MY 10 Year Old Has Extremely Severe Allergies

[SudeepHArya]

Hi All,

I am very new to this forum (1 Day Only) but I have been reading for a long time (Yes I am a Lurker )

My Son wants a pet like you could not believe and the gold fish tank we have does not fill his need for a pet to take care of and interact with.

Since he is allergic to almost everything under the sun for example it is easier to list what he can eat versus what he cannot. Better yet the only place he has ever been to a restaurant is Disney because, believe it or not, a Fortune 100 company will fly in food he can eat so he can feel like he belongs in a restaurant.

He probably has one of the worst case of allergies which is extremely well controlled to a point where he looks like a very normal 10 year old boy.

The point of all this is to ask do any of you have experience with Leos and children / adults with severe allergies? My fear is we invest all this money and hope only to have his heart broken.

The Mother and me the dad will obviously be involved in cleaning the terrarium and feeding the lil critter but I still have a concern to the direct interaction with the Leo.

I read reptiles in general are not allergic however their substrate / diet may be and I wanted to know of your personal experiences that may have been experienced. Just to show the magnitude of his allergies I added a list of the things he can ONLY eat there is nothing else on his menu. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE


Apples
Pears
Oranges
Organic Chicken (Includes 100% Organic Ground Chicken)
Quinoa (Includes Quinoa Flour and Quinoa Flakes)
Baking Soda (Arm & Hammer only)
Cod Fish (not farm raised)
Salmon (Line Caught - non-Farm Raised)
Sea Salt
Spinach
Broccoli
Wesson Brand Canola Oil
Potatoes
Carrots
Nutramigen Infant Formula
Pumpkin
Winter Squash
Organic Corn
Deboles brand Corn-only pastas
Hershey Brand Cocoa Powder only
Buckwheat
Watermelon
Lamb

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

How horrible that your son suffers from such severe allergies! Are most of his problems with food, or are there environmental allergies as well? Since most people who have pet allergies are actually allergic to dander (skin cells) and/or saliva (cats lick their fur constantly), reptiles are often a great solution for those who want to enjoy the opportunity to keep pets. Mammals slough off thousands of skin cells every day, and the hair follicles produce sebum, which is a waxy, oily substance that keeps the hair and skin moist. Reptiles do not shed skin cells... they shed their entire skin when the new skin underneath is ready to take over.

Leopard geckos make excellent pets. They are easy to handle, live a long time, are fairly clean, usually don't harbor salmonella, and don't require any overhead lighting. Not to mention they are so pretty! I agree that it would be heartbreaking to get a new leopard gecko and fall in love with it, only to find that it had to be given up. Do you know of anybody who has one that your son could interact with to see if there's a problem?

Substrates such as newspaper or paper towel should pose no problem, and other particulate substrates are not recommended anyway. The only thing I might be concerned about is an allergic reaction to the feeder insects. Some people have respiratory or skin reactions to the the exoskeleton, or shed casings, of mealworms and crickets, as well as their droppings. Sometimes this can be remedied by using a dust mask and plastic gloves.

 

[Spots]

I agree with Golden Gate Geckos. Geckos make excellent pets...although she forgot to mention that they don't make any noise either!

Geckos are one of the only pets I thought of having because of the fact that they are almost "hypo-allergenic" (according to my allergist - although he claims that nothing can be truly hyp-allergenic lol). I am allergic to many environmental things opposed to food and food products so it may be different but I have not encountered any problems so far. The substrate could pose a problem but can be easily solved by having tiles or paper towels. Moss was a concern for me since I'm allergic to basically everything outside but I'm taking allergy injections so the small amount of moss needed in the tank has not affected me. Also, I haven't had any skin reactions to the feeders (yet anyways - 2+ years of owning geckos and I've had problems with eczema all my life). I use tongs to get the mealworms out and these tubes to get the crickets out so I am never directly touching the feeders. Just make sure you wash your hands before and after feeding or handling.

While I am not an extreme case of allergies, I don't think having a gecko poses any problems for me. Find a good breeder in your area or someone you know that has geckos and get your son to have a few visits and see if any reactions occur. Make sure you visit a few times though and not just once. Also, you can put the tank in another room so the moss doesn't get to your son (I don't know how to phrase that lol but I mean like...I can't have my windows open in the summer because the grass "fumes" will cause me to swell up and break out over night so if the moss is a problem, just make sure you a) don't have it and substitute it for something else such as paper towels, or b) take it out of the son's room so he can't be affected by the moss' "fumes").

Good Luck!

 

[55g]

He may have a reaction to mealworm frass (poop). Everyone in my house, except me, has severe food and environmental allergies and are on meds year round. The geckos themselves have not caused any problems but mealworm frass causes respiratory issues.

