Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi-

I'm new to fecal floats and just wanted to see if anyone could identify any eggs in this picture. I referenced Understanding Reptile Parasites and don't really see anything that matches up. The big circle in the middle is what has me most concerned.

The picture was taken at 400x and this sample was taken from a ball python that is feeding on live mice.

Thanks for any help

HJT

Yep. Looks like tapeworm egg to me.

I would say Coccidia (Caryospora peruensis)

Isn't Caryospora peruensis a bird parasite?

Ryan

Ok, sorry did a little more research and it is host is a snake. But the recorded infections are of S. American snakes. I am not sure on it complete geographic distribution but I would assume it to be primarily a New world coccidian.

Ryan

I would agree with oldherper. It definitely looks like a tapeworm egg. Possibly Bothridium sp., which is common in pythons. I really don't think it is a Coccidian cyst because I see no obvious sporocysts. For tapeworms, people usually treat with praziquantel or niclosamide. This is also effective for most trematodes as well. For coccidians treatment with metronidazole is effective.

Ryan

C. peruensis is found in birds and reptiles in fact mostly in raptors and snakes. It has a wide distrapution all over the the new world spred from Peru by migrating raptors. (Upton and Sundermann 1990). Caryospora is charaterized by having 1 sporocysts within witch are 8 sporozoites(Telford 2000) this oocyst has 1 sporocysts it also has a stieda body on the sporocysts and a micropyle cap on the outer layer of the oocyst wall (Levine 1973) Tapeworms are usully more round with round and centered center the outer edge is also thick and dark (Lane and Mader 1996). I said it was C. peruensis because this very common in snakes however the actully sp can not be determined at this magnification there are 60 spp of Caryospora.
Metronitizole is not effective aginst coccida like it is so many protoza(giardia, tric., etc) the proper Tx for coccida is Albon (Carpenter et al 2001, Stein 1996)

References

Upton, S. H. and C. A. Sundermann. 1990 Caryospora: Biology. In: P. A. Long Coccidiosis of Man and Domestic Animals pp187-204 CRC Press,

Levine, N. D. 1973 Introduction, history and taxonomy. In D. M. Hammond and P. T. Long The coccida, Eimeria, Isospora, Toxoplasma, and Pelated Genera pp 1-22 University Park Press

Lane T. L. and Mader D. M. 1996 Paristology In Mader D. M. Reptile medicine and surgery WB saunders press

Telford S. R. Diagnosis of Reptilian Protoxoal infections 2000 In Fudge A. M. Laboratory Medicine Avian and Exotic Pets WB saunders press

Carpenter J., Izara R., Exotic Animal formulary 2001 WB saunders press

Stein G. 1996 Formulary In Mader D. M. Reptile medicine and surgery WB saunders press

Ok, maybe I should have phrased that statement better. I have successfully used metronidazole to treat coccidian infections in the past. I was unaware of the mentioned drug. However I fowarded the picture to a friend of mine who is a parasitologist. I will let you know what he says. Thanks for the refs.

Ryan

Still looks like a tapeworm egg to me (Taenia sp). The photo is a little soft-focused, but it looks like you can see the 3 hooklets. Plus at 400x magnification, that would put the size just about right. Tapeworm eggs are usually pretty hard to find in floats (much easier in direct smear), but I've found them before. Roundworm eggs look similar to that, but at 400x a roundworm egg should appear much larger than that. Roundworm eggs are thinner walled than that, too usually. It's difficult to judge the size, though without a reference in the photo (um reference scale).

I've seen plenty of coccidia (mostly Eimeria sp) in reptile floatations, and none of them looked like a tapeworm egg. They are usually more oval in shape with 4 oocysts. Isospora are generally smaller and rounder than Eimeria, but they have 2 visible oocysts. Another coccidian is Cryptosporidium, but it is much, much smaller and requires special differential staining techniques (Acid-fast) to see.

Yeah I see what looks like rosteller hooks as well and that is why I said it looks like a tape egg. You are right oldherper about the size, most coccidian cysts are not that large.

Ryan

Yeah, a tapeworm egg is usually about 40 um. Eimeria Oocysts average about 30 to 35 um. Isospora is uaually about 30 um. Crypto is about 4 um.

Most roundworm eggs are about 80 um or about twice the size of a tapeworm egg.

Got an email back and he also said it looks to be a tape egg as well.

"I can't tell you for sure, but it looks to me like a tape - I can almost
imagine a hexacanth larva in the center. Also, most coccidians would
have subdivided sporozoites within the oocyst, which should be visible
at this mag. Finally, it seems too big for a coccidian cyst, though the
absolute magnification would of course affect this."

Caryospora sp oocyst

Taenia sp egg