Salmonella and children under 5

I was just reading a web page on reptile keeping and salmonella. It stated that reptiles should be removed completlyfrom the house if a baby or a child under 5 is living in the house.

I am due to have a new born baby any time soon. I researched before hand and i read that as long as you anti bac your hands after handeling and keep all items related to the snakes away the risk of contaminstion is minmal. This site has made me think twice now.

My snakes are kept in tubs in one corner of my living room.

Any thoughts on this? Or will i have to sell my two snakes?:(

as long as you clean, clean, clean, i think you may be ok, can never be too safe, everyone ive talked to in person that has had snakes had to get rid of them because of a newborn baby, i think it may be your best bet for the childs sake to just sell them, or ask someone to house them for a few years(joking) <--- unless you would try tht, you live in copenhagen, i would watch them, but idk where tht it.

In reality yes there is always a risk of salmonella. But as long as you clean your snakes and wash your hands then there should be no worries. I have a lot of snakes and have a baby on the way and I will not be getting rid of my snakes. I also know a lot of people who are great friends of mine who have various reptiles and also have children, the children were born while the people had the snakes, and they have had no issues what so ever. Just keep everything clean and there should be no issues. The only thing I would suggest is to move the snakes to an area where the baby can not come in contact with them more for the safety of the snakes and the baby. Baby grabs tub it falls, snakes get out, baby grabs snake, snake bites baby out of fear. That is really the only issue I see at all and it is extremely easy to fix.

I would hate to get rid of the snakes but the safety of my new born is paramount!

I was thinking about these steps:

Having a spare tub clean and ready prepared so i can easily transfer the snakes into them, allowing the dirty ones to be cleaned outside. Then those tubs can be prepared for the next change. Therefore no cleaning in the house.

Keeping handling of snakes to a minimum whilst the baby is young, use anti bac gel after.

Not allowing tje snakes to touch surfaces, sofas chairs etc.

Keep all snake utensils boxed and away from surfaces.


Just some changes i thought of to reduce the risk of salmonella.

Any thoughts or experiences, positive or negative. I would like to get the thoughts of the community. Thanks

If you take the precautions you stated, you'd probably be okay. I've never had an issue with Samonella and I allow my snakes to be in my face, on my head, and wherever else. The only other thing I would say is if you have a separate room with a closing and preferably locking door in which you can put your snakes, that would be ideal. Then all snake related things save for cleaning can go in that room, and the baby will not be allowed in the room. Handling could take place there as well and you can keep a thing of anti bac in there as well. It would also help prevent a "baby meeting snake by accident" fiasco. :)

If you're a responsible parent and keep up on taking care of the snakes and being sure the child can't get a hold of them without you watching, and making sure your kids wash their hands if they do handle them, I think it's ridiculous to sell your snakes due to a new baby. My son is now 5 years old, and he always washes his hands when he handles the snakes (with my supervision). Honestly, the risk is only there if you allow it to be.

Keeping your snakes when your having a baby does not make you a bad parent either, don't let anyone make you think that. People are going to have their opinions, but as long as you are in control of the situation at home then they can shove it :)

I kept snakes and other reptiles through 2 pregnancies. Neither child ever contracted salmonella, and both were remarkably healthy as infants, not even an ear infection until after they were weaned. ;)

Saying that you should remove all reptiles from your house is like saying you should never bring a raw chicken into your house. The chicken poses a greater threat of salmonella contamination. The CDC's stance on pets is, and always has been, ridiculous.

Too much cleaning and disinfecting doesn't keep people healthier, it stunts the development of the immune system, and makes people delicate and susceptible to infections. This is why advice is shifting away from telling people to use anti bacterial soap and spray everything with Lysol, to telling people to clean with ordinary soap and water.

The only way your offspring will risk contracting salmonella from your snakes is if they put the snakes in their mouth, or eat the bedding. I trust you can prevent that, lol. If you want added protection, wipe the outsides of the enclosures down with chlorox wipes, and keep all equipment up out of reach, and enclosures locked.

