New to the site but may have to give away Baby

Hi I’m new here and have a bearded dragon named Drax. He’s a 4 year old boy and I’ve raised him from a baby. I love him with all my heart, but I have a Addison’s disease and a compromised system. I’ve always been careful and have never gotten sick. But recently went to the hospital with salmonella and it took me days in the hospital and was serious. It may or may not have been him that I had gotten the salmonella from. My issue is I may have to give him away and I am heartbroken. He is such a sweet affectionate boy who has helped me through anxiety and hard times. I can’t imagine giving him to just anyone. I’m curious if anyone else has a similar situation and how they handle being with their beardie. Thank you

How do you handle your beardie?

I'm not immunocompromised but I'm very careful about not getting sick as my brother is (he doesn't directly interact with my beardie).

Bearded dragons typically only carry salmonella in their gut, that means if you pick up Drax's poop immediately after he goes and clean properly, he shouldn't have salmonella on his scales, except perhaps around the vent. And if you bathe Drax often, that shouldn't be much of an issue either.

That being said, Snips hates baths so my general rule has been to wash my hands immediately after I interact with him or anything in his enclosure. When Snips does go out of his enclosure, I only let him roam around 1 room on the floor so he can't contaminate anything. I don't let him near my face (no shoulder holding or kisses!) but I haven't felt like I don't get to socialize him the way I want because of it. He still gets lots of pets and likes to crawl on my arms or sit on my lap.

I'm also careful to keep the tools I use to prep his food separate from my normal ones. That means he has his own cutting board, knife, and sponge.

I hope that helps! And if worse comes to worse, I hope you're able to find Drax a loving home.

Thank you for responding. I have talked it over and I will use gloves and an apron with him. I think that will help in making sure I’m safely handling his cage ect. I plan on keeping him after all, I sure love him??