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Health Issue (About children and corn snakes)

V

vertigofm

New member
I love reptiles, more specifically I love my corn snake! What I am worried about is in a few years when me and my girlfriend plan to have kids, well I am worried about all the horror stories of salmonella deaths and the warnings to have no reptiles in the house until the children are at least 5 years old. So what about the people on these forums? Are they all lonely childless people!? Is this more sensational hype? I mean on the CDC website it talked about an infant getting salmonella off his dads clothes because his dad was a biology teacher at school and there was a snake there... It just makes me sad that because I want kids I have to give up snakes :cry:
 
I think the chances are small of you transmitting salmonella to a young child. Normal precautions such as washing your hands thoroughly after handling should be enough to protect even young children with undeveloped immune systems. I would keep young children and toddlers from handling the snakes as they tend to put their hands in their mouths after touching anything but I don't see why you couldn't keep your snake room closed and wash after you handle. If you're really paranoid, wear something like coveralls over your clothes when handling your snakes and then remove it before holding your baby.
 
the CDC website it talked about an infant getting salmonella off his dads clothes because his dad was a biology teacher at school and there was a snake there...
Click to expand...

Did they actually isolate it as the reptile-specific strain of salmonella? Because to be honest, there's more chance of a child picking up salmonella from a supermarket chicken or battery-farmed eggs, than by sucking its dad's jacket.

If it's any comfort, the manager of my local reptile shop handles thousands of different reptiles every year and has managed to raise a strapping son in the process.
 
My nephew whos 3 now, has been around my snake since he knew what it was and hes fine. Just make sure you wash your hands, and his hands afterwards because, like said, they tend to put their hands in their mouths a lot.
 
I am a Mom to Quadruplets that will be 3 this halloween, and I have never had this worry. My kids love the snakes and I allow them to handle my largest snake and they LOVE it, especially my daughter ( :crazy02: )
In the room where I have my snakes, I have a thing of hand sanitizer and after we handle the snakes we all sanatize our hands.

To be honest I'm more paranoid about undercooked chicken with my kids than my snakes, which is why they have only eaten the precooked tyson chicken in a bag variety of chicken :rolleyes:

FirstofMAY060003.jpg
 
kids and corns

Wow!!, and I thought having a three year old and 10 month old was hard. Very cute pic of the kids. My son handles the snakes all the time and we do a good job of washing our hands after. The snakes are in a kid proof room(at least for now) so it's easy to keep them away from the kids. My son doesn't put his hands in his mouth too often anymore, but when he was younger, I just sat with him and watched him very close. I don't think you have anything to worry about, and the apron idea is a good one. I think you can have kids and corns too, just know that they both can take a lot of time(lesson being learned). Good luck with the snakes, and the kids, they are the highlights of my life.
 
I think all the hype is about nothing. We don't have kids but our friends do, and those kids are always handling the snakes and lizards. They haven't been sick at all. If you're worried about it just make sure you wash your hands and your kids do the same.
 
Salmonella comes from their digestive tract, so as long as their poo is cleaned up there is no salmonella around. The main reptile to human transmissions of salmonella come from aquatic turtles. They poo in the water they swim in, and it's very difficult and time consuming to keep clean so oftentimes people fall behind or don't even bother. Then kids handle the poo turtles and voila! salmonella.

I think reptiles around children is good because it is a good tool to teach and reinforce the importance of handwashing when handling any kind of animal.
 
Kiss the snakes first and make sure they don't have salmonella. ^^ I'm not too worried about salmonella myself. If Rose had salmonella, I'd be dead/seriously ill about 2 1/2 years ago. If Lily has salmonella.... Well, I'll probably find out in a couple of days; I just ate bread with her in my hands. However, if I ever became a breeder, I'd probably start sanitizing my hands and stuff because the risk would go higher, I guess.
 
this reminds me of something my grandma is going to say about steve and has said about the rats i had for 4 years. "It's gonna eat your kids" i dont have any kids by the way. i do however have two handfuls of neices and nephews who have handled any animal ive owned without any problem. even when a 3 yo is running around with a 1lb rat held at the belly. i honestly think chances are low of anything happening. they havent yet.
 
I've been keeping snakes for nearly 3 years now and neither my girls or my husband and I have ever gotten salmonella from them. We, Tim and I, handle the snakes regularly and wash our hands afterwards and make sure the girls wash their hands if they touch the snakes or anything from inside the snake cages such as the hides or water bowls.

We also make it a point to bleach out the sink that we use to wash out cages regularly just in case.

I think the main things to remember is:
1) Supervise any child around the snake(s).
and 2) Wash, wash, wash... (Before and after cause snakes can get germs from us too.)

Jenn
 
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