do you guys wash your hands after handling your snake

[EasternGirl]

Good point.

[kibakiba]

Well, I can say I've gotten salmonella from food a lot more often than I have from my snakes.

[EasternGirl]

Yeah...actually I can say that too...

[i_heart_sneakie_snakes]

I am sure there will be plenty of "Shame on you" thoughts, but no sense in lying. I almost never wash my hands after I handle my snakes. I also don't after petting my cat. I do wash my hands I'm not filthy I just do not wash them specificly because I have been holding my snakes. I do make Piper wash her hands after she has been playing with them though. She's only 5 so I figure she hasn't built up the same immunities.

[EasternGirl]

I don't think it's necessary to wash your hands after petting your cat. The only thing you have to worry about with cats is not to handle their litter if you are pregnant or immune compromised because the feces carries toxoplasmosis... it is only dangerous to growing fetuses and immune compromised people. I guess some people are less susceptible to salmonella in snake feces. I have to be super careful because I am very susceptible to salmonella.

[d_virginiana]

I only wash my hands before and after dealing with my frog... But that's because they can get sick if you have anything on your hands when you handle them and because one of my snakes got sick from eating a pinkie that had touched the frog once, so I'm paranoid about exposing my other animals to anything that could hurt them. IMO you'd either have to be really immune compromised or get pooped on to have a high chance of getting salmonella from snakes. I mean, you'd be surprised how many harmful bacteria are commonly found in soil. They're not as uncommon as you'd think.

Ha, with seven cats, four dogs, two snakes, two goldfish, a frog, and a millipede I would have a $2,000 a year budget for handsoap and germ-ex if I washed my hands every time I handled something!