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

It really is tough when someone develops an allergy resulting from pet ownership, especially when you consider the emotional attachment most people have with their pets. I imagine this must have been very hard for her and although there are some things that can be done to help cope with the onset of symptoms, such as those that I have outlined, most of them are extremely inconvenient, not to mention costly, and ultimately it doesn't work for everyone, nor does it guarantee the alleviation of clinical signs. You have brought up a very interesting case and I am interested to hear more? How was she diagnosed? More specifically how did her doctors identify the exact component of her hypersensitivity (meaning the fluid produced during ecdysis)?

No pictures, this was years ago & I was doing hospice on my uncle and working two jobs so I'm pretty fuzzy on the details.

I lost contact with them shortly after they moved.

There was no respiratory involvement, just the skin reaction. I had a veiled chameleon, pair of tokays,a mali uro, an agama, a swift, a brb, a carpet python, two colombian boas, two retics, a burm,an emperor newt, a black asian scorpion, an eastern box turtle, a bufo toad (native kind not the invasive one) & usually a few garters the neighborhood kids would bring so their parents wouldn't kill em.
She had a pair of african fat tail geckos, a painted turtle, a ball python & a corn snake.

First we thought it might be poison ivy so she got covered in calamine lotion & hydro-cortisone cream. It came back worse and the doc said it was eczema so we had to change a bunch of cleaners and detergents & she got some sort of prescription lotion. Then when it came back again it got blamed on the changes we made so back to square one and a new lotion. The back and forth went on for quite awhile.

I wasn't letting her handle the reptiles with any of that stuff on her so naturally it kept going away and then once she cleared up and quit using it she could mess with them again.

The reptiles were only even suspected because I came home one day and she had the geckos out crawling on her while they were shedding. I'm pretty firm on the whole don't mess with critters when they're shedding thing so I was giving her hell while we were putting them away and noticed her formerly clear arms reddening up and rashing out again.

Couple weeks later I got woke up out of a dead sleep by a 14 yr old girl slamming into my bed bawling her eyes out because the doc said it was from the shed fluid so she couldn't touch them anymore & she couldn't be an exotics vet.

I never thought to ask for specifics. They said he said it might have cropped up out of nowhere because she was going through puberty and her body's balance was in flux & that we could wait and see if it went away again.

Just thought of my own weird thing. If my skin is damaged (naired my arms, dry cracked hands, cuts, etc.) I can't touch amphibians, turtle tank water or fish tank water with out breaking out in a weird thing. On my hands I get kinda rough slightly calloused areas that have little bumps and just have clear liquid in them, my arms just get the little fluid bumps. They itch and hurt like hell. I don't have pictures of those either. I usually forget to glove up at least once a year so next time it happens I'll snap a few pictures for you.

I'm not roughing up my hands and sticking them naked into my koi tank on purpose either guys. You don't realize how much you move your fingers & touch things until it hurts to do it.

Some life-time fishermen get a similar thing after handling fish their entire lives, so this is not entirely unknown, but I don't imagine you are patting your koi on a daily basis... :-)

As I understand it in the fishermen case, the allergy is to the slime coating the fish, so it seems quite likely that it would be the same thing when you are exposed to the pool water.

Further to all that, there are commercial products designed for fishermen. I don't have any personal experience with them, but a Google search for "Fish Slime Allergies" brought this (and other) link(s) up.

This is a barrier product to allow fishermen to handle fish without breaking out. May be of some use for those allergic to reptiles?


http://www.dermaguard.com/sports.html

<" DermaGuard for protection from fish slime. DermaGuard helps in the repelling of the slime and scales found on the surface of most fish. When used before fishing, the slime and its associated odour is more easily washed away from skin treated with DermaGuard. Perhaps of equal importance, skin treated with DermaGuard becomes less prone to adhering to the slime that protects the fish, there by not harming that vital layer of protection to the fish. ">

Originally Posted by Helenthereef

... but I don't imagine you are patting your koi on a daily basis... :-)

Ummm, yes I was & that's how I usually wind up forgetting gloves too. Told ya - even in a room full of strange people I'm still an odd ball

Before I was even in kindergarten my uncle taught me how to make the big goldfish my dad kept let me pet them before they got their food & how to catch fish in the river bare handed (no lure, pole, hook or net). Wish I could teach my daughter but I can't even get her to be still long enough to catch birds.

OK, so now I know NEVER to make assumptions where you're involved!

Do you get free lip enhancements when you smooch them too????

Originally Posted by Helenthereef

OK, so now I know NEVER to make assumptions where you're involved!

You're a lot smarter then my non cyber friends, I've only one that I don't unintentionally shock just by existing

Originally Posted by Helenthereef

Do you get free lip enhancements when you smooch them too????

