Roundworms - any experience?

[victorsgrace]

Hi guys

So I have a question: When I took Pig to the vet I also ordered a stool sample from the guys (Birger and Louis), just as a standard action. When the test was delivered to me, they told me the guys had quite alot of roundworms, which they informed me is pretty normal. They would not recommend that I had them treated, since treatment is very rough on them and they might not survive it 8.l However, he said if I suddenly saw them mistreating, they offered having them treated.


- Now I've never seen any kind of worms in their tanks. I've never seen anything else than normal poop, in their poop. It's a dark brown, round and very fine. They seem to be going timely enough and neither of them seem indegested our troubled with absorbing food.

The only thing I've noticed, since the 9 months I've cared for them now, is that they've gotten a bit slower in their movements. They seem to just drag their feet a little bit, unlike what they used to four/five months ago.

They're still in seemingly good condition, both eat very well and willingly, don't seem lethargic and change skin normally, soak normally and so on.



- My question is: These guys are wildcaught, so of course they have parasites in some degree or other.
Have any of you guys had yours treated for roundworm? Or gotten a standard treatment for the all-round parasite pack?


- Could the slight slowing in their movements be caused by the roundworms? I know vitamin deficiency can cause this and I dust every second week or so. I prefer to feed them gutloaded or wild caught feeder animals, as I know the dust can be a bith harsh on their systems and I believe they absorb it better, via the feeder animals.


Here's the guys from today

(Louis front, Birger back)

[kueluck]

I use panacur from the Vet. I let him know what the critters weight is, and he gives me the dosage for them. It's safe to use and I inject it into wax or butter worms so they get the full dosage.

[Mentat]

Hi Victor! The issue with any parasite in an enclosure is that the parasite eggs are enclosed is a small space (unlike nature) so an animal immune system can get overwhelmed by their numbers. Agree with Gail in that Panacur (Febendazole) is a good medicine agains worms. Do take frog to veterinary so it get's the correct dose depending on frog's weight and the parasite life cycle. Good luck !

[victorsgrace]

Hey guys.

Thanks for the info! Allright, I'll get in touch with my vet. I don't know if she knows any of these two treatments, but I'll inform her - 'cause this sounds like it isn't a life threatening treatment to them.

Regarding the egg amount, their substrate is changed every four weeks, so there's no build up of ammonia or parasite residue, to the degree I can control it But it makes sense.

- Good idea with the waxworms!

[chibikaie]

I just want to bring up a few points about parasites.

The eggs are microscopic, so you will not see them. It is not unusual for a heavily infested animal to only shed eggs invisible to the naked eye and no worms. So if the lab found roundworm eggs, trust them when they say that they are there even though you have not seen them.

Different species of parasites have different incubation periods. If there is a chance for an egg to fall off the poop into the substrate, where it is left alone for four weeks, it could hatch and your animals could reinfect themselves. Or some species have a tough oocyst that waits until it is ingested, then "hatches" inside the gut. I am not saying that changing every four weeks is not enough to prevent ammonia buildup (I have no expertise in that), but it is definitely not enough to say that by itself, it is preventing parasite transmission or reinfection. When dealing with parasites, cleaning has to be at least daily.

I'm not sure if there are frog parasites that can be transmitted to them via the insects they eat, but it is very likely that there are some out there. Many parasites spend each life cycle in a different species, so I would be very cautious of feeding wild-caught insects.

[victorsgrace]

chibikaie: Allright

I definitely did not say that the parasites aren't there, because I can't see them I stated the parasites ARE there, but I haven't seen any (some claim to have worms crawling around their tanks and so on, where it turns out to be a heavy infestation of parasites). I don't doubt my guys have had round worms for quite a while, since having lived two-three years in the wild, before I got them.

Allright. So if they are treated with this, I'll quarenteen them for a specified period of time, with a substrate form that's changed every day.

I am aware of this and have read alot of pros and cons on feeding with wild caught animals, from different sources. Cons for me is that they could become infected with a new round of roundworms or other parasites and then will have to be treated again. Pros for me are that wild feeders are very high in nutrients and are more easily digested than vitamin powder, ofcourse dependant on what species the feeder is.

I mainly feed with bought Canadian tiger worms, fed on salads and other nourishing veggies, cuban bench chunks and some crickets, gut fed on fish flakes, oats and veggies and I supplement with wild caught beetle worms or other kinds of larvae. My observations are that my guys are strong, healthy and it's had a remarkable effect on my home brought guy, Pig, who's much more active when fed this diet (sadly he's scared of earth worms and won't take them).