Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had my albino boa for about 5 months and has been very healthy. I feed her the same rats I have fed all of my boas for years. I recently discovered 1/8th inch white worms in her last poop. I am going to the vet tomorrow but was wondering if anyone knew anything in the mean time? She is in the last tub in the bottom of the rack system and appears the snakes above her are fine and no worms crawled above. I pulled her out for quarantine immediately though. Please help with advice.

Fly larva is commonly mistaken for butt worms. If you have many house flys, fungus gnats, etc in your snake room i would expect to see what you described from time to time. Still, it might be worms too and warrants a vet trip if you are not sure. good luck

Pinworms are certainly a possibility given the description, but boas can get quite a few types of worms as well as many protozoa. Many that they can get so can humans and other animals so practice good hygiene. That trip to the vet is a great idea though. Often people aren't so lucky as to see the adults and parasite infections go undetected. Let us know what they find.

the vet will need it. If anyone in the surrounding cages poop between now and then bring theirs too. Mark each sample with which snake and the date.
-----
Caden Chapman
slithering.serpents@gmail.com
http://slitheringserpents.com

You're going to need the poop to send it out to a lab for identification. Bag some of it and refrigerate it! I wouldn't be too upset though, I doubt you have much to worry about. If they're in her poop, then they're in her digestive tract, and intestinal parasites are more common than you think and easily treated.

I deworm all my snakes. Its cheap. If you tell your vet how many snakes you have, he'll probably sell you a bottle with a gram/medicine ratio.
-----
Cheers!
• Chelsea Lynn Gardiner
(and Frank M. Wood)