do you guys wash your hands after handling your snake

[EasternGirl]

Yep...me too...I'm kind of a fanatic about it because I am very susceptible to stomach viruses and samonella...I had it once and it is not something that you want to have...believe me! I am in nursing school and the little trick we have is to wash hands up to the elbows while singing happy birthday twice...that is supposed to be the amount of time it takes to kill all of the germs. I do believe that the sanitizers work too, as we have them all over school, in all of the labs, and in the hospital. But I always wash my hands with soap and hot water after handling the snakes.

[chris-uk]

We keep a bottle of sanitising gel next to the vivs and I tend to wash with soap after as well. The snakes initially didn't like our hands smelling of the sanitiser, but seem to have got accustomed to it now - we'd better not change brands.

[infernalis]

Yep...me too...I'm kind of a fanatic about it because I am very susceptible to stomach viruses and samonella.

I rarely get sick at all, I worry more about contaminating the poor snakes, or their food with MY germs.

[indigoman]

Good thread and good advice!

[dieselbaby]

I too wash my hands before handling the snakes food, and after, as well as the snakes themselves as i have other reptiles as well and do the same with them as well as use feeding tongs on for snakes, or gecko i dont use the gecko tongs on the snakes etc. and i wash them between feedings as well. That way when one gets sick such as our baby red eared slider recently caught pneumonia, with hand washing before and after even if it can be passed to the others im doing all i can to prevent this from happening.. Its just a really good habit to get into.. Im not sure if our rhinovirus etc can be passed to them but i would just as soon not take the chance.

[guidofatherof5]

My hand washing is more out of self preservation. I might be feeding one group then visiting another.
Although the group being visited knows the others are being fed they are less likely to go into full feeding mode if my hands don't smell like food.
I'm more in line with Wayne's response. I don't want them to catch human germs.

[Mommy2many]

I try and remember to do that when I handle them, though I will admit, I am not always on top of that. I really do it more for my snakes well being though. I hate the sanitizer stuff, so it's soap and water around here and very hot water at that. I do wash in between handling and feedings of all my different snakes, so as not to spread anything.

[EasternGirl]

I must say something in defense of the snakes here though...if there is a stomach virus in a 50 mile radius...I will catch it...if there is the tiniest bit of bacteria in food...I will get sick, because I have a stomach condition in which I cannot fight off the bacteria/virus. But, I have never become ill from one of my snakes.

I got salmonella from Taco Bell once...never from a garter snake...lol.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Salmonella is not fun at all.... And it can do more than just affect the digestive tract. I had it like 3 years ago, I started out with some mild digestive symptoms that did not last but in my case it migrated through the bloodstream and instead infected my kidneys and urinary tract. Let's just say, it was not fun. The department of health even called us to let us know it was salmonella and to ask what I have eaten recently... I always wash my hands after handling herps to be safe and i sure as heck dont eat snake poo! but I do not think I got it from them... The risk of getting salmonella from something you bought at the grocery store or ate at a restaurant is astronomically higher. It wreaked havoc on me that's for sure... To this day I know exactly where my kidneys are because I remember feeling them burning with pain!!

[EasternGirl]

Yep...we studied it in nursing school...it's a nasty one once it gets into your bloodstream and goes systemic...you could have died easily from that...and it can leave permanent damage. So in short....since reptiles do carry salmonella, it's best to be diligent about hygiene...but yeah, the chances of getting it from food are probably higher....especially since you are ingesting the food...like you said, I don't think any of us are eating snake poop. But since we do touch our hands to our mouths often...it's just good sense to wash our hands often.