Bitten

[Joshish]

Ive heard of some diseases from beardies such as salmonella. Ive been bitten and it blead im starting to worry that it may cause salmonella of this What is Salmonella How do i i avoid Salmonella My beardie has been acting oddly 2. She looks kind of scary now.

 

[Toyguy]

Salmonella causes intestinal disease I think, like cramps, diarrhea, etc. Make sure you clean the wound well with an anti-bacterial soap, and I would probably look into applying some kind of anti-bacterial ointment with a bandaid. You should also check in with your family doc for advice.

 

[puffwhizzcrooke]

I am in the UK and any animal bites here wether dog cat lizard snake etc...the protocol in hospital A and E is to put you on a course of antibiotics as a precautionary measure

I know this only too well as it was only 6 weeks ago I got bitten lol

 

[PogonaVitticep]

My bearded dragon bit me last week and drew blood i washed my hands and put a band-aid totally forgetting about the salmonella issue but everything should be fine, unless you touched his feces after then dont worry too much.

good luck

 

[ziggy23]

Just treat it like any other cut. Keep it clean, use antibiotic ointment. I've been bitten by iguanas many times, unless it's deep it's not anything to worry about. It stings, and bleeds more than you'd think it should, but in my experience a small bite isn't really any worse than your average cat scratch.

And whatever you do, don't show fear when they act like that. It's like saying you win, your the boss of the house and I follow you. When it comes to aggressive animals you have to teach them you are the dominant one, otherwise you're just giving them permission to keep acting like that.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Being bitten by a bearded dragon will not give you Salmonella, so don't worry.
Treat it just like any other cut, scrape or bite that you would get such as keeping it clean, using antibiotic ointment & a bandage on it. The bite will heal up just fine.
Were you reaching over him or did you startle him to cause him to be afraid of you to bite you?

Tracie

 

[Joshish]

ok ty

 

[Buggsy]

yes the salmonella that reptiles tend to carry is only in the poop, not the mouth, and its the non-enteric strains, so there wont be any horrific infections at all, just a bit of an upset tummy if you ingested some poop lol!

As for bites, their mouths will contain some bacteria, like ours but nothing too horrible. You should wash any bite, as said before some alcohol wipes, and let it heal, if it becomes really inflamed or begins to pus go to the Dr for some antibiotic ointment.

i think going to A & E about it is overboard really, i get scratched and bitten all the time by my cats (whos claws are MUCH dirtier than any part of a dragon) and i have never been told to go to A&E lol.

 

[Luthor]

How do i i avoid Salmonella

I am new to Beardie owning but what I have read with regard to avoiding Salmonella is basically just practice good hygeine:

Tips to avoid basically just include standard cleanliness:
Wash your hands straight after after handling them (they may have stepped in poop and have it under their nails)
Don't allow your Beardie on food handling surfaces (kitchen tops / dining table etc)
Wash their bowls / utensils etc seperately from household dishes
Clean up their poop as soon as you can and don't handle it.

 

[puffwhizzcrooke]

I wasn't trying to startle anyone about A+E but I had to go as the top of my thumb was hanging off and I had to have it glued back together lol

They put me on antibiotics as a precautionary measure as is the protocol for any animal bite

 

[Buggsy]

lol i thought it was a normal bite lol! Yes antibiotics are given for any open wound really, just as a precaution though, i dont think the chance is higher if its a reptile!

 

[puffwhizzcrooke]

No the chance isn't higher they just treat any bite like a dog bite lol


Oh and by the way please don't anyone panic about beardies biting. I was treating a very sick beardie(RIP Crooke) and trying to give him antibiotics when my thumb slipped and he closed his mouth unfortunately my thumb was still in there...OUCH!!