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Have You Ever Got Salmonella From Owning A Tortoise

Question for turtle and tortoise owners.?

Turtles are water critters, whereas tortoises spend their lives on land. I am not familiar with the care of turtles, but I have a yard full of tortoises. They do carry salmonella, wash your hands after touching them. They love produce such as lettuce, apples, melons, etc.. and we feed them either soft or semi-moist cat or dog food. They also find their own food, such as bugs, etc. They are somewhat interesting to watch (they come to the porch for food at the same time everyday) and the babies are definitely cute, about the size of a quarter.
While I originally got some from a pet store, most of mine came from the surrounding area (desert) and some have actually found me by coming up to my gate. Almost like they know other tortoises are there? Who knows? Good luck!

Scared about getting Samonella from sister's tortoise?

Well, my sister got her Sulcata tortoise from the tortoise shack, where they raise and breed turtles in captivity. I heard that turtles carry it more than tortoises, but im still concerned. I'm thirteen years old, and my immune system is pretty decent. I mean, i never stick the thing in my mouth, and i always wash my hands after i hold or touch it, but im worried about touching a surface i have touched after touching the tortoise and getting it.... is it rare to get it from a tortoise?

Do African spurred sulcata tortoise have salmonella?

Tortoises in general do not carry Salmonella if properly cared for. Even most water turtles that are kept in properly filtered water do not carry it.

There is little hard documentation for this, but many facilities test their animals for this and other disease and again, rarely find it in well-cared for animals.

How most animals get the stuff is to live in or on their own feces, being fed contaminated or spoiled food, etc. Follow proper procedures and you avoid the whole thing.

Turtles got a bad reputation because they were bulk-collected from human waste treatment settling ponds- good turtle habitat, but filled with germs.

Besides- Salmonella is NOT a big deal. Any time you have had a 'stomach flu' or '24 hour bug', you probably had Salmonellosis- the disease Salmonella causes. The symptoms of Salmonellosis are diarrhea, vomiting, and feeling bad. It usually takes 24-48 hours to start, and lasts 1-4 days.

Older, younger, or immuno-compromised people can get dehydrated or complications, but most of us get over it with no side-effects.

Is there a wasy to remove salmonella from a turtle?

You can't and if you did it would probably kill them. Reptiles need salmonella as it aids them in digesting their food.

But guess how many people have been infected with salmonella poisoning from reptiles? So few that I can't seem to find any statistics. Common sense will keep you and your family safe.

1) Wash hands before and after handling any reptiles
2) Keep the habitat clean so they don't crawl around in their own wastes where the salmonella is found.

Millions of people keep reptiles with no problem just following simple common sense "rules"

Is it easy to catch salmonella from a pet turtle?

Many reptiles carry salmonella bacteria on their skin, so you should always disinfect your hands after handling a reptile.

How easy is it to get salmonella from a pet turtle?

Not likely; and very little chance. If you wash your hands and keep things clean, it is improbable you will get salmonelosis. Here is how I always explain it. Treat your turtles like a piece of chicken. Are you paranoid with raw chicken? Would you throw away the knife, cuting board, sponge/rag, fry pan and excess oil? Of course not. Wash it in warm detergent and you're eliminating the risk. Even if licked a piece of raw chicken, being a young healthy person, you will not likely get sick.

Here are keys to keeping turtles and your family healthy. Always wash your hands with warm water and soap (not necessarily anti-bacterial) for 20 seconds. Don't play with your turtles by letting it walk around your house. When cleaning tanks, use turtle rags to wipe up spills and wash these rags every so often. You may use anti-bacterial wipes to clean surfaces around the outside of the tank.

I have two children, three year old and a newborn, senior parents and my wife went through to pregnancies all with turtles in the house. During the past ten years, I have kept over 75 turtles in dozens on tanks and habitats around the home.

You're not paranoid, just careful and need to know the facts and how to work with them safely. My wife is anti-turtle and we make sure our home is clean and sanitary. Good for asking the question.

Just remember, wash your hands with soap and treat your turtles like a piece of chicken. Relax and enjoy!

Is a tortoise a good pet?

yes they can make good pets if you are not expecting them to be an energetic pet they eat sleep and walk around most people get them and think they will be fun to watch, yes they are if you have the patience to sit for ages watching a slow moving pet, they do carry salmonella but with basic hygiene (washing your hands after contact) it does not pose a problem, the care depends on what type of tortoise you want to get so here are some sites to look at and see the different types and their care
http://www.tortoisetrust.org/
http://www.tortoise.org/
http://www.tlady.clara.net/id16.htm
http://russiantortoise.org/care_sheet.htm
http://www.slowcoach.org.uk/
http://www.sulcata-station.org/index.html
for a beginner the best tortoise is the russian (horsefield) they are a hardy tortoise that is the easiest to care for best od luck with your search honey hope you find a tortoise

Is salmonella passed on by bite or by handling a reptile that's got it?

From what I understand, Salmonella is present in the gastrointestinal tracts of reptiles and birds. It’s passed to humans via fecal-oral contact.Now you may wonder how exactly that happens: to put it bluntly, people don’t make a point of eating reptile poo.It happens when you handle a captive reptile that has been travelling through its own feces, and you don’t wash your hands between handling that reptile and, at some later point, putting your hands to your mouth. Fecal-oral contact doesn’t usually happen in a single jump.This is a really good argument for keeping your cages clean, and for washing your hands after handling any reptile. (Not for nothing is hand sanitizer available—and required—during handling sessions at reptile shows and zoos.) It’s also why you have to take precautions with raw poultry and eggs.[1]Salmonellosis infections are particularly associated with aquatic turtles.[2] Why is that, when it’s found in so many other species as well? Because when you keep a turtle in an aquarium, all the water in the tank is potentially contaminated with Salmonella: the aquatic environment makes Salmonella much easier to spread. You don’t need a turtle passing through its own feces to get Salmonella, you just need a wet turtle.Salmonellosis was the reason why, in 1975, the U.S. government banned the sale of turtles with a carapace length of less than four inches (10 cm).[3] The size-based restriction was out of concern that children were putting small turtles in their mouths. Small, wet turtles. You can see how that would dramatically shorten the path to a salmonellosis infection. Before the rule there were something like 280,000 Salmonella infections in the U.S. blamed on pet turtles each year;[4] since then most infections have been food-borne.[5]Footnotes[1] Outbreak of Salmonella Infections Linked to Chicken (Final Update)[2] Pet Turtles: Cute But Commonly Contaminated with Salmonella[3] Human Health Hazards Associated with Turtles, Information for Regulators and Public Health Educators, July 2005[4] Illegal Trade In Tiny Pet Turtles Keeps Spreading Salmonella[5] Questions and Answers

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