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

Question

Even if you wash your hands after .. can it get inside cuts on your fingers or hands? If the turtle walked on a table and you wash it after.. should you throw out the sponge and rewash the area again later?

Can you get it from just touching the water the turtle is in?

I am paranoid.

Answer 1

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!

Answer 2

1. Salmonella is not a big deal. You've already had it before and called it a stomach flu or '24 hour bug'. It is a short bout of vomiting and diarrhea that is only dangerous if you are very young, very old or otherwise at risk of dehydration.

2. ANY animals that live in their own wastes can spread Salmonella, and the feces-infested water is a bigger risk than the dry turtle.

3. Almost ALL animals that come in contact with fecal material can carry Salmonella, but you can reduce it a LOT with good tank hygiene and filtration.

4. Simple handwashing and good hygiene practices will kill most of the germs well.

5. Salmonella is EVERYWHERE! I thrives on things like cold cooked meat and eggs, bathrooms, etc. Most of the time, there is enough of it in your house that even with a turtle you will probably get it from another surface.

6. Wash your hands with soap and warm water, and clean the surfaces it walked on with any standard disinfecting cleaner and everything will be fine.

Now- there are a LOT of people who really do not know much about Salmonella who say that a lot of this is wrong- that it is a lot more dangerous than all this.

Understand, I have researched this deeply and teach classes on bloodborne pathogens. This is the right stuff, and you can verify it at wikipedia, the CDC, and any medical site.

Answer 3

After I took microbiology I learned from all the labs doing ecoli culturing, that if you put lysol or pinsol in a spray bottle 1/2 water 1/2 disinfectant and spray surface and wipe dry with paper towel your good. Ofcourse wash hands using soap. I really think little kids and those turtles are a no,no. But then the petting zoo is also aproblem for the same reason.

Answer 4

fairly easy