Why not treat for parasites? Its cheap, it gives people peace of mind, and it eliminates something that could possibly hurt our snakes.



I know that it is not mandatory. I used to work in retail with lots of fresh imports, captive bred stuff that was piled 3 feet deep, ect. I hardly ever treated anything! And had almost no die offs. You have obviously had similar experiences. I still maintain that while supporting their immune system is the most important, why not give them all the help we can to be as healthy as possible.



A few other things to think about...



In the wild, complex ecosystems of parasites and other internal fauna keep each other in check. If I were to just get a single new pathogenic species in my (relatively) clean collection right now it could easily spread to unnatural levels. Also most of us don't only keep kings. Parasites that do nothing to your wild caught kingsnake my destroy your boa constrictor.



You said something else that I don't think is true. I don't believe that the vast majority of captive bred herps are dewormed. Its to costly to vax cheap animals and if they don't show signs then why bother? Are you talking about pet owners doing it themselves, or large scale deworming at pet shops and wholesalers?



At the moment I have never de-wormed a single snake in my entire collection. I have run multiple fecals on all of them and have never found a single sign of parasites. That of course does not mean that they aren't there, it just means that their levels are so low they are undetectable.



I agree that the average Joe has no need to yearly deworm all his snakes like you would with a horse or dog. But if there is any doubt about the health or immuno-competancy then why not? It can't hurt.

[ Show Entire Thread ]