Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I took my adult corn to a herp vet last week for 2 reasons,
1.) I just got him, he’s my first adult corn, and I wanted him given the once over and
2.) after three feedings he had what looked like a partial regurge and I wanted to ask some questions.

The vet looked him over inside and out and said that he is a-ok. However, a subsequent stool specimen indicated that he had a fairly high pinworm count. The vet also noted that there is no way to know (without surgery—an extreme action) whether or not the worms are coming from the snake or from the mice he is being fed.

The guy I bought the snake from said that he was fed only f/t adult mice. I feed the same and my stock comes from Rodent Pro so I have no issues there. The vet gave me some medicine that I need to give orally to the snake via a needle injector. I’m to do this once a week for two weeks, and then bring in a stool specimen a week after that. The vet also indicated that I DO NOT have to strip down the tank, but that I should just be quick to change out his water if he should poop in it, so that he is not re-ingesting the same pinworms.

When I first was told all this news, I immediately wrote a friend of mine who is certifiably an expert in the field. Being new to the hobby, I am constantly shocked with how little information is available on any topic, let alone health issues. Sure enough, he was able to affirm some of what the vet said and contradict some of the other info. In addition, he sent me several links to forums, etc, where the topic of pinworms was being discussed. True to form, most of the info was hearsay, and other info was simply ridiculous.

I have all of the available books on cornsnakes (most (not all) of which are basically glorified pamphlets sold in pet stores filled with “How to keep your new pet happy!” pabulum. While some of them mention pinworms w/o any treatment info, others simply sidestep the issue entirely.

My friend the old timer said that herps are not like dogs and cats. People do not tend to rush their herps to the doctor once a month for check ups like they do with mammals. Because of this, many common procedures are never performed and all that data is never collected. It may very well be true that most or all CB herps have pinworms, but that no one knows about it because they just don’t get examined.

To take it a step further, I contacted Kathy Love and asked her about her dealings with pinworms and if she could help shed a little light on the subject. To my surprise, she told me that she has ever had to deal with pinworms on any of her animals. She did give me a contact to a DVM that she uses as a reference, and I will soon utilize that resource in my never-ending battle to find herp info.

My question to the Kingsnake forum is this: what is YOUR experience with Pinworms?
Are they common or uncommon?
Malignant or benign?
Do they require sterile conditions or can the tank stay as is?
Can you completely eradicate them with proper treatment, or are the a permanent affliction?
Do I give the meds on a full stomach or empty?

Any other data you may have is also greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Lenny B.

Pinworms........Panacur......hit them up like you were told...hit once and repeat in a week........not sur eif it's 2 or 3 times total.........you said you have syringes for application........I hope they are the ones without needles.........worms should go away........

I am not sure if snakes commonly have worms or not.......I would think not really ........I had them once here years ago......I tested for other stuff and vet said I had them and tapeworm too and other stuff....he also said the bacteria counts were common and didn't distinguish from good and bad bacterias in the results......(there are good bacterias)......

they can be eliminated.........tapeworm in my dog was ridden with 2 pills........like $34......LOL......big dog.......worms from eating defecates of other critters I would bet,.........I guess rabbit droppings taste kinda like rabbit and cat scat smells like fish???.........he's gross..........

.......you will be fine,..........
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and I am still waiting for that "magical" check......
mail isn't that slow.....come on man....write it out.....!50

You're saying that YOU had tapeworms, etc and that you caught from your herps? I thought that mammals couldn't catch parasites from reptiles?? (at least that's what my vet said--these were not communicable to mammals)

>>You're saying that YOU had tapeworms, etc and that you caught from your herps? I thought that mammals couldn't catch parasites from reptiles?? (at least that's what my vet said--these were not communicable to mammals)

reptiles are an intermediate host for tapeworms. Once they reach a certain part of their lifecycle they leave the host and go elsewheres.
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PHWyvern

Pinworms are thought to be a part of the natural gut/digestive flora of reptiles. As long as the parasite load isn't too high there usually isn't a problem. It is when something happens to cause the balance to shift (stress, illness, etc.) that the animal might have a problem.. i.e. their immune system becomes compromised and allows the worms to get the upper hand so to speak.

My vet has never worried about treating for pinworms unless the count was high... then a basic treatment would be done to get the numbers down but not necessarily eliminate them.

Where your snake got the pinworms, hard to say. could be the food, could be it always had them just not in a high enough load to be noticeable, or maybe even crickets running around if you have lizards or something that eat them and have regular escapees of the insects.
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PHWyvern