Do you kiss your snake (or allow your kids to)?

OK, the pet store told us to wash our hands after handling the snake and not to kiss the him (risk of Salmonella). We held out for 2 weeks. Now, we kiss him quite often. (I think the hand washing has gotten lax, too.)

The kissing started with my 3 and 6 yr old sons. My 3 yr old kept asking if he could kiss Mr. Snake (the BP). The 6 yr old wanted to, but resisted. Finally, we broke down and said, "OK, you kiss him first, and if you aren't sick within 3 days, we'll kiss him, too."

Mostly my 3 yr old and I have kissed him. My 6 yr old did it a few times. My husband has not gone on record as having done so (yet).

I think folks would be less inclined to kiss 'em....and more strict about washing up after handling them....if everyone could visit a large breeder's facility and take a look at the albinos and other light-colored morphs....and see some smears and smudges that you don't usually notice on the normal colored snakes. They crawl through their own wastes....and even if you keep the enclosure clean...it's not like they get to go wash their hands after each time they go to the bathroom.


So....nope....no kissing my snakes for me or my kids. I love my BP to pieces and enjoy "cuddling" with her...but I keep my mouth away from her body and wash up afterwards. ;)

My roomate always kisses his ball python and never washes his hands after handling it..He hasn't got sick yet,but i still don't think its a very good idea.

for once i think the pet store gave some good info. there defiantly is a risk of spreading salmonella, and i am sure there are some stories of people getting sick. especially with children, who don't have the strongest immune system. would you you let your kid lick a piece of raw chicken?

i would stop the kissing, and DEFIANTLY start proper hand-washing. you need to be a role model for the kids. if you don't wash your hands they aren't gonna do it, and thats when people get sick.

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Originally Posted by MelissaFlipski

The 6 yr old wanted to, but resisted. Finally, we broke down and said, "OK, you kiss him first, and if you aren't sick within 3 days, we'll kiss him, too."

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I really hope you are joking about that.

No, we don't kiss our snakes and we wash up after any handling.

More than likely you are going to be OK, but I wouldn't do it just by the small chance that you do get sick. Salmonellosis SUCKS!!! Not a good sickness to have, and children and Sr. citizens are at a MUCH higher risk of getting it than a healthy young adult. I have a little girl coming in Nov, and I know that I am not going to let her touch snake stuff much at all (meaning not even the carpet in the snake room), and the few times I do I am going to wash her down real quick. Just check out the below link on salmonellosis and then see if you think it is still worth the risk.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmonellosis

Um... my bad. :eek:

We don't kiss our snakes here either. My kids get to handle the snakes under my supervision, and it has become such a practice that now I don't even have to remind them to wash their hands afterwards. Do we kiss any of the animals? I have trained one of my cockatiels to give me a "kiss" when I make kissy sounds and I have caught my kids kissing the dogs or the cats on occasion, but would I really allow them to.... no. The cats are in and out of the litter box, the dogs are rolling in the dirt, and though my BP is kept in sanitary conditions with regular cage cleanings and spot cleanings in between, I think that the risk of the kids getting salmonella (sp?) are just too great for me to allow them to kiss her.

Blech sorry I had a younger sister that got worms from allowing our dog to lick around her mouth. That put me off ever allowing that with my own kids. We have a strict house policy....

"if it can lick it's own bum (or mess about in it's own poop)....it does not get kissed by us or is allowed to kiss us"

We also have gel hand sanitizer in the house which we use due to having snakes in quarantine. For regular handling of the rest of the snakes, good handwashing with soap and water does the job (except for kids from outside the house or snake shows at school...then everyone sanitizes before AND after touching any of our snakes).

No snake kissing here, no dog kissing either, no animal kissing period!

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"if it can lick it's own bum (or mess about in it's own poop)....it does not get kissed by us or is allowed to kiss us"

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My thought exactly any animal that can sniff and/or lick it's own butt or that can sniff and/or eat their own waste or those of others:colbert:, get no kiss from me

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Originally Posted by MelissaFlipski

Finally, we broke down and said, "OK, you kiss him first, and if you aren't sick within 3 days, we'll kiss him, too."

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Wow...a vision of a king making someone taste his food to see if they die first just popped into mind.

hmm I think I may be seen as a little harsh here but I think its extremely irresponsible to allow your kids to kiss your snakes or indeed allow general handling with no washing afterwards.

I do talks at nurseries and schools . scouts etc sometimes around here and I always stress to the kids the importance of adhering to strict codes of clenliness regardless of how clean your snake appears to be.

It is simply not worth the risk imo and I totally agree with the comments regarding the dogs and cats etc, makes me cringe when I see some people bend down and let dogs lick all around their face.

The are simply being dogs and acting like a wild dog would , licking your face hoping for food its not that they genuinely just like you and want to kiss you. Add that to the licking itself everywhere it can reach as well as other dogs butts etc and it makes me boke big time.

