You said..."1. Do you need to worm chameleons yearly?" If you

don't do a fecal how are you going to know that/if your chameleon

has worms (or other parasites) or not? If you don't know which

parasite/worm it has, how are you going to know that what you

plan to use will kill that parasite? A shot-gun approach

(giving it any/one antiparasite medication and hoping that it

will kill off any parasites that the chameleon has), IMHO,

is not the way to go. You may do more harm than good.

I don't know of one single antiparasite med. that will kill ALL

of the different kinds of parasites. There are hookworms,

ascarids (roundworms), filarial nematodes, flukes, flagellates,

tapeworms, etc. and although some of the main

antiparasite medications will kill several of these,

there are some that require a different medication.



You said..."2. If you do worm, how much? Exactly how? How often?"

How much and how often depends on the antiparasite medication

that you will be using...and the weight of your chameleon.

How it is given depends on the medication...some are oral and

some are injected.



You said..."I just talked with my vet who does not care much for

worming unless absolutely necessary...another vet who recommends

yearly worming and a host of other opinions"...to treat or not

is something that I have wrestled many times over the years and

I still don't have a definite answer. I just do what I think

every case requires to be in the best interest of the lizard.



You might like to read this article...

http://www.chameleonjournals.com/vet/index.php?show=4-0.Parasites.html



I know you didn't ask the following...but it might be of interest

to some anyhow...



Please be aware that I'm NOT a vet and that these are just my

thoughts/ramblings on the subject.



From my experience and from what I have read, some parasites are

quite harmful to chameleons and effect their health...so how

could we not treat them? For example...hookworms attach

themselves to the insides of the intestinal tract and

suck blood out of it. They release an anticoagulant to stop

blood clots from forming so that they can continue to suck

the blood...so if these parasites release themselves, the wound

will continue to bleed. They can contribute to anemia.



Then, other types of worms that reside in the stomach only eat

nutrients that should go to the chameleon which might be "solved"

by simply providing the chameleon with extra food.



Blood parasites and lung parasites and those that are found

under the skin that thus are not located in the digestive system

can be more difficult or maybe even impossible to kill....and

killing them can cause other problems. The body has to

get rid of the debris. Some of these have been known to kill the

chameleon. Unless these have a way to shed eggs, for instance,

into the digestive system, I don't think they will

show up in a fecal either.



Here are more sites with some information...

http://www.chameleonjournals.com/vet/index.php?show=4-2.Lungworms.html

http://www.bioone.org/bioone/?request=get-abstract&issn=1042-7260&volume=032&issue=01&page=0115



I have had some chameleons treated with no adverse effects and

the parasites were gotten rid of....and in other cases the

chameleon had a heavy infestation or was too weak and died

when treated.



I'm not saying the parasites shouldn't be treated or that they

won't prove to be a problem for the host. Some definitely need

to be treated to ensure the well-being of the chameleon.



You should also aware that they can be transferred from one host

to another...through feces and other contact...so hygiene is

always important IMHO when working with animals....and this is

something to consider when deciding to treat a parasite. A lot of

these parasites can have little or no consequence when

transferred, some can be transferred and not survive in the host

they are transferred to and a few that get into the wrong host

can be serious. (Don't let this scare you...just let it make you

aware!)



This is intended just "food for thought" and may be worth

discussing. Any comments or corrections from any of the vets

on this forum would be welcome too.



http://www.reptilerooms.com/Sections index-req-viewarticle-artid-50-page-1.html

"the surprising thing is that many of these studies are

introducing the same or similar parasites/worms to cure disease,

that we are knocking out of our animals!!"

"do we treat or not, obviously if the animal's health is being

compromised, there is no doubt we should, but I think we all

need to think real hard on treating an animal that shows

something on a fecal float or smear when there are no other

symptoms present."



http://www.angelfire.com/al/repticare2/page10.html

"If all parasites where to be harmful to their host causing

their death than the parasites would eventually bring about an

end to their own existence by eliminating the very hosts that

they need to survive. This is only true of some species of

parasites and in some cases the existence of parasites can

cause serious illness and may even lead to

death if left untreated for an extended period of time."



http://www.drgecko.com/nematodes.htm

"Pinworms typically reside in the lower gastrointestinal tract

of leopard geckos and may not cause any overt signs of disease. They may

even be beneficial in small numbers as they can prevent

constipation by breaking up fecal matter."



Any comments?

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