Hookworms

[GrifTheGreat]

Well I got Bertha's and Clyde's fecal exams done, as Bertha has been bloating and I can't seem to figure out why. Both frogs tested positive for hookworms, which was quite unexpected... Clyde seems perfectly fine and rarely come in contact with her, especially since she hasn't seemed well. Bertha's stool which I sent in was very strange. It was quite small, and the outer casing was green and very slimy, almost looked like moss had grown on it. The inside was a red-ish color. Obviously they do have hookworms, however I feel something more may be going on with Bertha, any thoughts?
Some recent pics of Bertha.

Worms can cause bloating and digestion issues. This will probably go away after they are cured of the worms.

[cyris69]

Hmm my girl looks like that very bloated (she does get a bit smaller when not puffed up) but seems fine and very active during feeding. Is there anything I should be concerned with as well? How is this contracted?

[Locascio]

you can treat hookworms with pancure by giveing .1ml pur 100 grams of WT. Do this 2x a week for 2 weeks inject the pray item than feed to your frog ive been useing this stuff for years and it works. you still want your vet to do another fecal exam in a few weeks to make shure its cleared up. i used to work for a hurp vet and this is how you want to go about it.

[Eric Walker]

If never heard of panacur as a liquid. Only a powder. Do most vets carry both?

you can treat hookworms with pancure by giveing .1ml pur 100 grams of WT. Do this 2x a week for 2 weeks inject the pray item than feed to your frog ive been useing this stuff for years and it works. you still want your vet to do another fecal exam in a few weeks to make shure its cleared up. i used to work for a hurp vet and this is how you want to go about it.

[Mentat]

.. I'm also curious though, how could this have been contracted?

I'm also curious how this gets contracted, now its making me wonder about my girl.

Oh those darned parasites... where are they coming from ? Since we got a few minutes while relaxing from lunch... let me tell you a story! Helminths (parasitic worms) find their way into a host through contaminated food, water, soil, mosquito bites, and even during copulation . In the case of our frogs; that can mean they had them when wild caught, or the breeder stock was contaminated, or the pet shop or seller stock was contaminated, or one of your stock was contaminated. Once a frog has intestinal worms (or other enteric parasites) and it's not treated while undergoing quarentine or is added to a collection... those parasites are going to spread! Even if not kept in same enclosure; your handling and the use of common tools for cleaning and feeding will be enough to spread the nasties around .

So how come some of your stock shows signs of disease and others don't? Well, different organisms have different immunity to parasites and other health issues. A keeper's whole collection could have enteric parasites and the frogs immunity systems would be fighting them nefarious invisible foes successfully; until one day someone is stressed ! The health/disease balance would tip over and if not addresssed properly by the keeper in a timely manner, could mean the loss of one or more frogs.

If never heard of panacur as a liquid. Only a powder. Do most vets carry both?

Beleive veterinarians have access to liquid Panacur and many other drugs not available to common public. Seen also a paste form used for horses too. Also, form could vary geographically, since pet medications have different control rules in various countries. For the powder form... this is what I do.

Since I treat my own fish (been keeping them over 50 years) kind of developed my own sense on how and why to medicate pets. When I get a new frog (or fish) it goes into quarentine and nothing is shared with anyone else in colection. A week after animal is eating in new enclosure (or tank) I go ahead and do a deworming with Panacur. I buy it either at Petsmart (SafeGuard Canine Dewormer) or similar product at Amazon. Then I get me some nicely fat and happy night crawlers (Panacur powder sticks to them really well) from my bins. Wear gloves, don't breath or snort stuff, and transfer Panacur powder into sandwich bag (enough to have some leftover in bag when done breading) + Night Crawlers + shake it baby = Panacur breaded night crawlers. Warning: if you do speak worm language please wear hearing protection at this stage .

OK, now get your plastic tweezers and dangle the worms in front of hungry frog... whack! Please note that for little frogs you might need to cut the night crawlers into mouth sized pieces. Feed enough "Panacured" night crawlers to satiation for 2 consecutive feeding days and repeat same in 2 weeks. You are done deworming so have feces tested for parasites a week or two after 2nd treatment.

Oh wait... OMG I did not weight the Panacur dose? That's right! My fish and frogs do not overdose on Panacur when mouth sized food pieces (prawn for fish, night crawlers for frogs) are completely breaded in the powdery stuff and feed to satiation. Little guys will eat a bit, bigger guys will eat more, so it's like an uncomplicated appetite regulated dosage system. For liquid dosage you can follow Vince's instructional post. Also, if you go to FF "First Aid" section there are other delivery methods discussed.

Keep your habitats clean, quarentine all new stock, do preventive Panacur treatment on all arrivals; and your frogs should be parasite worm free. If a frog is infected to point it gets weak and sick it's time for a vet visit; or you risk loosing it. Also, do clean and disinfect the enclosure of an infected frog following 2nd treatment every 2 weeks. Good luck!

[GrifTheGreat]

Thank You Carlos!!

Please note that from my understanding Hookworms are difficult to get rid of and you may have to dispose of certain furniture that belongs to your frogs. Driftwood, plants, ect. Anything that these parasites can latch onto and hide.

Better safe than risking reintroducing the worms to them once more after they're cured by accident.

[Mentat]

Thank You Carlos!!

Please note that from my understanding Hookworms are difficult to get rid of and you may have to dispose of certain furniture that belongs to your frogs. Driftwood, plants, ect. Anything that these parasites can latch onto and hide.

Better safe than risking reintroducing the worms to them once more after they're cured by accident.

Thanks for adding that ; had no idea the damned nematodes would play hide and seek with us ! Guess you could boil plastic decor or feeding dishes for 10 minutes and bake rocks at 350 for same amount of time; but driftwood, and live plants would be "kaput."

Also, would need to wipe down the enclosure good. I would use an undiluted unscented clorox (gloves and ventilation required!) soaked cellulose sponge and then rinse enclosure well until no smell is left (I do that with infected aquariums). Then a final wipe down with a sponge soaked in concentrated solution (about 10X) of water conditioner (de-chlorinator). This clorox sponge bath works well in tanks (glass, silicone sealant, hard plastic) but I would not use it in anything that can absorb it and later leach into frog habitat (i.e. wood). Good luck!

[Locascio]

from the pics your frogs look really sick i hope you have the money to spend to treat them.