Salmonella...

[ChamOh]

How common is it for a captive bred chameleon to have salmonella? I know their have been other threads on this, but I didn't see any that mention how careful we have to be with handling and where exactly the infection can come from. Of course hand washing is a great preventative measure...

But, can it be transmitted from just touching their skin or is it only from their mouths or excrement or both? Will a bite do it?

I see pictures of people letting their chameleons climb all over their house, in their bedrooms, on their heads, etc. If an infected cham were to simply touch or walk over a surface, is this surface now contaminated? Is this unsafe handling due to the risk of infection?

Or is it the case that only very few chams have it and it's mainly preventative measures to be so careful?

What are some of the other health concerns that can be transmitted from chameleon (cb) to human?

Sorry to be so noobish on this one..Also, I'm not trying to sound paranoid, I just want to be well informed . I appreciate any insight.

 

[kinyonga]

I have kept chameleons and many other reptiles for the past 20+ years and as far as I know I have never got salmonella from any of them. This being said, I wash my hands well after touching the chameleons/reptiles and I generally don't let them walk around the house free.

In all those years only one autopsy came back indicating that the lizard had salmonella....and believe me...in 20+ years there have been lots of autopsies.

I'll leave it to others to comment further.

 

[Pumpkinface]

well, i'm not completly sure, but i think chams have a low risk of giving people salmonella. i think mainly because of the way the setups of their cages are. they usually stay at the top, poop at the bottom and then rarely ever walk at the bottom where they pooped. i always wash my hands, but i've never had a problem from them hanging out on my shoulder or furniture.

 

[Carlton]

I doubt too many chameleons give their keepers salmonella. Technically it is always a possibility (because any reptile can have it though it doesn't make them sick), but you are far more likely to pick it up off a herp that has a moist skin such as a pond turtle or amphibian. You also need to get the bug into your mouth or nose. Just having salmonella on your skin isn't a risk as far as I know. That's the big issue with young kids; handling a herp, sucking a thumb, putting a small herp in their mouth, or eating off their hands later. Some people are religious about sanitizing their hands after handling a cham or cleaning its cage...keeping a sanitizing hand cleaner by the cage is a good idea. If you've got kids or guests handling your chams too. I have kept all sorts of herps and amphibians most of my life and never gotten salmonella.