Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a male that is a picky eater and does't seem to put much weight on in the tail. So I found a vet that treats reptiles and had to make an appointment since they won't just do fecals. So I figured I would go for it and see how they were and made an appointment.
Well she knew basiclly nothing and was looking for onfo in a reptile book from 1984(which contained nothing basiclly). She didn't really what to addmit I knew what I was talking about conserning husbandry. Even tried to give me a temps sheet on leopard ground geckos. She did think he was very healthy and I think I was going a little overboard thinking he was too thin. My scale had broken so i didn't know his weight but he weighted in right at 60 grams. I think my others are just overweight,lol.
Now she did find a little bit of pinworms in his fecal float, and gaveme some pacur andI wanted to duble check the dosage here.
It is pancur susp 100mg/ml. give 0.3cc once a day for 5 days, diluted with 1:10 with water.
Now my other problem, they won't do fecals on any of my others w/out a visit for each. And I know they get pinworms from cricketts so my others could have them too. And $70 times 13 is not working for me.
Anyone know how I can take care of this myself? Even a fecal there is $19,which sems high to me and the add he visit and dewormer is just crazy.
Or a good reptile vet in the northern Va,md,dc area?
Sorry for the rant any advice greatly appreciated.
Sara

i do not know of anyvets in the area but reptile fecals are no different then the dog or cat ones
mayhaps try a dog and cat vet and supply them with pictures of the parasites with the poo sample

just a thought
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Just A Thought
Ashley
;P

If you want to deworm all of your geckos all you need to do is buy your own Panacur. You can find Safeguard (same thing as panacur) at any feed store. It costs roughly $100 for a huge bottle that will last you years.

I do a routine worming twice a year on all my herps... once before breeding season and once after.

Recommended dosage with Panacur is 25-50mg/kg. It also has an extremely wide margin of safety.

Good luck.
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-Ross Payan - www.LeosAnonymous.com

Leos Anonymous

Ball Pythons, Red Striped Leos, W.Hognose and Screaming AFT's

I take the Safeguard Paste, Dilute with Distilled water 1:10
and my Vet said that 0.1 cc was plenty for my little guys (they are only 2 months old at the time) (he had me giving the same dose to a 60gm adult Horned Mountain Dragon, and Twice that to a 98gm Ball Python)

Another thing is to get a good Microscope and learn to check the feces yourself, it is not hard, get a little Glycerine, a good book on Parasites, some hair spray, and oil, and U R set

if U R willing to come to Philadelphia U can use MY vet
Just an offer (Don't throw anything at me)
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Elizabeth (ecb)

Make this world a better and more beautiful place that You have been in it
*Edward W Bok*

I went to the show up there. I think I am going to just worm everbody twice a year which seems like what most people are doing. Just have to figure out were to get more pancur. I don't know of any feed stores around here.
Thanks for the offer,lol.
Sara

Safeguard is sold for horses
it is 10x as stong as needed, and dilutes well (and is legal to sell IF it is being given to Horses)
it is a tube with a dial a dose system
I find it is best to put about 1/2 the water U plan to dilute it with in a container (I use a SMALL syringe, and 5 cc) then dial out the amount of Safeguard into the water, displacing the water to the line I am measuring too (in my case 1 cc will displace the line up to the 6cc mark)
Then draw up the rest of the water to fill the syringe.
Shake vigorusly, and store in a light safe container (it never hurts to protect drugs from light)

I M NOT A VET, or an expert
this is just what I do, and I have not killed anything with this method (yet)

Hope this helps
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Elizabeth (ecb)

Make this world a better and more beautiful place that You have been in it
*Edward W Bok*

Hi Ross, thanks for the reply.
Do you only give them one dosage or more then one over a period of days/weeks?

I was adivised to give it to him once a day for 5 days by this vet. Which I heard from someone else was not the norm.
Thanks,
Sara

once a week for 5 doses (over 1 month) was what I was told
and she is fine
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Elizabeth (ecb)

Make this world a better and more beautiful place that You have been in it
*Edward W Bok*

Yep, They told me to give it to him once a day for five days. I thought that didn't sound right. Sigh....I feel like I compleatly wasted my money going there. The docter and one of the others that was there kept changing there minds about the dosage basiclly right in front of me. I feel sorta of like they took my money, since they seemed to have no clue what they were doing. It is really bothering me. The only thing I feel like I should have paid for was the fecal since everything else was a joke.
And now I don't exactlly know how to treat him.
I think I will call around and see if someone will give me a second opnion.
Sara

Also panacur is not dosed daily, it's given once, then again a week later, and usually a third dose a week after that.

