Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i believe my little guy has gotten worms some how. every now and then he will poop out a 2 inch long white wavey substance that will sometimes stay attached to his butt. i hope its not worms but i believe it must be. if anyone can give me any information on deworming a snapping turtle like waht to use that would be great cant find any herp vets here in pa. DREW please help

It's unusual for a hatchling to be already harboring adult worms. How long have you had it, how old is it and was it wild caught or captive hatched? What has it been eating?

What you are describing sounds like tapeworm segments. Is there any possibility you can post a photo?

I found the turtle in the wild when he was a little bigger then a quater. so im not sure how old he is but he is still pretty small maybe 2 inchs. i am waiting for him to poop out some more it doesnt happen all the time. i feed him guppies, meal worms, crikets, chicken, and pellets. i thought i read somewhere about it could be the turtles urine with something in it but i cant remember where i read that but if you could give any advice from now till i see the worm again or whatever it is that would rock thanks. do you think i should try to find reptile vet anyway and get him dewormed. Drew Tahnks

OK. It's not really a dire emergency at this point. What you should try to do is get a good fecal sample to take to your vet. He can look for eggs in the fecal sample. It doesn't have to be a herp vet, necessarily. In the meantime, if it happens again, try to get a good photo. To get the fecal sample, you may have to remove him from the water and put him in a plastic shoebox or something with damp paper towels for substrate. Take the sample as fresh as possible to your vet for analysis.

Hey guys here is the picture of the turle and whatever it is i believe to it is worms but i dont know what kind if anyone can give me any advice that would be great thanks DREw

That is almost certainly tapeworms (Taenia spp). Your vet is going to need to treat that with (probably) Praziquantel. Just take the worm segments to the vet and there's no need for a fecal exam. With a turtle that small passing segments that large, he's been infested for a while.

Hey thanks alot my guy is going to the vet next thursday and he is giving him something not sure of name my dad thinks it might be that. thanks for the help. if that to long of a wait like he wont die in the time span will he any other things i should do till then. Thanks Drew

What should his eating habits be now cause im sure he probably got that from a fish because i keep his water for the most part pretty clean thanksDRew

He most likely picked up eggs before you found in, in the wild. I would say they have been developing for quite some time.

He won't die before next Thursday if he's still eating OK and appears to be acting normally.

By the way, the Trade name for Praziquantel is Droncit.

Alright thanks alot for the help you have been a big help. the little guy is going to the vet on thursday so im hopeing he will be good does this mean we will have to deworm him every year or what does it mean once he gets dewormed is it like dogs were u do it monthly or yearly whichever it is. thanks for everyone man Drew

No, you only should deworm when they have worms. I do sort of random fecal exams on my collection every couple of months. It's a lot easier for me than many folks, because I do my own fecal floats, smears, etc., as well as bacterial cultures and things like that so I can diagnose most of my own problems.

When I see evidence of a serious infestations, I treat for them. Parasites are a problem in reptiles and certain reptile naturally harbor parasites that would be pathogenic in others. Some intestinal bacteria is considered normal flora until it reaches a certain level, where it becomes pathogenic. The single biggest key to keeping parasites under control is cage cleanliness. Second to that is the food source. Wild-caught food is much more likely to be carrying parasites than domesticated food items. Frozen/thawed food items are the best to use because freezing kills whatever parasites are there. Some parasites are ingested in food, others come from contact with contaminated soil, etc. Some can be transmitted either way.

I just had the same prob with my hatchling snappers...the vet gave them panacure to start, and then next week they get a dose of Droncin (sic?). He said hatchling immune systems can't handle too much medication all at once. And panacure will kill any harboring eggs, and the Droncin kills off all adults.... He also said freezing the fish might not kill the worms...but he will ask around...