Allergic to my Corn Snake???

[MelRoxUrSox]

I have had my little corn for a few weeks now and everything is going really well (thanks to lots of advice and support that I found on this forum!). He went through a really good shed, and he eats like a champ.

I have started handling him a bit more now that he is settled into his new home, and a couple days ago, a rash developed on my hands. I haven't been using any new soaps or lotions or anything.

Is it possible to be allergic to my snake? Or maybe the aspen bedding? Have any of you had any allergic reactions to your reptiles?

I am really worried, because I love holding my snake and how he feels in my hands and it would suck to have to get gloves for handling.

Thanks for any information you guys have!

[AliCat37]

You can't be allergic to reptiles since they don't produce dander, so if it were my guess you may be allergic to the bedding. Try something like care fresh and see if it continues. If it does, then it is something else.

[crackerhead]

A person can be allergic to anything, including non dander producing reptiles. The main culprits in mammal dander are saliva and urine (proteins) on the particulate sloughing skin or hair. On reptiles it is the saliva, feces, urates, etc. that can cause an allergic reaction.
I'm allergic to pretty much everything thanks to my hyper vigilant immune system. So I've been through the "what is causing this drill." The best way to figure out if your pet is the source of your rash is a series of elimination and then wait and see measures. Simplify it's housing down to only a few cage items; water bowl, hide and paper towel substrate. Then give your pet a nice swim in the tub to wash away any allergins he might have brought with him. Lastly don't handle with bare hands again until your rash clears up. That way you can get a better idea if it is the snake causing your rash and not something else you touched. Keep in mind that the rash could also be a virus in it's last stages too. Which might not even be related to an allergy.
Many non-allergic members use disposable surgical gloves when handling their animals to prevent cross contamination. This might be a good solution if you are allergic to your pet.
Good Luck!

Terri

[AliCat37]

Interesting, I was always told that reptiles are 100% hypo allergenic.

[BloodyBaroness]

Yes, you can absolutely be allergic to your snake, but let's hope not.

Handy link:You Can Be Allergic to Your Reptiles. (You Can Be Allergic to Your Reptiles)

Animal allergies are not just to the skin or fur, but to the proteins in the blood, urine (urates/feces) and saliva. Mammals who groom themselves get their saliva on their fur; it then dries and rubs off on humans who transfer it into their eyes, nose, mouth, and skin. The dried urine and saliva (and blood, but hopefully you don't come into contact with a lot of your pet's blood!) particles also float through the air when they come into contact with the eyes and skin, causing irritation, and the nose through which they are inhaled into the lungs. Both the contact/transference and inhaling the particles can cause allergic reactions.

First do a bedding change to something like this: CareFRESH Natural Bedding (http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753657&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo) or KAYTEE Clean & Cozy (http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11535481&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo)

Follow Terri's advice about process of elimination with what might be causing it.

[MelRoxUrSox]

Thanks for the advice! Just wondering, how do I give him a bath? I am pretty new to snakes. What temp water and how deep?

[BloodyBaroness]

Not more than an inch or two deep, and room temp. You don't want it to feel warm. If you have a way to test the temps, something in the 80 range is good, if not room temp is fine.

I just use a shoebox sized tub and let them swim around in it if they are smaller. Larger snakes I use the bath tub.

[hikisquid]

Is it a rodent allergy? I have to be careful when I feed Stig not to get mouse dander anywhere because my husband is super allergic to them.

[MelRoxUrSox]

Its possible that it could be the mice. But I don't really handle them, I use tongs for everything besides testing if its completely defrosted, but for that I just use two fingers. I really don't like the mice, they gross me out haha! So I avoid touching them at all costs!

I haven't been touching anything snake related for a couple days besides carefully changing the water, and my hands are getting better. I think I will wait until its completely gone and then give my snake a good handling and see if I get another reaction. If I do then I will have to figure out what is doing it.

[gelshark]

my daughter broke out in a rash every time she held our crested gecko (at first we thought it was the bedding but after a switch to paper towels there was no change)
we didn't keep him too long because of that, we ended up giving him to the school to be a classroom pet, she at least got to see him frequently (it wasn't her classroom where he was kept)
at the end of the school year a boy in the class adopted him, i guess he and his family loved having the crested gecko so much over spring break that they were really happy to take him home permanently
i was disappointed that we couldn't keep him here but glad that he was able to find a nice caring family to take care of him and also that now my daughter doesn't break out in rashes because she can't resist the temptation of handling the cute little creatures we have in our home