My kids were occasionally allowed to touch the snakes as young as age two, with my careful supervision, and immediate hand-washing afterward. Last year, they were awarded their own snakes to name, handle occasionally, and feed. (My daughter just turned 8). They grew up understanding that they had to wash their hands after handling a reptile or reptile equipment. No one's ever gotten salmonella from a reptile, here. :P

Your children will find things hidden under the couch cushions or dug out from the corner of a carpet that would make your hair turn white, and they will put those things into their mouths for you to fish out later. Trust me, the snakes are not a worry. ;)

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Originally Posted by LGray23

If you're a responsible parent and keep up on taking care of the snakes and being sure the child can't get a hold of them without you watching, and making sure your kids wash their hands if they do handle them, I think it's ridiculous to sell your snakes due to a new baby. My son is now 5 years old, and he always washes his hands when he handles the snakes (with my supervision). Honestly, the risk is only there if you allow it to be.

Keeping your snakes when your having a baby does not make you a bad parent either, don't let anyone make you think that. People are going to have their opinions, but as long as you are in control of the situation at home then they can shove it :)

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I agree I have kids and reptiles, never had an issue. My son handles them but always washes his hands after, same with me. My daughter is 2 1/2 now she's allowed to look supervised but no touch. Honestly I'm convinced the kids are much more dirty than my snakes lol

We have 2 kids (one of which just turned 5 months) and we have never cut back on our reptiles. It all boils down to sanitation and responsibility. Clean yourself and anything which comes into contact with the baby thoroughly and routinely. If you have the space to do so, keep them in a separate room of the house to mitigate any introduction of anything potentially harmful to your baby. You will read reports everywhere which state reptiles and babies are bad, but mos of those are from authors with factual information with a bias twist to the true threat potential. Just keep clean and practice good hygiene and you will be good.

Interaction between yourself/other adults and your baby is far more dangerous than merely owning snakes.

Just use gloves and wash your hands well.

I didn't read every reply... but the truth of salmonella is... if you're clean it won't happen. The only real way you're going to contract salmonella is if you have a snake with a RI who's slobbering and you don't wash afterwards, or if you drink water from there water bowl.. like I've stated many times you have a better chance of getting salmonella from snakes then from raw eggs, BUT both are easily.prevented. the truth is you have a better chance from raw chicken then your snake. Just don't let the kids drink the water and you'll be fine. :) my step-son still hasn't caught salmonella neither has either of my brothers.. I personally feel like the whole salmonella thing is drastically over speculated in snakes...

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Originally Posted by ms381

I was just reading a web page on reptile keeping and salmonella. It stated that reptiles should be removed completlyfrom the house if a baby or a child under 5 is living in the house.

I am due to have a new born baby any time soon. I researched before hand and i read that as long as you anti bac your hands after handeling and keep all items related to the snakes away the risk of contaminstion is minmal. This site has made me think twice now.

My snakes are kept in tubs in one corner of my living room.

Any thoughts on this? Or will i have to sell my two snakes?:(

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Forget salmonella you should sell them because they will eat your new baby. Oh wait that's hysterical nonsense. There is a strong push to keep children away from hot dogs too because they are choking hazards. When you look at the odds of having an issue and compare it to all the other things with the same odds you will find that it comes down to not being able to protect your child from everything. More importantly there are negative consequences to being over protective. Just wash your hands more often. Don't let the baby play with the snakes. Problem solved.

I have 3 children ( 4, 11, and 12 ) and reptiles have been in this house for 8-9 years. My 4 year old has her own snakes, feeds them, cleans them and is the sole caretaker of them and we've never had any issues if salmonella.
We dont use anti bacterial soap very often or hand sanitary stuff very often, as they don't let your immunity build up. My children are hardly sick, with clean bills of health and like said, have never had salmonella :)

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Originally Posted by wingedwolfpsion

i kept snakes and other reptiles through 2 pregnancies. Neither child ever contracted salmonella, and both were remarkably healthy as infants, not even an ear infection until after they were weaned. ;)

saying that you should remove all reptiles from your house is like saying you should never bring a raw chicken into your house. The chicken poses a greater threat of salmonella contamination. The cdc's stance on pets is, and always has been, ridiculous.

