Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm just curious if any opinions have changed or if this picture is still considered by all but one to be of a tapeworm egg. Do most of you guys still think this is a tapeworm egg?

It does have similarities to the coccidia picture posted.

Can the species of coccidia suggested even effect reptiles (Caryospora peruensis)? I have never heard of this "species" before.

Here is a little more background:

This sample came from a ball python feeding on live mice. I searched the whole slide many times and that egg/coccidian is the only thing I found.

The snake was originally imported from Africa and was treated with panacur and flagyl a few months ago.

Stools look normal and she is eating great, especially for a ball python.

My original post is about 9 posts down and was made on 11-25-03.

Thank you for the help.

I still thinks it looks like a tape egg. However, I could be wrong. The species of Caryospora he mentioned commonly affects South American birds. There are Caryospora found in Africa and Caryospora has known to have snake hosts. How long has this animal been in captivity? Is it eating regularly now? Have you seen anything else in the feces? If all you are finding is one egg, then the intensity of infection is probably really low. Coccidians do have the abililty to multiply quickly within a host especially if there is continual fecal contamination (e.g. dirty water bowls). If it is a tape, like I mentioned earlier, praziquantel is the drug of choice.

Ryan

The snake has been in captivity for almost a year now. That is the only thing I found in the float at all.

She eats very well and her feces are solid.

I spoke with a vet who told me that the egg may have also been from a prey item.

I wish there was some way I could know for sure what it is.

You could try contacting parasitologists at universities and asking what they think. Also Dr. Klingenberg in Greeley, CO knows a lot about reptile parasites. His contact info is:

Dr. Roger Klingenberg
Sheep Draw Veterinary Hospital
970-351-0936

He is my local vet and he also wrote the "Understanding Reptile Parasites" Book. Hope this helps.

Ryan

Ruleouts = tapeworm or Ascarid ova
Given treatment protocol (fenbendazole and metronidazole) and few seen would highly suspect tapeworm, segments usually settle to bottom of float.... Better image would help. What magnification this one?

The mag was 400x.

You are saying to rule out tapeworms?

Thanks for the help.