 

[ajveachster]

I agree with finding an animal as well as any feeder insects with which he can interact before making a purchase. I know of more people who have issues with mealworms than crickets, and feeders more than the animals themselves. If the insects pose an issue you may also want to think about one of the rhacs (cresties/gargoyles) as a pet. They typically can live forever on CGD. CGD is a powdered meal replacement that is mixed with water. You should be able to take a look at a package at your local pet store to see if it has anything that you know will cause an issue with your son. Cresties and Gargs also are fairly low maintenance reptiles. Just another option if a leo doesn't work out.

 

[sausage]

allergies is why we have geckos. but as you said if you do all the feeding and cleaning then there shouldnt be a problem with the feeder bugs. although if your son felt like he wanted to feed them somthing a good pair of long reptile tweezers would be good to let him feed them treat items like wax worms.
as all ready sugested i would find some one who keeps them at home and see if he reacts well to hamdling them.
do not try holding one in a pet store as cross contamination could have easily happend from other animals ect around that store.

 

[LZRDGRL]

Where do you live? Maybe you're close to a breeder and could take your son there (if he can enter such facilities; there might be dust from mealworm bedding in the air, etc.) to see whether he likes them at all. Or somebody with a gecko could bring one over to you for "inspection."

They are very beautiful and can live up to 20 years, so he would have a long-lasting companion.

I would assume leos are safe for your son, and if you do the cleaning of the cage and the feeding, and he just takes it out to hold it, that might work. By the way, geckos CAN make sounds. They croak like little parrots, but not very often, and usually that seems to be when they are scared or angry. They also don't bite very often, unless they're handled improperly and feel threatened. You have to make sure that your son doesn't get bitten. (It probably won't happen if he doesn't cup his hands over a gecko, which will scare it, or pick it up when it doesn't want to, or hold it at its tail. Also, hand feeding of worms is not recommendable then, since some geckos that don't see very well or have striking issues (Enigmas) tend to bite next to the worm.) I would think that a gecko bite and a possible resulting infection might be the only concern you could have. But then, every pet and bite, scratch, or pick.

I am allergic to horses, rabbits, cats, dust, hay, and lots of plants. Geckos worked fine for me, but I get coughing when I clean their cages. Depending on what substrate you use, there's quite a bit of dust (especially since my substrate is hydroton clay balls; and old unseen gecko poop dries up and crumbles, too. Apart from that, there's cricket and mealworm poop.). If you use paper towels as substrate and clean them out every day, there won't be dust. Likewise, you can wash off tiles daily. Porous substrate like hydroton lets crickets hide in there, and gets more dirty underneath without you seeing it. So a cage with a glass or plastic floor that you can wash off easily, with paper towel on it, might be a good option.

Visit somebody with a gecko... It needs to be a pet he likes. They are not "cuddly," but they can be tamed and crawl all over you and ride on your shoulder. They won't come if you call their name, so they are more responsive than fish, but less than dogs or cats, of course. Your son is certainly old enough to own a reptile. It teaches a lot of responsibility, and he can learn a lot through observation. I wouldn't recommend getting one from a chain pet store, since those MIGHT have parasites or might have been on the wrong substrate (sand), which can create health issues. Get a healthy one with a fat tail from a hobbyist or breeder, if your son decides this is the pet for him!

Good luck!

Chrissy

 

[SudeepHArya]

Thank you for your help

Thank you very much for your help makes me feel more assured my son will have a long time companion. I live in NJ and will look to find a breeder so he may be able to interact with it a couple of times to see if there is any allergic effects.

 

[shiftygecko]

Im sorry to hear about your sons allergies. I just want to warn you about one thing to do with geckos that is really uncommon. My wife CANNOT handle ANY type of calcium. She is allergic to it. We didnt know this when we first got our geckos but have figured it out since.

I would defiantly recommend to you that you visit a breeder. And ask to have your son exposed to this. My wife balloons up and gets a rash. If she get calcium on her she runs and washes.

Sorry to bring this up, it just everyone I have talked to never heard of a reaction to calcium. She is fine with it in the house and in the tanks. She just cant wash the tanks or dust the crickets.

 

[SudeepHArya]

Can she handle the Gecko though

Hi thanks for the warning I would like to know if she can handle the Gecko in general.

 

[Uroplatus80]

I am a leopard gecko Breeder In Staten Island,NY.
Very close to Most of NJ. If you want to come over and check out some of my geckos and mealworms and see how he reacts that would be fine.I have a Friend who has allergies who has broken out from handling my geckos before so I think it just depends on the person.