Pets: Be careful with these 10 animals before buying

Having a pet is a pretty interesting decision. However, you should consider buying suitable animals to avoid affecting the health of the baby and the whole family.

Nowadays, many families like to feed their children and see them as a family member. Every year in the media, news appears about young children being bitten or attacked by pets. Therefore, you should be careful in choosing whether to adopt a pet or not. In the following article, aFamilyToday Health will list pets that can cause unexpected accidents for young children.

1. Let your child have a pet turtle

In February 2018, a 3-week-old infant died of salmonella infection after coming into contact with a turtle bought from the market. Another 11 infants were reported to be infected with the same strain. Turtles are the cause of 6% of all salmonella-related deaths in the US. This is extremely clear evidence that children and infants should not be in contact with turtles because the risk of catching salmonella is extremely high.

Salmonella bacteria can cause serious illness in young children, such as poisoning, vomiting, diarrhea ... after being exposed to the bacteria 12 - 36 hours and lasting for 2 - 7 days.

Most turtles carry dangerous bacteria. If the baby comes into contact with feces or water in the aquarium, the chance of the baby being infected increases. Therefore, you should be careful when feeding turtles, for example limit contact with turtles, only watch turtles in the tank, if the turtle picks up turtles, you should wash your hands.

2. Chow Chow

The Chow Chow is a very cute and seemingly harmless breed. However, the danger of this pet is completely opposite. The Chow Chow is among the most aggressive dog breeds. Puppies of this breed are very hot tempered, easily provoked when invaded.

They may bite young children without hesitation if poked or disturbed by pulling their fur. As your baby gets older, you should teach him how to live with the Chow Chow without making them uncomfortable.

In addition, Chow Chow is also quite aggressive with other dogs of the same sex and is not really suitable for families with cats, because their strong hunting instincts will cause them to harm smaller animals.

3. Chihuahua dog

Although Chihuahuas are cute and small, they are also very loud and hot-tempered. Due to its small size, this dog does not like to be poked, annoyed or otherwise able to do things. This will sometimes lead to the baby being bitten or injured more easily.

In case you want to feed your pet a Chihuahua while he is still a child, you need to train the dog so that he will be calm when he is with him. You should also teach your baby about the things that will make your Chihuahua uncomfortable.

4. Beetles / guinea pigs, pet mice or rodents

Rats or rodents such as rabbits, squirrels ... eat about 15-20 times a day and produce quite a lot of feces. This means that the likelihood of your child coming into contact with this animal's fecal particles is quite high. Even more dangerous, the waste from mice or rodents contains more than 200 pathogens ranging from mild to severe.

Hamsters have sharp nails that can easily scratch their skin if bothered by others. If a child is scratched by a hamster, it can lead to an infection caused by staphylococcus. Because the child's immune system is weak, he or she is more likely to develop pneumonia, blood sugar infection or serious bacterial infection. These animals can also spread salmonella and cause flu in both children and adults.

5. Hedgehogs

It can be quite clear why you should not feed hedgehogs to babies because their hair will penetrate the baby's skin very deeply if touched. However, many people are unaware that porcupine hair is not only painful, but also capable of introducing the bacteria that cause fever, stomach pain, and rash. So, you can only feed your pet hedgehog when he is over 6 years old and teach him to be patient and gentle when playing with him.

6. Dalmatians

If there is one word that perfectly describes a dalmatian, it is short-tempered. Therefore, if not properly trained, this dog can harm your baby. When you want to raise a dalmatian, you should train from a young age and learn to get along with your baby to get used to his enthusiastic actions.

7. The Rottweiler

Rottweilers are not only potentially dangerous to children, but also to adults if they are not properly trained and properly trained. This is a breed that has the advantages of confidence, courage, loyalty, but is very aggressive, difficult to control ... Rottweilers hate anyone who invades their territory. This can lead to undesirable accidents if young children do so accidentally. However, older children can live with the breed if given instructions on how to treat and when to leave the pet alone.

8. Frog

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), frogs are another source of salmonella infection. In 2011, there were 241 cases of salmonella infection after touching a frog and two-thirds of the patients were under 10 years old. The frog has a strong ability to transmit bacteria to humans, especially if the child's immune system is still weak. If your child likes to keep frogs, you should carefully consider these matters.

9. Snake

The current trend is to raise reptiles, such as snakes. They are on the list of the scariest creatures, but in fact this type of animal will only bite people if it is overly provoked. Due to the child's curiosity and mischief, a snake can feel threatened when the baby accidentally steps on or grabs it, so it is easy to respond by biting the baby. If your child insists on keeping a snake, you have to be very careful, always observe all of their actions and choose gentle snakes that eat only insects like crickets.

10. Lizards, geckos

Lizards and geckos pose a similar danger to young children like turtles because salmonella tops the list of bacteria that can be infected after they come into contact with a lizard or gecko. From 2010 to 2013, 175 children and infants were infected with salmonella and 48 of them were exposed to reptiles, especially lizards.

Experts recommend that you wash your baby's hands immediately after touching a lizard or gecko and avoid letting children under 1 year come into contact with these reptiles.