Pet Turtles And More

Just found this article Red Eared Slider rebuttal on the Worms and Germs Blog. It’s a nice short article about salmonella.

Some take-aways from the article:

• most reptiles, including turtles, carry salmonella
• common sense hygiene practices reduces the risk of salmonella infection

I want to add the following about Salmonella and turtles:

• Always wash your hands after handling your turtles or anything that comes in contact with your turtles
• Wash your hands vigorously and completely
• If you can’t wash something with soap and running water – disinfect, disinfect, disinfect
• It’s better not to handle (hold) your turtles too much – they are pets you look at, not pets you hold on to
• Handling your turtles stresses them
• Pay extra attention if you have open wounds on your fingers/hands/arms
• Unless you can give proper supervision, don’t let children play with turtles