I'm a terrible parent (pics)

[DrKate]

Salmonella causes diarrheal illnesses and is transferred by eating material (i.e. feces) that contains salmonella.

Thanks for the reminder, Joanna, I had meant to make a comment about Salmonella... One thing any parent should *definitely* add to kids' reptile-handling routine (wild or captive) is hand-washing immediately after touching any reptile. (Carry a bottle of hand sanitizer if you're not going to be near a sink.)

It's true that Salmonella is a diarrheal disease, BUT reptiles are very commonly asymptomatic carriers - they shed the bacteria in their feces their whole lives without being obviously "sick" (this is why it's important with captive reptiles as well as wild). Maybe it's not so likely that the kid would just eat the reptile's poo, but say there's a trace of fecal material on the animal, and then kiddo rubs his eye or picks his nose or sucks his thumb... Or picks up the sandwich you packed for lunch...

This is mostly a concern for infants and toddlers, because they are most sensitive to Salmonella and most likely to develop really severe disease. Once you're talking about school-age kids and older, they *should* be washing their hands (as should you!) but it takes a higher "dose" of bacteria to make them sick so it's just less likely to happen.

[Cobra Kai]

Well, I'm happy to report that his finger looks great. I can't even find the site. As far as behavior and symptoms, he's had a bad cold this week. But he already had that before yesterday.

Thanks everyone for your encouraging words and thanks for sharing your war stories.

[drache]

hand-washing immediately after touching any reptile. (Carry a bottle of hand sanitizer if you're not going to be near a sink.)

yeah - hand-washing
hand sanitizer is pretty much useless; it's just enough to make the bacteria slightly ill
okay - being funny here, but seriously - that stuff does not much more than a baby wipe, and perhaps a baby wipe is actually better because one wipes stuff off with them, rather than just rearranging it on the skin
if one is concerned about bacteria and the like in the wild, straight up alcohol is more effective, and even those little swab packages are fine, as long as one is being reasonably thorough

[Didymus20X6]

When traveling, take two gallon jugs of water with you. In one jug, mix in some anti-bacterial soap. When you're ready to wash, pour some of the solution over your hands, give a good rub, then rinse with the pure water. Keep water for drinking in separate convenient bottles.