Pregnancy And Snakes

[EMSPrincess]

Just wondering everyone's thought's on women who are pregnant and handling snakes/reptiles in general. I've heard lot of things about it but the top one is usually contracting salmonella...which happens whether you're pregnant or not. Some even go so far as to say if a baby is on it's way, an expecting mother should get rid of her reptiles altogether.

But I'm just curious. Getting rid of the reptiles seems pretty extreme, however there may be something more serious than just salmonella that I haven't heard about.

[Daigga]

This has actually become a big concern from my parents. I recently found out that I was pregnant and immediately all my family started bombarding me with questions about what I plan to do with the snakes. Because of new space constraints (we're going to be in a two bedroom with one of those rooms being a nursery), changes obviously have to be made. My plans were to gas all my rats and sell my three strictly pet snakes, cutting my entire collection down to a single rack that will fit in a nook in my living room and enclosing/child proofing it. Apparently pregnant women are supposed to avoid all rodents due to some virus they could be carrying, by the by, and of course I took a bite from one of my rats the week I found out i was pregnant -.-. My mom is still less than thrilled and thinks I should get rid of all my snakes and supplies.

I'll be going to the doctor soon and that will be something I'll ask about.

[Darkbird]

I'm not even sure I would trust what your doctor tells you. I doubt most of them would know anything more about reptiles other than basic pathogens and what they see on the news. For what it's worth, I had reptiles all through my wife's pregnancy, and my daughter has been exposed to them since she was quite small. And no one has ever gotten anything or become sick in any way because of them, and the kid is 15 now. Basic proper hygiene should be all you need. I got a lot of the same BS from family members at that time, and I was keeping burms to boot. Actually lost it at one point and asked one of the in-laws if they thought I was planning on keeping the crib in the (explicative) cage with the 12' snake or something. Didn't help my popularity with her family any but it cut off the stupidity pretty well.

[alucard0822]

We have one child and another on the way, and have brought up the topic to several vets and my wife's doctors, although every situation is different. Have to be careful with opinions, some folks in a position of knowledge or authority would rather you get rid of every pet you have if there is ANY risk no matter how small or manageable, may not know much about reptiles, or may be biased, although a good doc can better help you make an informed decision on the risks, minimizing them, and deciding what you can manage.

First and foremost is the health of you and your baby, if housing and caring for ANY pet will make it too difficult for you to handle the hourly round the clock feedings and care of a newborn, then they have to go, temporarily if you can foster them out for a while, or get someone else to care for them, downsizing a collection as needed. Reptile caging should be very secure, especially if you have any larger species. Keeping live rodents is fairly high risk, they can carry LCMV virus, which can cause defects or death in an unborn child, it's primarily carried and passed from wild rodents through bites or bodily wastes, so it's critical to exterminate any unwanted houseguests, as the predominate risk is from wild pests. There is less risk from a captive colony not exposed to wild rodents, or rats from a trusted breeder, but it is still possible. The severity of the effects though basically puts it in a category where you probably shouldn't handle or even keep live rodents, and feed frozen/thawed if possible, preferably by someone else, or at minimum wear gloves, use disinfectant and take precaution which would lessen the risk.

Salmonella in snakes can be contracted through their waste and poor sanitation, kids and pregnant women are at a higher risk of contracting it after exposure, so good husbandry is important all the time. It can on rare occasions cause complications beyond temporary "food poisoning" symptoms, and stress from the symptoms can be bad, although the risk from other sources like undercooked, or contaminated food, and less severity compared to LCMV or Toxoplasmosis(passed from cat waste), means it isn't a critical problem. Have someone else clean and disinfect the cage if you can, clean and disinfect often, and wash/disinfect hands and anything else the snake touches while you handle it.

I'm not a doctor, only passing on what the general consensus seems to be between our docs, and general good practices handling reptiles. Only had 1 assistant tell me we should get rid of our reptiles, couldn't really say why, did say she was afraid of snakes, and kinda backpeddled on it being something she heard or read somewhere(seemed a lot more opinion than fact). Her boss the doc said no reason to get rid of them, our cat's litterbox was more of a concern, although it was preferable that I handle feeding and cleaning, and good hygiene after handling was important. Have had some of the same family opinions as Darkbird, and had about the same reaction to them, for some reason otherwise rational people let all facts and logic go out the window as soon as you mention anything to do with snakes.