Fish do not belong in ones mouth, they are not tasty goodness

Originally Posted by Twizted Paths

No pictures, this was years ago & I was doing hospice on my uncle and working two jobs so I'm pretty fuzzy on the details.

I lost contact with them shortly after they moved.

There was no respiratory involvement, just the skin reaction. I had a veiled chameleon, pair of tokays,a mali uro, an agama, a swift, a brb, a carpet python, two colombian boas, two retics, a burm,an emperor newt, a black asian scorpion, an eastern box turtle, a bufo toad (native kind not the invasive one) & usually a few garters the neighborhood kids would bring so their parents wouldn't kill em.
She had a pair of african fat tail geckos, a painted turtle, a ball python & a corn snake.

First we thought it might be poison ivy so she got covered in calamine lotion & hydro-cortisone cream. It came back worse and the doc said it was eczema so we had to change a bunch of cleaners and detergents & she got some sort of prescription lotion. Then when it came back again it got blamed on the changes we made so back to square one and a new lotion. The back and forth went on for quite awhile.

I wasn't letting her handle the reptiles with any of that stuff on her so naturally it kept going away and then once she cleared up and quit using it she could mess with them again.

The reptiles were only even suspected because I came home one day and she had the geckos out crawling on her while they were shedding. I'm pretty firm on the whole don't mess with critters when they're shedding thing so I was giving her hell while we were putting them away and noticed her formerly clear arms reddening up and rashing out again.

Couple weeks later I got woke up out of a dead sleep by a 14 yr old girl slamming into my bed bawling her eyes out because the doc said it was from the shed fluid so she couldn't touch them anymore & she couldn't be an exotics vet.

I never thought to ask for specifics. They said he said it might have cropped up out of nowhere because she was going through puberty and her body's balance was in flux & that we could wait and see if it went away again.

Just thought of my own weird thing. If my skin is damaged (naired my arms, dry cracked hands, cuts, etc.) I can't touch amphibians, turtle tank water or fish tank water with out breaking out in a weird thing. On my hands I get kinda rough slightly calloused areas that have little bumps and just have clear liquid in them, my arms just get the little fluid bumps. They itch and hurt like hell. I don't have pictures of those either. I usually forget to glove up at least once a year so next time it happens I'll snap a few pictures for you.

I'm not roughing up my hands and sticking them naked into my koi tank on purpose either guys. You don't realize how much you move your fingers & touch things until it hurts to do it.

The tiny fluid filled bumps sound like keratosis pilaris.

Katey had it, and even with the lactic acid lotion her dermatologist gave her, it never really goes away.

She was told to exfoliate the skin-all over her body-with a Buf-Puf, blot herself dry, and apply the lotion. And it burns like Hell on the raw skin, and smells like vinegar.

Needless to say, she's learned to live with the itch because the treatment is worse than the condition.

In fact, it cropped up suddenly, when she was in kindergarten, and her daycare person saw it and thought it was ringworm. After a month of antifungals, it was still there, so the family doctor sent her to a pediatric dermatologist, and she took one look, and said Keratosis pilaris. She's never seen it so wide-spread, so she called her students in to show them, and she took pictures.

"Keratosis Pilaris

Keratosis pilaris (commonly called KP) appears as "chicken skin bumps" on the skin. These bumps usually appear on the upper arms and thighs. They also can appear on the cheeks, back and buttocks. Keratosis pilaris, while unattractive, is harmless.
What Are the Symptoms of Keratosis Pilaris?

This disorder appears as small, rough bumps. The bumps are usually white or red, but do not itch or hurt. Keratosis pilaris is usually worse during the winter months or other times of low humidity when skin becomes dry. It also may worsen during pregnancy or after childbirth.
How Is Keratosis Pilaris Treated?

Although the condition may remain for years, it gradually disappears before age 30 in most cases. Treatment of keratosis pilaris is not medically necessary; but, individuals with this condition may want to seek treatment for cosmetic reasons.

The initial treatment of keratosis pilaris should be intensive moisturizing. A cream such as Acid Mantle, Vaseline or Complex 15 can be applied after bathing, and then re-applied several times a day. Other treatments may include:

* Medicated creams containing urea (Carmol-20) or alpha-hydroxy acids (Aqua Glycolic, Lacticare) applied twice daily
* Efforts to unplug pores by taking long, hot soaking tub baths and then rubbing the areas with a coarse washcloth or stiff brush"


http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-a...s-bumps?page=3

Sometimes I swear I'm allergic to my boas pee. I sneeze up a storm everytime I'm changing a freshly wet cage, lol