Too much cleaning and disinfecting doesn't keep people healthier, it stunts the development of the immune system, and makes people delicate and susceptible to infections. This is why advice is shifting away from telling people to use anti bacterial soap and spray everything with lysol, to telling people to clean with ordinary soap and water.

The only way your offspring will risk contracting salmonella from your snakes is if they put the snakes in their mouth, or eat the bedding. I trust you can prevent that, lol. If you want added protection, wipe the outsides of the enclosures down with chlorox wipes, and keep all equipment up out of reach, and enclosures locked.

My kids were occasionally allowed to touch the snakes as young as age two, with my careful supervision, and immediate hand-washing afterward. Last year, they were awarded their own snakes to name, handle occasionally, and feed. (my daughter just turned 8). They grew up understanding that they had to wash their hands after handling a reptile or reptile equipment. No one's ever gotten salmonella from a reptile, here. :p

your children will find things hidden under the couch cushions or dug out from the corner of a carpet that would make your hair turn white, and they will put those things into their mouths for you to fish out later. Trust me, the snakes are not a worry. ;)

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xxxxxx 10!

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Originally Posted by Egapal

Forget salmonella you should sell them because they will eat your new baby. Oh wait that's hysterical nonsense.

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:rofl:
Perfect!

We're trying to conceive while I am planning for new snakes. I don't plan on getting rid of mine at all! Just ordered my custom built snake rack!

When my offspring were first brought into this world I was still in the retail reptile business with my own store. At one point I had thousands of snakes, lizards, and other creatures.

Never had a single problem. They were in and out of cages, handled the animals from the time they were old enough to want to and helped as much as they could with as much as I'd let them.

Still got them all. Still all healthy. Been over 20 years now.

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Originally Posted by LGray23

If you're a responsible parent and keep up on taking care of the snakes and being sure the child can't get a hold of them without you watching, and making sure your kids wash their hands if they do handle them, I think it's ridiculous to sell your snakes due to a new baby. My son is now 5 years old, and he always washes his hands when he handles the snakes (with my supervision). Honestly, the risk is only there if you allow it to be.

Keeping your snakes when your having a baby does not make you a bad parent either, don't let anyone make you think that. People are going to have their opinions, but as long as you are in control of the situation at home then they can shove it :)

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I live in a house with small children as we speak and I always make sure theyre cleaned and I dont not let the children hold them without me watching and I always make sure they wash their little hands after they do hold them. Never had a problem.

Salmonella is found in snakes' intestines, not on their skin, so making sure the cages stay clean and the snakes aren't sitting in their own poop reduces the risk by a lot.

It does, but if they crawl through their poop, they will have salmonella on their skin--so unless you wash them with soap and water (not recommended), it's best to wash your hands after handling them, lol.

I have 3 children 2,4,and 5. I have kept reptiles, lizards,frogs,tortoise,snakes throughout all their life's from birth until now with absolutely no incidents. When they handle a reptile they wash their hands and that's it. But I'm one of those guys that don't believe in all that medicine,antibiotics, antibacterial soap for every little thing. I live on property and my kids are always playing in the mud and sand and woods, digging up worms, playing with the goat, chickens, rabbits, etc and the honest truth my 5 year old hasn't been to the doctors for any sickness in over 3 years, my 4 yr old hasn't been in over 2, an amazingly my 2 yr old girl who is a little animal lover an tomboy has never been for any sickness what so ever only for vaccinations and such!!

I am trying to get pregnate as well and I just now am ording four more hatchlings. My snakes go no where. Just up the hand washing :)

Salmonella was the big talking point for groups like HSUS/PETA to scare people away from exotics before they became smart enough to use terms like "non-native" or "invasive" to fear monger. It is worth pointing out that it is to this day a common talking point for these groups in trying to end meat consumption.

It is perfectly clear, if you have been reading their sites for long enough, that from the moment every day households started seeing reptiles as normal every day pets, these animal rights groups have been grasping at whatever they can think of to try to end the practice. They think pet ownership is slavery, and won't be happy until the practice is outlawed.

