General Care Discussion :: Risk of salmonella/Hygiene etc

[jamesdaniel88]

Hi guys,

Just wanted your opinion (from experience) how big a risk are RES's and catching Salmonella from cleaning them etc? When i first got them, a girl at the pet store said i would need rubber gloves and disinfect everything they/the water/tank came into contact with. When i clean them out, the RES's go into an old washing up bowl, i remove them with a rubber glove on and take their ornaments into the bathroom and scrub them in the bath. Then i get rid of the water and rinse the gravel through. (this is a monthly change by the way, weekly i change part of the water). Once i've cleaned stuff out in the bathroom, i scrub the bathroom top to bottom...

Can i ask, are the rubber gloves neccessary if i just use good hygiene and wash my hands thoroughly etc??

Cheers

[texasreb]

I've read that you are never supposed to put your turtles supplies in the kitchen sink or bathtub. I take mine outside to wash.

Also, salmonella is contracted by fecal-oral contact. Good handwashing practices should be sufficient. I have my students wash their hands by wetting them with warm water, pumping two squirts of liquid soap and then rubbing their hands together palm-to-palm; palm-to-back; and by lacing the fingers through one another while mentally singing the Happy Birthday song through twice. That should mean that the soap is in contact with all surfaces of the hands for approx. 60 seconds.

Then they rinse well with warm water and dry with a paper towel.

[steve]

I replied here: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=31580&p=300470#p300470