I just got through reading an article on turtles and salmonella and proper hygiene and all that
now I need to add that I am also a health professional trained in the clean needle protocol, according to which one gets to wash ones hands a minimum of four times per patient
and I just realize that the salmonella article left out, that one is supposed to wash ones hands for the entire time it take to sing the happy birthday song ("thoroughly" is not a sufficiently exact term for children)
in addition I have a chronic viral disease that kind of pre-occupies my immune system and puts me into the elevated risk category
and I am all for hand washing
well maybe not "all"
in fact, I think it can be overdone
and I am against hand sanitizers, because they have been shown to be ineffective and can mess with one's natural defenses
I must say that a part of me wants to scream every time I read these hygiene instructions
they imply that I need to disinfect my entire house every time a reptile has been out of it's cage
all that because people used to think it's cute to see their toddler suck on a baby turtle
there's got to be some measure of moderation between the two extremes
I wash my hands after handling reptiles, but I must confess
I do not disinfect my bathroom after I flush a lizard poop
what's the chance of picking up salmonella from a toilet seat given that I don't vomit any more?
the lizard does get to run around the kitchen and I don't disinfect it, because I don't let him on the table and we don't eat on the floor
but according to the article I read, those two items alone qualify me as irresponsible
even worse
I get lizard greens out of the fridge, after just having handled their food dishes
some enterprising germs could easily make it from my fingertips to the back of my hand where they can then jump onto anything in the fridge, hang out on it and proliferate until the food gets washed
and according to the article I read, I should not even be allowed near a reptile cage
I tell you
this is a far cry from getting me out of cleaning the litterbox when I was pregnant - that was just convenient
I "should not be allowed near the reptile or it's cage" - that's fricking paranoid
it makes it seem like salmonelly is out to get us and will leap across distances of what? - 3"? 4"? - what's near? - to accomplish it's evil purposes

all that being said
I think there's a host of other good reasons not to give a toddler a baby turtle