Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I picked up a nice male crotalus molossus at the daytona show. as soon as possible I took a fecal sample to my vet, she said it has pinworms but not to worry because they won't cause any harm and besides that there is no treatment for them. is this true or should I treat it with something?
Thanks in advance,
Ryan

The only reason I can think of for him to tell you that is if they are mouse pinworms which are commonly found in snakes. they come from eating infected mice. They do not cause disease in snakes. Treating them would be useless since they aren't pathogenic to snakes and they come from the food anyway.

Reptile pinworms can definitely be treated with Fenbendazole (Panacur). It is true that pinworms are not a source of great concern in reptiles unless there is an overwhelming load of them, which can cause intestinal blockages in some cases. This normally only occurs in Chelonians and some Saurians which have a more "looped" intestinal tract than do snakes. They are a direct life-cycle parasite, which means thay are capable of re-infecting without an intermediate host. The snake will pick them up from contaminated food or water.

I have identified what I am reasonably certain are rodent specific pinworms in captive bred snakes as well as some wild caught snakes. Since it can be difficult to tell the difference between rodent specific pinworms which just pass through without causing any problems in reptiles and the type that can cause problems, you can hit up a frozen/thawed mouse with Panacur every week for a couple of weeks at 25 to 50 mg per kilogram of the snake's weight.

I don't consider pinworms that look like the usual rodent type to be a sufficient reason to do tube medication, but if you have any doubt it's worth sticking some Panacur into the next few dead mice. At these doses (50 mg/kg max, 1 X weekly, 2-3 week duration) you aren't likely to cause any problems in the snake according to the most recent research I am aware of.

Thanks you guys, I think I will give him some panacur the next few feedings.
Ryan

Hey Ryan - ask the vet for a digital photo through the scope for the next fecal and we can get it ID'd for sure. Mouse pinworms are absolutely non pathogenic in snakes and no treatment is necessary, they just die and go away without causing any harm. If your vet is able to tell the difference between mouse pinworms and reptile pinworms RELIABLY, then you don't have a problem especially if the animal is captive bred for sure. A wild reptile that comes in with pinworms is a bit more of a concern because the chances are better that they are pathogenic rather than the result of a very recent feeding.

Better yet buy your own scope and do your own fecals, it's very easy and cheap. Radio Shack sells a small cheapie portable 100X scope for about $20. It won't be as easy to use as the more expensive scopes but you can do fecals with it. The next step up would be a cheapie $50 to $100 toy or student microscope. All you need is 100X and the ability to move the slide on the stage to cover the area methodically searching for buggies.

I am sure this animal is wild caught. so it does have me a little concerned, I am going to try the panacur,then wait a while and have another sample checked.
Thanks Again,
Ryan