Make no mistake, these are radical activists, not complete idiots. They know what they're doing, and they're good at it. Look at how many pet shops today will not call their pets "pets" anymore. Instead they use the term "companion animal." Where do you think that phrase comes from? You got it: The radical animal rights groups who see "pets" as "companion slaves." Even their radical jargon is invading the mainstream.

The reality is that anyone who keeps any animal in a dirty environment is creating a breeding ground for various 'germs' [of a variety of types]. We have all seen what happens to buildings that have been used by cat hoarders. The diseases permeate threw the building to such a degree that they often can not be salvaged after the animals are removed, and need to be bulldozed flat & hauled away.

My BP is a rescue. She was left to die under a pile of trash in an apartment after an eviction. Her tank hadn't been cleaned in some time, as evident by the amount of past sheds, feces, etc and let me tell you: That tank had a particular smell to it which has not reoccurred since [because I keep it clean].

Supposing, a child in a household with a reptile did contract salmonella. How would the family know where the disease originated? This is a disease where food prep is of major importance, and most people eat in a variety of homes, schools, restaurants etc. It only takes one to be lax in their cleanliness to cause someone to catch the disease, even if the food consumed by the victim was not a meat product at all.

I would question the use of antibacterial products at all in the house, given the emerging problem of antibacterial resistant superbugs and these products' tendency to cause contact dermatitis. I use a vinegar-water solution for a variety of cleaning in my house including when I clean my snake enclosure. I don't have to worry about having any kids in my apartment so maybe someone else would have some insight there but I would imagine traditional soap & water would be as good if used at the right times & frequency.

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Originally Posted by sgath92

Salmonella was the big talking point for groups like HSUS/PETA to scare people away from exotics before they became smart enough to use terms like "non-native" or "invasive" to fear monger. It is worth pointing out that it is to this day a common talking point for these groups in trying to end meat consumption.

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sgath, I think you make some excellent points. Bacteria and germs are a part of owning any pet, and also a part of life that shouldn't be as scary as so many people make it out to be.

On the other hand, salmonella is not just a scare tactic used by anti-exotics groups. It's uncommon for responsible snake-owners to contract salmonella, but it's real. And, considering it can be deadly to young children, it is something that all keepers (especially parents) should be informed about.

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Originally Posted by Crazy4Herps

Salmonella is found in snakes' intestines, not on their skin, so making sure the cages stay clean and the snakes aren't sitting in their own poop reduces the risk by a lot.

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I prefer empiric evidence.

This dude's been licking snakes for 40+ years, occasionally even letting them stick their head in his mouth.

[IMG]http://www.artnet.com/artwork_images_425934048_704142_ian-****son.jpg[/IMG]

He's never gotten salmonella.

Last summer he went to Brazil, ate some of the local cuisine and got food poisoning.

Had to cancel a concert for the first time in his career.

If he's not worried, I'm not worried.

Rock on, Coop!

http://file.walagata.com/w/the-salam...-smileyhat.gif

salmonella is often found in the intestinal track of snakes. Not the skin, tongue or other places. Be careful with faces, in the enclosure and out (garbage cans ect.) this is the venue for exposure. Good housekeeping (snake housekeeping) care with any and all substrate and any poo/pee and there should be no problem. For peace of mind and for the doubtful lock the enclosure and keep the key out of the way. I also when spot cleaning remove the 'garbage' from the house totally and immediately. I sanitize all the tools and myself as well. Just some common sense and a touch of care and there should be no issues.

Oh don't let the child lick the vent... LOL!!!

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

salmonella is often found in the intestinal track of snakes. Not the skin, tongue or other places. Be careful with faces, in the enclosure and out (garbage cans ect.) this is the venue for exposure. Good housekeeping (snake housekeeping) care with any and all substrate and any poo/pee and there should be no problem. For peace of mind and for the doubtful lock the enclosure and keep the key out of the way. I also when spot cleaning remove the 'garbage' from the house totally and immediately. I sanitize all the tools and myself as well. Just some common sense and a touch of care and there should be no issues.

Oh don't let the child lick the vent... LOL!!!

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Eeeeeeeyew!


:D