Kissing your Beardie xoxox

[tgolden]

My kids are house broke and use the commode not the floor.

 

[bayoupig5]

On a side note, my Emmy, never runs through her own poop, I may think twice about that if she did, but she does not poop in her viv. And then you would have to worry about parasites and pinworms as well.

While I think overall contracting salmonella through your beardie is slight, like I said before you should always use caution. Salmonella is certainly not generally contracted via reptiles, but it is important to play it safe to ensure you do not obtain illness. Never permit anyone with lowered immune system functions from a long illness handle a bearded dragon, or very young children that do not have their immune systems properly developed yet, and always follow good husbandry rules and simple housekeeping.

And here is an interesting article I found about bearded dragons and symptoms of salmonella infection: http://www.ehow.com/list_6656739_salmonella-symptoms-bearded-dragon.html

And another interesting article:

Bearded Dragons and Salmonella/All Reptiles can carry Salmonella
Bearded dragons are like any other reptile and they may carry Salmonella. This is a bacterium that causes food poisoning and can sometimes be lethal. This is especially true for children that have an immune compromised condition. Careful handling of the bearded dragon and washing your hands thoroughly followed by using a hand sanitizer will ensure that you remain healthy along with your bearded dragon. Following proper guidelines when keeping and handling Bearded Dragons will prevent most chances of salmonella. Common practices to follow include not allowing Bearded Dragons to have access to the kitchen, dining room, or any other area in which food is prepared. Also, do not allow Bearded Dragons to have access to bathroom sinks and tubs or to any area where infants are bathed. Use a rubber tub for bathing your Bearded Dragon and a separate rubber tub for cleaning purposes. Do not eat, drink, or smoke while handling reptiles, reptile cages, or reptile equipment. Do not kiss reptiles or share food or drink with them. Do not use the same equipment for your animals that you use for yourself. Children should be supervised when they are handling reptiles to ensure that they do not place their hands or objects a reptile has touched in their mouths. Be Smart and keep you and your Bearded Dragon clean and healthy.

Lastly, and although I am aware of the risk for myself. I will still give Emmy her good night kiss, after 3.5 years for me and her it seems to be relatively safe to do so.

 

[kcarello]

You guys are crackin me up!!!!

 

[JenFid]

I kiss all 3 of mine every day. My girls usually give me a kiss back too! I realize they could make me sick, but it's a risk I'm willing to take, just like accepting the risk of getting in an accident every time I get in my car

 

[tgolden]

My mama said I'll get cooties from kissing girls.

 

[Esther19]

You're a good boy, Tommie. Always listen to your mama.

 

[YavannaV]

I'll take the slight risk to kiss my lil one on the head but I wouldn't allow either of my children to. They're too young to make that kinda decision so it's mine to make for them so I'd err on the side of caution for them. That being said, I think the risk is slim to none for captive bred beardies, but again, that's my risk to take, not theirs.

 

[tgolden]

on a serious note. This is a awful illness to contract. One of my sons got it from baby formula. Its was vary bad he was such for for Weeks. Vomiting and the squirts.
He still Carries it..for life

 

[BeardieMommy3991]

I kiss Toothless every once in a while, but I have a pretty durn good immune system. I know its a pretty looked down on opinion, but I have lived under the impression that if you get types of germs in pretty small ammounts, your body will build up more immunity to them. Therefore, I am not afraid to drink or eat after people (even when sick), eating things like cookie dough and cake batter (done PLENTY of that) and lightly kissing my reptile. From my extensive experience with raw eggs with cake batter/cookie dough, etc, I think I am pretty resistant to small ammounts of salmonella by now

I've never had a sickeness worse than a light cold, and even that maybe once or twice a year.

As others have said, It's worth the risk. I bathe him every other day, and he never goes NEAR his poop. I will not kiss him until after he is a clean and shiney lizard. And I enjoy nuzzling his beard. (beard kisses!!! and the top of his head.) both areas that generally don't get near poo anyway. As for cricket germs.... I've eaten worse things. :roll:

Just my opinion on the matter! :3

 

[ashleyelsha]

I'm not sure why I am even replying to this, and although it is somewhat true that 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger', you never know when your immune system might unknowingly take a dip and you could become ill. Sometimes you have a cold or a virus and your immune system could be compromised even if you aren't symptomatic yet. Anyway why take the risk of a potentially life threatening illness?

