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Roundworms in Leopard Geckos

drewlowe Jun 13, 2003 09:37 PM

This post is going to be a very long one i will try to explain everything i can sorry if it's all jumbled cause i'm very upset at the moment.

I have 7 leos in one colony, 1 leo by herself, 2 bearded dragons, 2 corn snakes, and a rose hair tarantula. Just so ya know what i have.

Ok about a 1 1/2 years ago my 7 leo colony had a break out of roundworms. Had one type of meds given by my vet that didn't work sorry cant remember the name. Then since that didn't work the vet prescribed panacur. Which worked took away the worms great. During that time everything in their cage was cleaned daily.

Then about 5 months ago they got round worms no problem went back to the vet had the whole fecal done and took 3 of the sickest ones in for a checkup. He said they looked healthy they just had roundworms so he prescribed panacur for them (which this vet is a different one from the last time for personal reasons with the other vet) I treated my whole colony kept everything spottless at all times. The one that is the sickest is LOKI. She didn't look as well as the others so she has been separated completely from the rest. It's been that way since about 3 months ago. She seems to be getting worse she has had several fecal exams done and the worms will not go away. She is basicly dwindiling down to nothing. I'm completely serious she seriously is very close to dying. I'm trying everything i can. It's came to the point now that i have to force feed her. Which i'm using chicken babyfood. She will eat waxworms and mealies but no crix. and the insects she does eat just passes through her system undigested. All the other leos that she was housed with have completely gotten rid of the worms and have bounced back perfectly. and no other reptile in my collection has round worms. I don't know what to do i have tried everything i can. I'm ordering this stuff called parazap and it should be in saturday or monday. I hope it helps if anyone else knows about this product please let me know. IF you have anyother suggestions please tell me. I'm getting desprite at this time. I don't want to lose her she is my first reptile and i love her very much and i don't want to see her suffer any longer. PLEASE PLEASE help.

Thanks ahead of time.

Jamie

Sorry there is probly some stuff i have left out but i cant think fully strait at the moment.

Replies (3)

oldherper Jun 15, 2003 11:55 AM

OK, on one front you can relax a little. Roundworms cannot be passed from lizard to lizard without an intermediate host. They have an indirect life cycle. So the chances that your gecko will pass the roundworms to others in the colony are slim to none, especially if you keep the cages clean and don't leave food animals alive in there for extended periods. Leopard Geckos can actually carry moderate loads of roundworms without being symptomatic because the are free-ranging inside the gut. What that means is that they don't attach themselves to the lining of the gut like things such as hookworms and tapeworms. If you get a heavy infestation, they can absorb a significant amount of the nutrients from the food the gecko eats though, so you don't want them in there. Normally Panacur will quickly kill roundworms. That makes me wonder if there's something else going on besides just roundworms. You may have some sort of protozoan infection there, too.

I'm not familiar with the drug you mentioned, but you may be able to find some info by searching the net.

drewlowe Jun 15, 2003 03:24 PM

I had 3 geckos out of a colony of 7 had fecal exams done that were positive for roundworms. So all 7 were medicated with panacur. all of them except for one have bounced back to perfect health. My concern is with the one that has not. Loki ( the one that is the sickest) has basicly dwindled down to nothing. She has had several fecals in the last 4 months. all still containing the round worms. for some reason the pancur isn't working for her, she also isn't eating very much and if she does eat it just passes through her system undigested. That is why i'm so worried.

oldherper Jun 15, 2003 04:29 PM

why would Panacur work on the others, but not her? It's the same species of roundworms. One possiblity:

Roundworm larvae can travel to other parts of the animal's body by way of the bloodstream, where they can cause other problems. It may be that she has a heavy load with many larvae in many stages migrating through her. They settle to mature in the intestinal tract and lay eggs, so what you are seeing is reinfections from migrating larvae returning to the intestines. (Diagnosis of roundworms is by finding eggs in a fecal floatation or adult worms passed with feces or regurgitated) Panacur will only work in the digestive tract, so it's not going to kill the larvae that are in other places. It may be that treating with an injectible that kills nematodes, such as Ivermectin is in order. Ivermectin is an extremely dangerous drug to use in reptiles, but sometimes it's the only thing that will work.

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