Can our snakes catch our colds/germs?

My husband said I shouldn't handle the snakes if I think I'm getting a cold. But I think their body temps are too cold to support my cold germs, etc.

Can a snake catch a cold/the flu from a human?

Your snake cannot catch your cold...but if you are getting sick you are more susceptible to salmonella and other ailments you can catch from your snake...just make sure and be very aware of your hygiene practices after messing with him.

Hope this helps.

The majority of illnesses that effect warm blooded mammals will not effect cold blooded reptiles and vise versa. However there are things that one or the other carry, that can be harmful to the other. Like salmonella

There is in fact an organism called Chlamydophila that can affect the health of your snake. This organism causes pneumonia in humans and causes the same symptoms in your snake, if infected.

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Originally Posted by SoundUnsleep

There is in fact an organism called Chlamydophila that can affect the health of your snake. This organism causes pneumonia in humans and causes the same symptoms in your snake, if infected.

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Very interesting. It seems that this particular illness infects several different species across mammals, birds, reptiles, and even amphibians. This is definitely an exception, and not the rule. But you learn something new every day.:)

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Originally Posted by SoundUnsleep

There is in fact an organism called Chlamydophila that can affect the health of your snake. This organism causes pneumonia in humans and causes the same symptoms in your snake, if infected.

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Interesting. I did not know that. But I guess if I had that I would know it - it's not just a simple cold, right? Kind of makes me think of the bird flu scare, etc.

The "common cold" or "flu" isn't actually just one virus, its a group of them that have the same/similar symptoms and treatment. Most strains of those are not contagious to other mammals, let alone reptiles, but some are. Better to play it safe and interact minimally while you are sick.

You wouldn't be able to easily distinguish between rhinovirus and particular strains of coronavirus that are transmissible to them without getting labwork. Coronavirus is not a new thing, many strains have been going around as "common cold" for ages, and a decent number do cross species, including reptile and avian.

Not sure why this post resurfaced, but I saw it earlier too. It’s 14yrs old and the OP hasn’t been on in almost 9yrs. [emoji88]


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Originally Posted by jmcrook

Not sure why this post resurfaced, but I saw it earlier too. It’s 14yrs old and the OP hasn’t been on in almost 9yrs. [emoji88]


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Probably because someone saw it & couldn't resist voting- that will make a thread 'live again', even with no new posts- just a vote, lol.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Probably because someone saw it & couldn't resist voting- that will make a thread 'live again', even with no new posts- just a vote, lol.

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Oops! I didn't see the date, I just saw it pop up in recent threads and thought it was new. I'll have to pay better attention to polls now, sorry!