Can I Develop Allergies to Reptile or Amphibian? The Answer is actually yes!

Here is how all this medical business applies to reptiles and amphibians. Both reptiles and amphibians shed their skin, feces/urine, saliva and nasal salts in appreciable quantity. Most all of these tissues contain some degree of once living material inevitably associated with protein, or polysaccharide constituents.

If someone were to develop a hypersensitivity to reptiles or amphibians due to repeated long term exposure that individual would be at reasonable risk for the development of an allergic reaction if exposed to any of the fore mentioned materials. That individual would then require symptomatic therapy followed by swift environmental modification to remove the inciting stimulus +/- immunotherapy at the patients discretion.

The take home message here is that yes you can develop an allergy to your pet reptile, or amphibian.

Allergies can be managed though how, depends on the severity of your symptoms

In short, if you suspect that you, or a pet in your household may be experiencing allergies associated with the presence of a reptile or amphibian, please consult with your physician, or veterinarian to determine the best course of therapy.

If at any point you feel that you are not receiving the quality of care that you deserve, the best recommendation would to seek further counsel and a second opinion.

I would be interested to know if anyone on fauna has ever experienced a true allergic reaction from exposure to a reptile, or amphibian? If so, please feel free to share your experience on the matter? I am interested myself? I know what the literature says, but as an individual who is new to the profession I have yet to experience this for myself and would be interested in a first hand account if anyone feels up to sharing their story?

This is a link to a thread on Fauna Where a fauna member describes having a diagnosis of idiopathic interstitial edema, which the individuals physician reportedly suspects may be in association with chronic exposure to reptiles.

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...d.php?t=163601

This is a very interesting problem this individual is having and I truly wonder if this is really due to allergies when there may be a much more likely problem present in this individuals medical history. I question the diagnosis that was made for many reasons of my own concerning why the clinician felt reptiles were the most likely culprit of the individuals symptoms, but no less it is definitely a possibility. It would be interesting to identify the exact cause of this individuals symptoms in order to determine if this is indeed related to reptiles, as opposed to being the result of the individuals current medical history.

The diagnosis of herp associated hypersensitivities may be inferred through the direct observation of clinical signs consistent with a type one hypersensitivity reaction following known exposure however, in an ideal world this should still be confirmed with the use of IgG titers, or intradermal testing.

The severity of symptoms observed may be highly variable, depending on the immune status of the hypersensitive individual and the antigenic load shed by a given organism. For example, a person who is allergic to dogs may experience severe hypersensitivity reactions when exposed to a Laborador Retreiver, but may not react at all when exposed to a chinese crested canine. This variability is accounted for by differences in grooming behavior which alter the load of antigens shed by the canine. It is likely that the same is true of other animal species as well.

For individuals with severe hypersensitivities, the most effective method of management would be to remove the animals from the environment all together, followed by a thorough cleansing of the environment and future avoidance of exposure to the known antigens. However not all allergic reactions are severe, or life threatening and many of these reactions may be managed with more conservative therapy.

Having your physician tell you that you have to get rid of your pets can be very unsettling news for most pet owners especially given the close bonds that herp lovers establish their reptiles and amphibians. Ultimately, avoiding exposure is the best medicine when it concerns allergic hypersensitivities however, we must not forget that other management options are available depending on the severity of your symptoms and we should be careful to consider these long before considering animal abandonment.

For individuals with allergic hypersensitivities, proper management is key. There are three separate husbandry related aspects that you must consider when maintaining reptiles and amphibians in an environment with an individual who is hypersensitive. First you should consider where the animals are kept in your home, then who will be maintaining them, how will you maintain them and what protocol will you employ to minimize your exposure to harmful antigens.

To accomplished this, all of the reptiles and amphibians in your household should be confined to a designated room/working area that is equipped with a single door that has been modified with weather stripping to prevent the communication of air flow between the designated working area and your home environment. All heating and air conditioning vents should be tightly sealed with plastic to create an air lock, so that the room air will not communicate with the air present in your home environment. The floors should be covered with tile or hardwood flooring and carpet should never be used.

Carpet will readily trap and retain particulate matter, which cannot be effectively cleaned this increasing antigenic transit/exposure . This room should be equipped with multiple windows for the purpose of ventilation. These windows should remain closed at all times and should only be opened to ventilate the room when all of the animal enclosures have been closed/covered to prevent the movement of dust and other particulate matter due to air flow. The designated working area should be ventilated to the outdoor environment daily. The designated herp area should also be equipped with a separate utility sink and power outlets so any items that require cleaning can be cleaned within the confines the designated area.

It is very critical that you employ the following rule as part of your hypoallergenic protocol and that rule is “whatever goes into your designated working area, stays in your designated working area permanently with only one exception. The exception being waste disposal.” If for any reason you need to remove an item from your designated working area, the item must first be double bagged in two separate plastic waste bags and securely tied so its contents will not leak. The bag should be directly transported outside immediately to the appropriate trash receptical. Never keep waste materials in your home (even if they have been bagged appropriately). For select individuals with severe allergy symptoms, it may be necessary to erect a separate facility apart from your home to ensure that communal airflow/antigenic contamination does not occur.

The second aspect that must be considered is who will care for the animals. A person with a hypersensitivity to reptiles and amphibians strictly cannot assume this responsibility themselves. Doing so could be dangerous and would not be in the best interest of the individual who has been diagnosed with an allergic hypersensitivity. This individual must recruit the help of a close family member, a friend, or possibly a hired hand who will be solely responsible for husbandry and maintenance duties. This individual must abide by a strict isolation protocol in order to prevent the possibility of exposing the hypersensitive individual living in the same household.

