lip once when I was transferring it to a new tank. It was mad as heck and whipped around and snagged my lower lip and it gushed blood like crazy. Never did get any symptoms of salmonella nor have I bothered to handle the snake since (it has a very bizarre temperament for a corn snake).

[JoshChimera]

I am extremely skeptical of the claim that all reptiles have salmonella, or even that it's common in pet reptiles. I've kissed just about every reptile I've met, including the wild ones, and have never had an issue. I have had one reptile with confirmed salmonella - a WC gecko who's nose was swelling after I bought it from a pet store was confirmed to have a nasty case of salmonella (was a big pain to deal with, no more pet store animals for me).

That said, I don't want to get sued over saying it's safe, so my official word is don't go kissing reptiles.

You kissed WC reptiles? Ha ha they thought you were going to eat them? You are adorable, Mel!

[Spankenstyne]

This may be helpful. ARAV recommended Veterinary guidelines regarding Salmonella & reptiles. http://www.arav.org/wp-content/uploads/ ... arians.pdf