HELP !!! Parasitic worms found in my WC Bufo alvarius toads

[jacuoco88]

Today, I noticed a huge amount of small white worms resembling maggots in the feces of one of my W/C Colorado River Toads. I bought them about a week ago and have been feeding them raw chunks of Angus beef cut into small chunks the size of pinky mice. I did this to fatten them up. The meat was dusted with vitamins and calcium. They've become much more alert and lively since I got them. But this morning I found the worms.
does anyone know what these are and what I can do -- short of taking them to a vet. Thanks much. RSVP.

[arielgasca420]

A lot of people on here recommend a specialist by the name of Dr. Frye. he will do and exam on a fecal sample and tell you exactly what type of parasites you have so that you may treat it with the proper medicine. To me it sounds like hookworms but that is a shot in the dark. This is why I do not take wild caught animals. too expensive to get them to live in captivity. I wish you the best of luck and I will see if I can help you get his information

[mrzoggs]

from what i hear hookworms cant be traced by the visible eye. I sent fecals to dr frye and his assistant called me back saying the feces i sent had the most hookworms she had ever seen in a single examination but yet i cant see anything in the poop. But arielgasca is right, send the fecals to dr frye or take them to a vet.

dr.frye.vetatmilan@gmail.com is his email. you can contact him there. if you need information on how to collect and send feces,

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/gen...amination.html

check that website.


Ryan

[jacuoco88]

Thanks for the fast reply. But these aren't worms you can't see. These look like a cross between FFF larvae or maggots. And they're quite active crawling through the fecal matter. I got these from a guy selling them on faunaclassifieds. I don't know anyone that sells this type of toad CB. This is the season for them and they're for sale everywhere. They're also known by the Media as psychedelic toads. Can this doctor write me a script and fax it to a pharmacy? I'm gonna check. Thank you so much. I just joined this site about one hour ago.​

[mrzoggs]

he will mail you the meds. you can purchase them directly from him. if i had to guess itd be panacur. you dust your feeders with them once weekly. it is $14 per tablspoon. then you will send in another fecal after 4 weeks to see if they are gone.

[jacuoco88]

I emailed the vet at the address you gave me. Thanks again.

[arielgasca420]

yea I remember reading about these toads. It is possible to breed them in captivity, but you cannot be caught synthesizing their toxins. that is where it becomes illegal

[mrzoggs]

i honestly dont know what white worms would be visible. i just remember them saying i wouldnt be able to see them. who knows. maybe bigger frogs mean bigger worms.


just curious... what do you get out of synthesizing their toxins? a hallucinagen? a poison? thats funny.

[jacuoco88]

While I was waiting for the vets reply, I did some research and no matter whether they're hookworms, roundworms, nematodes, etc the drug named Panacur C (fenbendazole) is a broad spectrum anti-microbial which will kill them all. And it's inexpensive. So I'll check it out at Petco tonight or 1-800- petmeds.
You're right they can be bred in captivity. The female lays about 8000 eggs and the time-period between egg, tadpole and toadling is very short to coincide with the short rainy season in the Sonoran Desert. As for the other matter, you don't need to synthesize the drug, their body does. Their parotid glands produce a venom (bufotenin) and an hallucinogen (DMAE or something like that) thats then smoked. The "toad licking" stories you've probably heard about are BS spread by the media and law enforcement. Anyway, toads are one of the few pets not banned in NYC. And they eat out of my hand, so I'm keeping them. They're really cute and only cost me $50 each (1 male & 1 female).

[arielgasca420]

I remember that mrZoggs. what white worms can be visible?