Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Most types of worms (pinworms,hookworms,etc.)are most likely acquired by exposure to fecally contaminated food and water.In the wild this isn't a problem because they roam long distances.In captivity they may re-infest themselves by drinking the dirty water or feces.Roundworms have an indirect life cycle and need an intermediate host.They are acquired by ingesting the host such as frogs,fish,rodents,lizards.Tapeworms also can be acquired by ingesting an infected invertebrate or mammal host.Only a problem in captivity because of the chance of reinfecting the reptile and building up rapidly.Secondary malnutrition and inflammation can be caused in large numbers of tapeworms.I'm done with the topic myselfEveryone will do(or believe) what they want to.I don't have any problems with my monitors(except spending enough quality time with them)

I read about reptiles in captivity having a larger parasite load in captivity because of "exposure" or re-contamination over and over because they can't escape the parasite. That's just a load of kaka. Parasites live best in the host, When shed they are looking for a differnt host. For example Tapeworms live in the g.i. tract of a host. The host sheds tapeworm eggs around the vent. An ectoparasite comes along and eats the tapeworm eggs and the eggs develope inside the ectoparasite. The ectoparasite then goes off to another aniaml and gets ingested. The baby tapes get a new home. Without the ectoparasite you have no "incubator" For the eggs to develope as they would not survive being eaten by a lizard or mammal.
The reason parasites are prevailent in captivity is poor health.

The only monitor that I had (in ht last 15 years)with parasites was WC adult Blackthroat with tapeworms.The monitor was very active with a great appetite.He had tapeworms so bad that every time it crapped,it looked like a water dish full of pasta!I kept it very clean and changed the water as soon as it soiled it.Just wanted to see if it was posssible to pass them all out through time.NO!I let it go on for a couple months with the only real problem being that he ate 3-5 mice/chicks daily and was still thin!I got two doses of Droncit from my Vet friend and within 4 weeks he doubled his weight and never showed any signs again in fecal exams.My only point is they are nasty and I persoanlly wouldn't want to forget to wash my hands and see that it MY toilet one morning

Hey if you do see some floating arond in the toilet post a pic!!!! LOL