[SKO]

My wife is pregnant and we have a two bedroom so now this is what the living room looks like lol. The cages match our furniture and we can put pictures and stuff on top. I just plan on not having the snakes out while the baby is awake and practicing good hygiene.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Just my general thoughts here.
Society is stuck in a bubble syndrom and too medicated now.
Yes there is some bad stuff out there BUT if your body doesnt experiance germs it will never build any type of imunity to anything.
Just a thought to ponder........

[tacticalveterinarian]

The risk of contracting salmonella is far higher, in fact many MANY times higher from the kitchen. Depending on what reference you read, some will estimate 2-5% of the salmonella cases within the USA are from handling reptiles. The majority of salmonella infections are due to contaminated beef, poultry or egg products! It's important to know the facts and statistics which will help educate others. This can help stimulate thoughts: Why don't families get rid of their dog or cat? Since the dog regularly goes outside, walks around barefoot in grass/cement tracking bacteria back into the house, licks their own behind, licks other dog's behinds, may eat weird things including feces of wildlife, then kisses or licks the baby...

[JoshSloane]

Just my general thoughts here.
Society is stuck in a bubble syndrom and too medicated now.
Yes there is some bad stuff out there BUT if your body doesnt experiance germs it will never build any type of imunity to anything.
Just a thought to ponder........

+1 x 1000 for the first sentence of this quote. However, as a fetus in utero, we receive passive immunity from our parents in the form of IgG antibodies that pass through the placental tissue, from maternal blood to the fetus. Babies do not begin to develop their own adaptive immune responses until post birth.

I've said this before, but coming from a practicing molecular toxicologist, there are no causative elements of owning a snake that will induce any sort of teratogenesis or birth defects in a developing neonate. Yes there is a small risk of salmonella from handling reptile feces, but studies have shown that a multitude of other sources pose a much higher risk of conferring pathogenesis other than snakes. Everyday humans are bombarded by environmental toxins and microorganisms in the air, water and food that we consume. Luckily, millions of years of evolution has equipped our physiology with multiple and redundant mechanisms for neutralization and metabolism of toxicants, as well as immunity to pathogenic material.

Obviously a pregnant woman should be shielded from any obvious exposures like alcohol, cigarette smoke etc. But there is nothing about handling a reptile that will cause any sort of issue if general hygiene standards are observe.


To the OP: Keep your reptiles clean and you wont have any issues. Congrats on the new baby, and good luck!

[EMSPrincess]

+1 x 1000 for the first sentence of this quote. However, as a fetus in utero, we receive passive immunity from our parents in the form of IgG antibodies that pass through the placental tissue, from maternal blood to the fetus. Babies do not begin to develop their own adaptive immune responses until post birth.

I've said this before, but coming from a practicing molecular toxicologist, there are no causative elements of owning a snake that will induce any sort of teratogenesis or birth defects in a developing neonate. Yes there is a small risk of salmonella from handling reptile feces, but studies have shown that a multitude of other sources pose a much higher risk of conferring pathogenesis other than snakes. Everyday humans are bombarded by environmental toxins and microorganisms in the air, water and food that we consume. Luckily, millions of years of evolution has equipped our physiology with multiple and redundant mechanisms for neutralization and metabolism of toxicants, as well as immunity to pathogenic material.

Obviously a pregnant woman should be shielded from any obvious exposures like alcohol, cigarette smoke etc. But there is nothing about handling a reptile that will cause any sort of issue if general hygiene standards are observe.


To the OP: Keep your reptiles clean and you wont have any issues. Congrats on the new baby, and good luck!

Lol I'm definitely not pregnant, it sounds like Diagga is though so hey, congratulations!!
I was just curious considering the longevity of the lives of snakes - for future reference basically.
Everything everyone said is pretty much my impression, more opinion than fact and overreactions.
Extra thanks to those of you who presented a more scientific/medical standpoint, that's what I was having a hard time finding.