I have 5 snakes, a bearded dragon, 3 fish tanks, and a cat. The snakes get soaked/bathed, the bearded dragon gets soaked/bathed, heck even the cat gets a bath once a month before her topical flea prevention. I still wash my hands after cleaning the fish tank and feeding the fish, I wash my hands and make my kids wash their hands after handling any of the reptiles and we do not kiss them.

Of course you can pick up salmonella from anywhere, undercooked or contaminated foods. Handwashing and disinfecting are good ways to prevent this in your home. I have a bottle of bleach water that I use to spray down the sink after I clean anything related to the reptiles. I also spray down their feeding and bathing containers with bleachwater to disinfect them.

I don't know how you can keep a bearded dragon from never pooping in their enclosure. I take everything out once a week and disinfect it and I spot clean on a daily basis. Even though your bearded dragon may not have pooped in the enclosure yet, doesn't mean it will never happen. Also I've heard some are known to eat their poop, so there is a chance they could poop in their enclosure, eat it, and you may never know.

Most people don't realize that an intestinal infection from salmonella isn't your garden variety stomach flu that's over in 24 hours. It can be life threatening and shouldn't be taken lightly.

 

[LovePink74]

I've kissed my baby tons of times especially before knowing I could get Salmonella from it. But I've never gotten sick. I kissed him today on the belly just cause he was sitting on my nose and his belly was there and it was soooo warm and soft I just couldn't resist! But I think? i'll be fine?....I don't know.
My mom's kissed him a billion times too and she's fine. So, I think it's if we just contact the feces or kiss a dirty beardie. Then we'll probably be fine.

Other than that. No matter how scaly they're bodies are I will always love kissing them everywhere...even on the lips(if they have..lips) idk but I've done it.

 

[reptilemaster]

I kiss Basil every day, and I've never got sick.

 

[wolfysluv]

Here's the thing folks. We are exposed to salmonella sources everyday of our lives. We pick it up when we are in contact with enough of the bacteria or our immune systems are in a low. Did you know most 24 hour "stomach flus" are actually variances of food poisoning (not salminella though). But we don't know it!! A true virus doesn't last a night or day. Anyway. Knowing this, how can ANY one, even an expert, possibly know that when someone contracts salminella that it came from a reptile they coincidently were around? Bottom line is you CAN'T. I cant tell you how infuriating it is for me to hear people's claims that they "know" they got their bout of salmonella from a reptile. That said, I am in no way saying you shouldn't take all precautions. I'm not saying you shouldn't avoid kissing etc. That is everyone's personal decision. We all value risk differently and that's okay. I agree that we should be careful to not expose wee children or the more vulnerable. That said I've owned reps and haven't been very careful for 40 years. No infections yet. Let me end this with commenting on how thoughtful the poster was about bringing up the point about protecting our reps from misplaced blame. Sure enough if someone contracts an infection, your pet could be blamed. And that could lead to very serious ramifications. It's a point I've never thought of before so thank you. Very responsible point. Lastly ... I kiss every animal I've ever owned.

 

[tgolden]

You don't get it from the animal.....it comes from poo man. My poo, your poo , reptile poo, dog poo all poo. Poo poo poo. If you have poor husbandry with any animal the risk goes up. If you eat a turd the risk goes up.

 

[AHBD]

The o.p simply mentioned that she wanted to kiss her beardie, but was afraid of salmonella. So, the responses are that many people do kiss theirs....as we can see....but there is a risk , even if slight, of contracting salmonella. So, anyone reading this thread, or wondering the same thing can know that the answer is yes, there is a risk. We can't really compare it to taking a risk, as in driving a car [or traveling in another vehicle if you don't own a car], because traveling is necessary. Kissing our beardies is not, but again, each person can make their choice. But still, we don't want to assume there is no risk, it would be irresponsible to claim that there is no risk. As far as claims that a person got sick from an animal, there are tests, like the number of persons years ago that got sick, mostly children, from the turtles, which prompted the ban on sales of baby turtles. Those cases were traced to the animals. And a stomach virus [ norovirus, adenovirus, rotavirus] is different than salmonella, which is caused by bacteria. A stomach virus is something that is passed on [ usually] to other family members or on a cruise ship or school, etc. It's true that salmonella is in food, and we are exposed in various ways, but that risk is lowered substantially and almost eliminated if precautions are taken. So at a petting zoo, we usually see hand sanitizer, and I'm sure that kissing the animals wouldn't be something that would be promoted.