OK this is not a question but this is information,

This is a true story and the link is for a video on YouTube, this is the story of a little boy called elijah who was just 5 days old and had been out of the hospital for only 1 day before he got severely ill , this is a heart breaking story but it is here to educate people out their with young kids, pregnant people and also babies about the effects these animals can have, in case anybody with a young baby or is pregnant is considering one or has one at home


YouTube - elijah's story

This story is emotional but the lesson needs to be shown to all, please be careful where reptiles are concearned and make sure you clean absolutely everything with a product that will kill the salmonella bug... i.e. a good quality disinfectant if you keep or contact any reptile..

Katie

Ps I'm not usually one to post on things warning about animals but now many people really know , how bad it can be and what the effects can be..
I am not against keeping of reptiles and would love an axolotle or iguana myself...

This video is to educate about the importance of keeping the environment around you clean!

I expect a few horrid comments aimed at me for this posting , but that is life , I used to keep snakes and never worried about the effects of it before and didn't know the severity of what it can do , I just thought it gave you a small tummy bug and would go away.. I educated myself by getting into touch with these people and listening to the story

Katie, I agree with you without even looking at the evidence. Touching, playing with a small turtle is a danger zone and hands must be washed thoroughly after. Even handling birds means washing hands. There is nothing more deadly then bird poo.

Yes I always scrub my hands when dealing with any of my birds or cages and disinfect thourogly with virkon-s the defra approved disinfectant, as it is always better to be safe than sorry..

The story above demonstrates not only about the dangers of touching your reptile but also of having him or her out in the room and having to clean where it has been thoroughly... the bug stays around for up to 90 days after it has made contact with something unless it is killed... (the bug not the reptile) if you go in to feed the reptile an you pick up the food or water dish then as you go through to empty them out you touch door handles without thinking about it , you touch taps, you touch the cutlery draw etc... it is essential that every single place you touch when handling anything out of the reptiles vivarium is scrubbed with disinfectant to minimise the salmonella risks...

I love reptiles , however if you do keep them and have children then please keep all places you touch when hand,ling anything clean...

I have a foot dip outside my birdroom also this stops me taking infections in and out of the room, and every cage is treated seperatly and hands are scrubbed between each one, I am that careful about the birds and I am careful about when coming in to the kids also...
My hands are scrubbed and disinfected yet again outside my house door and again when inside ,