Anyway not intending to offend anyone here that does kiss their :colbert: snake lol that their choice I just dont happen to agree with it for obvious reasons.

I just feel strongly about it when kids are concerned as they rely on us for information and dont comprehend important issues like health all the time.

Something else to keep in mind is that our faces & scalps contain a significant number of blood vessels & veins, and in turn put off quite a bit of heat. Having a snake close to your face or head could accidentally startle the animal that wasn't expecting such a heat signature at close range, resulting in a painful bite. Bites on the head aren't fun & bleed like sin...face bites also bleed like the ****ens & can potentially have serious consequences, not to mention leaving a permanent bad impression & most likely fear in the mind of the handler who encounters such an episode.

Have fun, but play it safe (I know, I know, make up my mind, right?). :D

K~

in my mind kissing a snake is the same thing as kissing its wet, poop smeared substrate. that's what they lay on when it's dirty so that's what is on them. that's what gets on your hands when you handle them too whether you see it or not, and i certainly don't want to get that on anything else so i always wash up.

here's some reading material for you...

http://www.anapsid.org/salm8.html

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...53C1A9649C8B63

http://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/animals/reptiles.htm


just a little start, i am sure there is much more info out there.

Does anyone here know of anyone who's gotten salmonella from a BP?

I'm curious as to how much risk there actually is.

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Originally Posted by JeffFlanagan

Does anyone here know of anyone who's gotten salmonella from a BP?

I'm curious as to how much risk there actually is.

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I don't know of anyone who has. I would say the risk of salmonella itself is actually pretty slim. However....there are other nasties involved. Another member here just found out her snake was totally loaded with coccidia and other nasty parasites...an animal that she'd had for almost a year and bought from a trusted source. (Trusted at the time of purchase, anyhow) The thought of kissing that snake....???? Ewwww...don't think so! :P But for the last 11 months...no one had a clue what was going on inside its bowels. :snake: You just never know.

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Originally Posted by ctrlfreq

Wow...a vision of a king making someone taste his food to see if they die first just popped into mind.

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OK, I am so sorry guys. I did say that to my 6 yr old, but I WAS kidding. And he knew it. But we did break down a few days later.

We will stop kissing (I already told the kids) and always wash hands after.

What is better / OK - anti-bacterial, hand-washing, or either?

Well, I let my bps "kiss" me, with those ticklish tongues, haha.

I've kissed them a few times, mostly when I was about to leave them behind at home to go to college, heh. Otherwise I'm good about washing my hands and such. I worked at a pet store over the summer and got a bit obsessive about the hand washing/hand sanitizer.

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Originally Posted by MelissaFlipski

What is better / OK - anti-bacterial, hand-washing, or either?

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Washing is always better simply because anti-bacterial does not equal anti-fecal, anti-urine, or anti-other stuff left on your hands even though the bacteria is dead.

Well, washing with antibacterial soap is good......don't forget the 20 sec rule!! :)

i dont kiss my snakes cuz i think it'd be weird for me to put my mouth against scales.

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Originally Posted by Kagez28

for once i think the pet store gave some good info. there defiantly is a risk of spreading salmonella, and i am sure there are some stories of people getting sick. especially with children, who don't have the strongest immune system. would you you let your kid lick a piece of raw chicken?

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i got salmonella once from some bad chicken. i was really sick for a whole weekend and a few days into the week. then it took a whole month to get back to eating normally again. i'd say just be very careful.

i supose it couldn't hurt to rub the snake down with a wet cloth every once and a while? i'm just curious if anyone does that...i've thought about it but never decided whether it was a good idea or not.

I recall reading somewhere that <10% of salmonilla was caused by reptiles, and the majority of that was from several species of turtles and iguana's. I'll keep a lookout of that article and I'll post it if I can find it. I want to say that it was in a REPTILES magazene, but once again, I'm not sure.

I was feeling a bit slammed (I know I set myself up), but see that I am not the only one putting scales to their mouth. But those people seem to be hiding for the most part. Don't worry, I'll take the fall on this one. ;)

It happened once... ok we had both had a little too much to drink... and... and

..yeah, snake kissies aren't exactly sanitary, but sometimes it happens... haha :D

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Originally Posted by MelissaFlipski

The kissing started with my 3 and 6 yr old sons. My 3 yr old kept asking if he could kiss Mr. Snake (the BP). The 6 yr old wanted to, but resisted. Finally, we broke down and said, "OK, you kiss him first, and if you aren't sick within 3 days, we'll kiss him, too."

.

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This is a joke right???

I think some people are being a bit over-dramatic here. How is kissing your dog any different than kissing your snake. At least the snake doesn't eat its own feces. I can't resist giving my snake a smooch on the top of the head every once in a while, he doesn't seem to mind but its not surprising since hes not the least bit head shy unless you really push it. I think you would have a better chance of hitting the lottery than contracting salmonella from a captive snake.

