Salmonella and children under 5

[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.

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.