Just checked understanding Reptile Parasites book to be sure I remembered that right, it confirms the once weekly treatment but also mentions that an alternate dose is 50mg/kg divided into three doses given daily for three days and repeated 10 days after that. Seems complicated and not sure why anyone would want to do that, but that's what the book says.

From everything I know,from what I have read and from what my vet has told me, the dosage prescribes by your vet (5 days only) will not be effective due to the life cycle of worms. However this info was general, maybe it doesn't apply to pinworms specifically? Given that she didn't seem to know much about reptiles, I'd be skeptical about her knowledge in prescribing that dosage pattern.
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Sarah Stettler aka Starling
Sarah@stargecko.com
StarGecko.Com COMING SOON! Star Quality Leopard Geckos
Specializing in Hypotangerine Tremper Albinos

n/p
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Sam
Gecko Den
Email Me

I took a sick gecko (rescue from petsmart) I had a couple of years ago to a vet I found in my area using the list.

I had found actual worms in his feces (they were still alive and I preserved them in alcohol). When I took him in I explained that he had a nematode infection. The vet ignored me. He gave the gecko an exam. After he'd finished poking and proding my gecko, he kept holding him and gesturing with the gecko in hand. I asked him if he could put the gecko down, but he said he wasn't done.

He was convinced that my gecko was having problems because he didn't have access to grit (aka sand) which he said was vital for proper digestion. I reiterated my concerns about nematodes and showed him the preserved worms. He still seemed hung up on the grit. When he finally got around to doing the fecal. He came back and told me my gecko had a nematode infection as if it was some revelation. At this point I was like "no poop". I asked the vet what kind of nematode, he said that he didn't know but for an exponential sum he could send it off to be identified. After $80 I left with a bottle of pancur.

I later got a copy of Understanding Reptile Parasites, borrowed a microscope and identified the nematode eggs in the gecko's feces as pinworms. Unfortunately the gecko died during treatment. In hindsight I think that my leo had a bacterial infection on top of the pinworms. (I had brought this up with the vet, but he thought the worms were more pressing).

I'd definately never go back, just the memory of him waving my poor emaciated gecko around...

Sorry this got so long,
Alice

In the virgina section. There are a few more on there close to me. I think I will call and ask many questionsbefore going to another one.I really want smeone who knows what they are doing.
Sorry to here about your gex.
Sara

And they really didn't know what they were talking about. Luckily, the vet techs were very experienced with parasite identification and treatment (some herp vet techs aren't), which is what I needed. Really, I think those vets just pay to have that extra licensure regardless of experience.

I'm sorry to hear about what happened with yours. Were you ever able to find a better vet?
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chickabowwow

3.2.3 leopard geckos (Rosie, Locke, Lisa, Caesar, Tommy)

Hi

I agree with you on how expensive reptile vets. are. Mine charges $38.00 for the office visit, $22.00 for a fecal, $19.00 per medication needed, despite that the vet. has no people personality. He is the cheapest one.

TLB

I highly suggest learning to do fecal floats yourself. The materials aren't too expensive, except for the microscope. There are many different types of those that can range in price from next to nothing up into the thousands of $. I have a link to an online dealer that sells all the equipment/supplies except for the microscopes, if you're interested(email me).

Whereabouts are you located? I'm just south of Baltimore and there are a couple vets around my area that may be decent w/herps. My wife works at one of them(one of their several vets works with exotics, but unsure how much experience w/leopard geckos). However, one of the most well known herp vets is right in our backyard, Dr. Scott Stahl. If you're close, he'll probably be able to help you.
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Rob Jenkins
Have you seen the GeckoCam?
Buy Geckos Here
Email Me

Sorry to hear about the pinworms. I just ran into the same thing with mine. I do like my vet, but there are times I have to wonder a bit. He charges $15 to 20 for fecal floats and assures me he is undercharging me for panacur (which I do believe). On the other hand ... his directions were for me to give 1 gram per kilogram of weight - roughly 400 times the recommended dose of 25 mg/kg unless my math is way off. This is using a gram package, not a paste.

There's a large margin for error but ... well ...

Dr. McMichael/College Park Animal Hospital 301-441-2547. Located near the UofMd and is right off the beltway.
He specilizes in exotics. Will do fecals w/o an appointment. Fecals aren't cheap though -- about $40 but that includes 3 different tests (float, stain, and something else). He will call you back personally with the results and will answer any questions your have.

Candyf