Parasites are designed to not kill the host. Or the parasites would be extinct by now. Animals can live a relatively normal life with them inside. It gets to be a problem when stress, poor husbandry and other factors can weaken the animal and cause the number of parasites to explode and make the host very sick. Even though an infected animal may do well and thrive, the rest of your collection is being put at risk. Ova (Eggs) in the feces can be transmitted by a keepers hands or tools to other animals, infecting them,also possibly the keeper, depending what kind of parasite it is. Dust in the air can spread these microscopic ova. Other things like coccidia (which is a protozoan, and has much smaller oocysts) can actually be spread by those little carrion fly or fruit flies........Roundworms , Pinworms and Tapeworms are the only "common" internal parasites that can be seen by the naked eye...........Others, you will need a microscope (to see the eggs normally). I do fecals myself and treat most infected animals myself when they come in and in quarantine. I have also sent animals right back to people if they send me something with hard to treat parasites. I spent 250 on a binocular microscope from ebay and it does a very good job. Best money I have ever spent since I started breeding snakes. It is relatively easy and you will learn a ton. Get Klingenberg's "Understanding Reptile Parasites" to start out with. Liquid panacure can be found at Jeffers Livestock catalog. Under goat wormer. Panacure is relatively safe, so you don't have to be a brain surgeon to figure out dosage exactly. Do these thing and you will be off to a great start and have an interesting new hobbby and more importantly make your animals healthier and safe from sick new arrival. Ps. Take your animals to your reptile vet also. Veterinarian are invaluable. Mike Bodner
Mike Bodner's Thayeri

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