Ever gotten Salmonella from your reptiles?

On another forum, out of curiosity, I posted a rant based on snake bans. Of course, the majority of the responses have been negative. If allowed, I will post a link to the discussion.

One comment that someone said was that reptiles carry Salmonella. I'm just curious on how many people have actually gotten sick.

nope only from burger king

Haha. Amusingly, I said that you were more likely to get it from improperly cooked food.

my gf actually kisses our snakes on the head and what not...never been sick. lol!

I've actually heard it's way more likely to catch salmonella from poorly prepared food than from your reptiles. Dunno if it's true, never tried to look it up...never really cared. If we get sick, it's our own damn fault right? haha

I haven't gotten it, yet. I sometimes make mistakes where I accidentally forget to wash my hands after handling one of my snakes and ate some food.. but nothing happened. I guess it's because I always keep the enclosure clean by spot cleaning when I first see that "present" my snakes or gecko left me.

I sometimes even give my snakes a little kiss, but pretty much only my female BP cuz she don't mind it:)

i never got it, i wash my hands ever time after holding my snake, plan on not geting it :)

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Originally Posted by ItsMichael805

i never got it, i wash my hands ever time after holding my snake, plan on not getting it :)

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exactly, just because it isn't as common as people think it is, doesn't mean you shouldn't take every precaution you can.

I have a friend who's granddaughter and a friend of hers who had just gone through surgery both caught salmonella at her house which came from her herp room. She actually had a local disease control group come over and test the surfaces in her room and they were able to culture the same bacteria strain from some of those surfaces that was infecting the two people. She's really not that big of a snake keeper and is more of a lizard person and had a number of monitors at the time. But yes, it's not a rumor. People really can get salmonella from their reptiles. I don't think it's nearly as common as the CDC would like you to believe, but it is possible.

To avoid getting salmonella from reptiles... all you have to do is wash your hands after handling, do not kiss them, do not let them near your mouth, and keep your reptile cages and area clean. If you do these you have almost zero chance of getting salmonella from reptiles.

I love how freaked out people get about Salmonella and reptiles. Yes you can get it from them but it's rare and all you have to do is take the proper precautions.
Do the idiots on the other forum you are talking about, have any idea about all the diseases and bacterial infections you can get from dogs...including *gasp* Salmonella?!