Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is the first time I've ever noticed something like this... Out of all the months I've had him, his poop was clean... While he was in his bath tonight, he did the usual poop... but this time not so usual. There are HUNDREDS of these little white worm things... I have never seen them before and I would like some advice (besides GO TO THE VET) that will let me help him since I can't right to the vet right now. Is there some kind of worming med that I can buy without going to the vet that will get rid of these? I'm going to attach pics so you guys can see what I'm talking about. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.

the ONLY thing to do is go to the vet. yes there are websites you can buy medication from for this, but its not recommended because the dosage given to any animal is always different. what you need is albon and panacur.

when treating a dragon for parasites & worms you need to limit the cage set up. use paper towels, newspaper or something cheap and easy to take out and replace EVERYTIME the dragon poops. any wood in the cage such as branches or basking platforms that are wood you need to remove and keep out until the parasites are gone. clean these using bleach and water mixture. 10 parts water 1 part bleach. then bake the wood at 100-150 degrees for a bit, trying not to burn it. also do not leave any uneaten insects in the cage that can feed off the dragon poop. this will just continue the problem.

www.beautifuldragons.com
this site has alot of info on it you can look at.
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Judson
Beach Beardies

0.1. bearded dragon
1.1. Sugar Gliders
0.2. Felines *queen athena and missy*

those are most likely round worms..which I think is the only internal parasitic worms that can be seen by the naked eye...you do need to take a fecal to the vet to get a proper identification on the worms and the proper dosage. Self medicating the dragon can end up killing it, causing other problems or failing to deal with the worms to begin with.
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PHLdyPayne

What causes a beardie to get this type of worm??? I would imagine there are steps to prevent it from ever getting to this point, like a worried mom I want to ensure that I am taking those steps for a happy healthy beardie.

Ur dragon must have had worms when u bought it or if it was with another dragon. Sometimes over parasitic growth is caused by poor husbandry such as not cleaning enough or well enough or it can be from not changing the substrate enough also the size of the cage matters. Things such as stress and not enough heat or too much(wich will cause stress)will weaken its immune system not allowing the lizard to fight off parasites wich normally wont cause it any harm. These are just precautions and opinions not to be taken too seriously, just some advice to help after u have taken care of the problems. I really cant tell u what type of parasites they are so idk how serious it is and would take the advice of taking it to the vet asap.

insects you feed your dragon may contain parasites as well, therefore they spread them to your dragon. buying feeders from a well known breeder is the best way to go about it in that aspect.

you buy and use a product called parazap. its an all natural herbal product that works very well. www.parazap.com
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Judson
Beach Beardies

0.1. bearded dragon
1.1. Sugar Gliders
0.2. Felines *queen athena and missy*

Have you or anyone you know used this 'para-zap' before? And to the person who said it's a roundworm problem, no... these do NOT look like roundworm one bit. I believe they are cricket eggs as the person who first replied suggested. They resemble what I saw 100%.

Cricket eggs....

Roundworms are long, and look like angel hair or vermicelli. Pin worms are much, much smaller. Both of the eggs of these organism are only seen microscopically and since they have a different appearance, you need to know what you are looking for. Tapeworm egg cases are in segments that are squarish when fresh or the same size and appearance of white rice when dried.

Many parasites come from crickets and are not harmful for the dragon as long as he is not under stress. Sometimes crickets are ready to lay and are just bursting with eggs. You don't see it often, but you have a nice pic there!

Lol, thanks! I was quite surprised to have such a nice sink full of them too... So I'm just going to wait to see what his next poop will be like. This is the first time it has happened, so it might've just been some freak thing and ate a couple pregnant females, and got lucky with eating the others. So if it happens again I'll be a bit more concerned and take a sample to the vets. Heck, I might even take a sample anyway. Money is just a bit short right now...

cricket eggs??? um i dont think so. never heard of such thing. and i looked at all past replys to this and no one said anything about them being cricket eggs. the picture clearly shows a worm of some sort, and the only worm that can be seen not through a microscope is round worms, to my knowledge.

yes i have used parazap. it has worked well for me. everyone has their opinion about it but its been recommended by some of the top breeders in the business. before using this product i still would see a vet and get a fecal done.
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Judson
Beach Beardies

0.1. bearded dragon
1.1. Sugar Gliders
0.2. Felines *queen athena and missy*

I'm sorry, but they are absolutely not roundworms. Roundworms, pinworms, and tapeworms can be seen without a microscope, to name a few.

http://www.fishpondinfo.com/cricket.htm

This is the first photo I could find. It's a bit fuzzy, but if you scroll down, there is a pic of cricket eggs laid in carpet. crickets lay 150-400 of these eggs. Beardies wolf down their crickets really fast. I have a few frogs, scorpions, and tarantulas among my 50-some-odd animals. Sometimes the crickets are soooo ready to lay that they start sinking their ovipositors into the bedding immediately and before they are eaten. Sometimes they are ready to lay and the animal eats them immediately. Fortunately for the life of crickets, the eggs can pass through undigested if they are already encased in a protective layer, much like the egg cases and protective layer of parasite eggs.

If you see something long, skinny, threadlike, and WIGGLY in a fresh stool, that is a roundworm or pinworm. Typically, pinworm in beardies. Cricket eggs are about this big -- , off-white, cylindrical, short, and don't move.

That's exactly what I thought... I know they are definetly NOT roundworms...

The cricket egg reply was on a different forum, I got them confused. Either way, someone mentioned it, and I researched them and they look the same as what I saw 100%. Maybe you should research... they do not look like roundworms as they are spaghetti like, tapeworms I know what they are like and are NOT it, Pinworms are also worm like. These look like egg cases (like what ants carry around in their ant hills), and what I believe them to be as I do more reading about the situation.