This individual must have a separate pair of cloths that are to be worn only when cleaning and these cloths should never leave this room. Upon entry, the maintenance personnel should close the door behind them, change clothes while inside the designated working area and before they begin cleaning they should please their “clean” street clothes just outside the door of the designated working area. This will ensure against the contamination of their clothes while cleaning, while ensuring the clothes are readily accessible when they are finished. While cleaning the assistant should wear a long sleeve shirt, long pants, closed toed shoes with shoe covers, a bouffant cap, a hospital face mask and latex/neoprene gloves to prevent the spread of antigenic material.

When finished, the room should be gently swept with a broom and dust pan to remove large debris from the floor, while being careful to prevent the aerosolization of dust. This debris should be placed in the appropriate plastic waste bag. A wet mop should be used to clean the floor. This item should also remain in the room when finished. After the floors have been mopped adequately, the bouffant cap, mask, gloves and shoe covers should be disposed of in the appropriate plastic waste bag along with the remaining outgoing waste. At this time the assistant should retrieve their “clean” street clothes from outside of the door of designated working area. The assistant should change their clothes within the designated work area and their “dirty” clothes must be double bagged in a fashion similar to the technique described for waste disposal however, the work clothing should be set aside and left in the room for later use.

The assistant should then dip the bottom of both shoes into a foot bath containing a mild concentration of hypoallergenic dish detergent in water to wash away antigens that may be present on the bottom of their shoes before exiting the room. After this individual has exited the room, they should shower and change into a fresh pair of cloths. The “clean” street clothing should then be washed.

I wound up with my friend's daughter's collection to rehome because she (the daughter) was allergic to the fluids produced during the shed cycles and would break out in a red itchy painful rash.

It was rather odd because we all used to be room mates & she never had a problem after handling my animals or their sheds. It just cropped up one day and didn't go away. I held her animals for a little over a year until her parents took a job out of state.

Essentially the hypoallergenic isolation protocol I just described is very similar in a lot of ways to that of a quarantine protocol for new acquisitions to an at home collection only instead of protecting other animals against potential disease, we are essentially protecting hypersensitive humans from exposure to antigenic material.

The final aspect of hypoallergenic husbandry that one must consider would be habitat modification. Allergies to reptiles and amphibians may also be accompanied by additional allergies to related herp products such as substrates, cleaners, various plastics, supplements, food items, etc. The possibility that an individual may be allergic to these items must also be taken into consideration.

Individuals with hypersensitivities to reptiles should attempt to avoid exposure to animals that produce large quantities of feces and urine and those that shed with great regularity. This DOES NOT mean that one should limit the amount of food and water offered to the pet in an attempt to limit quantity of excrement. This would be a very poor decision on behalf of the pet owner. Instead, these animals should simply be avoided at all costs. For example a lizard might defecate & urinate daily and shed their skin in frequent amounts relative to a snake that might urinate, defecate, or shed their skin once or twice a month. For this reason we might expect lizards to shed a higher load of antigenic material into their environment than we would a snake, though this is not always the case.

In general, hypoallergenic husbandry should be maintained similar to that of hospital husbandry in order to limit the amount of antigenic material present within the animal’s environment and consequently your environment. For best results, each enclosure should be maintained daily using paper towels or newspaper as substrate (avoid cage carpet, repti-bark, sand, or other store bought substrates). Any cleaners used must be hypoallergenic to the owner and yet safe for use among herps (for example solutions containing vinegar and water may be used).

The more often each enclosure is cleaned, the harder it will be for allergy stimulating antigens to accumulate. Use items that are cheap and only those that can be easily disposed of during each cleaning. If you begin to experience husbandry problems with your pet, related to changes intended to accommodate your hypersensitivity, you need to consider finding another home for your pet to ensure its well being and quality of life.

Home owners living with herp hypersensitivities individuals should avoid specimens that require detailed/intensive husbandry requirements. In other words, avoid high maintenance herps. High maintenance specimens with touchy environmental requirements are definitely not for you!!! Additionally, each animal in the collection should be seen by an exotic veterinarian twice a year. This is of upmost importance when it concerns individuals with allergic hypersensitivities given that your immune system is already compromised and these individuals should not be exposed to sick reptiles, or amphibians.

In addition, individuals with animal related hypersensitivities should establish a working relationship between their primary medical physician and their veterinarian to determine the best course of action concerning the management of their symptoms. MD’s are not licensed to make medical recommendations concerning animals nor are they qualified to discuss options that may negate the necessity for animal abandonment. Veterinarians are! When dealing with animal related hypersensitivities your MD and your DVM should both be involved in the management of your case to ensure that you receive the quality of care that you deserve and that your animals receive the management and the quality of care that they deserve, which most often does not require the necessity for animal abandonment.

"Twizted Paths"

Thanks for posting! I don't suppose you'd have access to photographs of the rashes experienced during her reaction, would you? Did she have any respiratory involvement? How long did she have the collection for before she began having outbreaks? What types of animals did she/do you have in the collection that resulted in the reaction? Were her reactions episodic or ongoing? I am very interested to know! Please feel free to share any additional insight you may have on the topic. It is much appreciated! Also how is she doing now? Thanks again for your participation!