# Pet Torts during a Human Pregnancy



## brymanda

Anyone have any experience with this? Did you/wife avoid them? Did your friends and doctors freak out? Is salmonella less of a concern in torts than in turtles?

Not pregnant yet, just researching.


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## Crazy1

brymanda, I have not experienced this myself but several of my friends and Club members have. and there seems to be no problems as all with torts. Salmonella is of little concern with proper handwashing techniques. Actually less than eating some unwashed or improperly washed vegetables. Unlike cats there is little concern from Doctors who understand reptiles and the germs they carry. I have known of no one having difficulty when they are pregnant with reptiles.
Hope this help some.


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## Yvonne G

Every year I take in a pet tortoise or two because the woman in the house is pregnant and they don't want to take any chances with their newborn baby getting sick. I always try to reassure them, advising hand-washing, etc, but they usually always end up giving up the tortoise.


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## alfiethetortoise

If i ever end up pregnant again, one thing i am sure of is that there is NO WAY alfie is moving out! Use anti-bac alcohol hand wash, dont pick up the tort as much if it bothers you that much. But i don't think it's very likely at all. I guess some people are a bit OTT with the pregnancy stuff and perhaps some people have good reason to be so but i don't buy into it much myself....and Ava has turned out just fine


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## dmmj

LOL I also get a few people who watn to turn in torts/turtles because the wife is pregnant I also re-assure them that it is safe but some peopel feel iti s better safe than sorry, personally I fear getting salmonella from eggs more than I do my tort or turtles.


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## terryo

I raised 5 children and went through 4 pregnancies with water turtles and boxies, and everyone is fine.


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## Madkins007

Isn't it interesting how 'selective' the phrase 'better safe than sorry' is? They'll give up tortoises, but not room temperature eggs or chicken, improper kitchen procedures, etc. 

I see this all the time with 'quasi-scientific' stuff- because X may be a risk, and they don't really understand it, they go 'better safe than sorry', when the smarter reaction would be 'I should learn more about X'.


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## DoctorCosmonaut

Cats are dangerous?


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## Yvonne G

DoctorCosmonaut said:


> Cats are dangerous?



The "old wives" used to tell us that a cat will suck the breath out of a baby. It probably came from the fact that the baby's mouth smelled like milk and the cat was up there smelling or maybe licking.


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## dreadyA

I think the odds are super slim. Of course logic needs to play a big part in the prevention. 
Commen sense things like a)not placing your hands near your mouth after handling a reptile B)don't wash reptile stuff near places you prepare food. .Also, husbandry hygiene can help as well.


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## -EJ

I thought about this for a second or two. I've got 2 kids... well... their not kids now.

Yea... the scare mongers got to me but the selfish *person* (edited for language by Crazy1) that I am... the tortoises were more important.

I'm sorry... wrong point... diseases from reptiles... ok... can you say toilet, pets... why get specific. Bottom line... good hygiene will keep your kid healthy.


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## brymanda

Thanks for the info all  I have no intention of getting rid of my torts, but when I mentioned it to the nurse the other day she flipped out. I too had read that people have a better chance of getting Salmonella from eatting raw cookie dough than from handling a reptile and then washing their hands. 

Cats are considered "dangerous" because their feces can contain toxoplasmosis. So you're just not supposed to scoop the litterbox. Interesting that people aren't told to get rid of their cats, but are told to get rid of their reptiles.


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## terryo

-EJ said:


> I thought about this for a second or two. I've got 2 kids... well... their not kids now.
> 
> Yea... the scare mongers got to me but the selfish *person* (edited for language) that I am... the tortoises were more important.
> 
> I'm sorry... wrong point... diseases from reptiles... ok... can you say toilet, pets... why get specific. Bottom line... good hygiene will keep your kid healthy.


OT for a secound only......
Do you have a few nips every now and then?


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## -EJ

Dude... you haven't been on the chats for very long... I'm a devout alcoholic.

Does that negate the point?



terryo said:


> -EJ said:
> 
> 
> 
> I thought about this for a second or two. I've got 2 kids... well... their not kids now.
> 
> Yea... the scare mongers got to me but the selfish *person* (edited for language by crazy1) that I am... the tortoises were more important.
> 
> I'm sorry... wrong point... diseases from reptiles... ok... can you say toilet, pets... why get specific. Bottom line... good hygiene will keep your kid healthy.
> 
> 
> 
> OT for a secound only......
> Do you have a few nips every now and then?
Click to expand...


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## Stephanie Logan

brymanda said:


> Thanks for the info all  I have no intention of getting rid of my torts, but when I mentioned it to the nurse the other day she flipped out. I too had read that people have a better chance of getting Salmonella from eatting raw cookie dough than from handling a reptile and then washing their hands.
> 
> Cats are considered "dangerous" because their feces can contain *toxoplasmosis*. So you're just not supposed to scoop the litterbox. Interesting that people aren't told to get rid of their cats, but are told to get rid of their reptiles.



This one is true, and I used to be especially careful when gardening while pregnant because other people's cats would come and dig in my nice soft garden soil and leave little presents.

Toxoplasmosis is rare, but it is very dangerous...it causes major fetal abnormalities if you ingest it in the first trimester... if my memory serves me properly.


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## brymanda

Stephanie Logan said:


> Toxoplasmosis is rare, but it is very dangerous...it causes major fetal abnormalities if you ingest it in the first trimester... if my memory serves me properly.



Yep, that's what the nurse said. Salmonella is supposed to do the same - severe first timester birth defects - which is why people are so afraid of it. Most of the books I've read have just suggested wearing gloves and washing your hands well afterwards. (For working with pets or gardening). You actully have to injest the microbes to catch anything. But in general, toxoplasmosis and salmonella are less frequently seen in healthy adults, but pregnant women and children are more sucesptible. 

Interestingly, there's a test for immunity to toxoplasmosis, so I'm having that done. I don't think there's a test for salmonella though.


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## Meg90

I got my tortoises knowing that I would have them until it was physically impossible too. If and when I have kids, I will not re-home my animals. I have snakes, geckos, torts and a tegu lizard all of whom are permanent fixtures.

If you are careful, I see no reason that they would have to be rehomed. I have an aunt that also kept her cats throughout her whole pregnancy and nothing bad ever happened to her. My sister is pregnant and around cats. She just does not do the litter box.


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## Stephanie Logan

These days you can buy a huge box of those tight latex gloves at the hardware store. I used them when I painted the basement last summer. They are easy to pull on when you are going to handle your tortoise, or gardening. No unneccessary risks, however small, and very low cost and inconvenience. I wish they'd made those gloves twenty years ago!


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## chairman

There is a lot of stereotype/prejudice involved in the association between torts and salmonella. I'm not going to say that they don't carry it, because they can and do, but the risk is about the same as with any other reptile. They're actually looking to repeal the 4" rule on those grounds. 

When my wife got pregnant with our first child she really freaked out about salmonella, but I simply explained to her that I made my lifelong commitment to my torts before her so... but no, really, the OB said that keeping the torts would fine. Just to play it safe, have someone other than mommy do most of the work with the torts during the pregnancy and wash/sanitize hands directly after tending to the torts. Of course, I am also the primary caretaker for the torts, so it wasn't like my wife was going to be spending too much time handling them anyway. Other suggestions would be just to keep the tort's enclosure/water clean to reduce the risk of allowing the bacteria to survive somewhere other than the tort's gut. Oh, any by all means, keep the baby/toddler away from the tortoise- you tortoise doesn't need that kind of stress in their life anyway!


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