Kyle, it's not really being over-dramatic. It's more a case of giving common sense advice and precautions which we do pretty much on every aspect of snake keeping here at BPNet. It's an online forum, read by experienced keepers with 100's of snakes down to a person that's owned a snake all of 2 hours. In the end, the best advice given is simple, straight forward, proven over time and cautious, depending on a lot of common sense and practical aspects of this hobby.

I do not usually think twice about kissing my snakes, but I also don't handle them extremely regularly nor do I kiss them every time I handle them. It's just not something I have put a ton of thought into. That being said, I am also not a parent who has to worry about the health and well-being of my children.

i'm glad the OP has decided to not allow her kids to kiss her snakes. i really agree with judy (JLC) when she mentioned emily's snake having hidden yuckies in it's bowels... just think if that was the snake your kids were kissing! :eek:

we wash our hands with soap and water EVERY single time we handle our critters... no matter what it is. ratties, bunnies, birds, snakes, lizards,...

(although we don't wash every time we touch or dog or cats... but we also never kiss them on the mouth.)

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Originally Posted by Kyle6203

I think some people are being a bit over-dramatic here. How is kissing your dog any different than kissing your snake. At least the snake doesn't eat its own feces. I can't resist giving my snake a smooch on the top of the head every once in a while, he doesn't seem to mind but its not surprising since hes not the least bit head shy unless you really push it. I think you would have a better chance of hitting the lottery than contracting salmonella from a captive snake.

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Thank you, Kyle. I felt all alone on the stage there for awhile. I've only been on the forum for a few days or so and seem to be turning people off with my posts. Depressing.

common sense isn't really that common anymore....

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

(although we don't wash every time we touch or dog or cats... but we also never kiss them on the mouth.)

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You don't? I can't help but giving my puppie a big smooch in the morning, right on the lips.....:zerb:

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Originally Posted by stangs13

You don't? I can't help but giving my puppie a big smooch in the morning, right on the lips.....:zerb:

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I think I just threw up a little in my mouth...

who wants to kiss this?:

http://www.cookreptiles.com/photos/bps/grossness.jpg

thanks, but i'll pass.

ill admit ive kissed my snake. n my girlfriend likes to kiss him all the time. im a pretty healthy guy so im not scarred of a little bit of snake germs.

Kissing snakes=Them kissing AND hugging back!

umm i'm a snake kisser too... he usually comes up and rubs up against my cheeks too

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Originally Posted by Kagez28

common sense isn't really that common anymore....

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it seems to be rather scarce on this thread for sure :D

Ew... everytime I read someone on here saying that they kiss their snake, I just get a mental picture of seeing mine slithering through his poo. Gross.

ahahahahha.... that got me rollin......

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Originally Posted by darkangel

Ew... everytime I read someone on here saying that they kiss their snake, I just get a mental picture of seeing mine slithering through his poo. Gross.

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I don't kiss my snakes. Like other said.. they could have fecal/urate residue on them.. yuck :)
Being someone whose mom had a confirmed case of salmonella food poisoning.. I never want to get that!
I admit to kissing my cat on the top of his head when I pick him up.. he is just too cute. And we regularly deworm him. I shudder at the thought of contracting worms.. I am always very careful with the horses and their manure, as with horses you usually can never completely rid them of worms, you just control the amount.. I learned early from a friend who rode and religiously washed her hands with Dial soap. Now it lives in my kitchen and bathroom.

Thank you to those that are taking some of the stones in the head for me. I feel less alone up on the town square platform.

I really don't think anyone is throwing stones at your head...or any other part of your body. ;)


You asked if people kiss their snakes or allow their kids to do so. Many of us answered "no..." and went on to explain why. That's not throwing stones. It's just answering a question.

Differing opinions do not equal flaming or attacks or any sort of stone throwing.

I might give Amani or Breth a smooch after I've wiped them off with chlorhexidine when cleaning their tub, but any other time, I know better. I haven't gotten sick or anything from it, and if I do, I just won't do it again :) My immune system is pretty darned tough (might get a cold once a year), and if I can't take a bit of fecal matter here and there, I might as well get out of the profession I'm in(not medical records retrieval, the vet tech part).

lol. This thread is gross...

:rockon:

I kiss my dogs every single day on top of their heads. And that's it! No kissing on the mouth. I've kissed one of my snakes maybe three times. She "kisses" me sometimes but I don't kiss back. I do blow kisses at them every now and then.

Well...I kiss my dog.

and I will say that she has licked my face before too. :oops:

I do believe in religously washing hands and keeping clean but...if I want to kiss Sway on the nose I will.

But we don't kiss our snakes.

And we are very cautious when it comes to the snakes and the kids....I don't even let my kids take them out for a "roam" or "cuddle" they are snakes not stuffed animals and they can bite.

If I take one out and one of the kids wanna hold it we let them but NO WHERE near the face.

just sayin'

Are you kidding me? This is even a topic of discussion? No we shouldn't kiss our snakes, not now, not ever! We should never kiss any animals, dogs, cats, etc.

WOW!