Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am a bit confused. So, I thought I'd ask the experts! I have no concerns with my Brb's about this situation, but figured it wouldn't hurt to know for any future event.

I once found pinworm ova when doing a fecal on a snake I own. I was feeding her live mice at the time and was told that pinworms are non-pathogenic in Brb's. I wasn't overly concerned but did give her 2 doses of panacur just for good measure and began their switch to f/t. This was the deciding point for the conversion from f/k to f/t.

The book, Understanding Reptile Parasites, by Roger J. Klingenberg D.V.M. states that "Pinworms usually live in the lower GI tract and cause little overt disease" when speaking of lizards and turtles. He further states "Mouse pinworms are often seen in stools of rodent-eating reptiles. These eggs came from the the ingested rodent and the eggs are passed through the GI tract. Mouse pinworms do not cause disease in reptiles."

Now, the contradiction....
The Boa Contrictor Manual, by Philippe de Vosjoli states in reference to rectal prolapse, "This boa was heavily infested with pinworms which are known to cause intense rectal and perianal itching and discomfort in other animals. The straining secondary to such irritation was hypothesized to have caused the prolapse, and the boa was treated with fenbendazole (Panacur) to eliminate the pinworms."

So, the question is.... are pinworms a concern for snakes eating live rodents or not?

Linda

Linda,
..Those are two really good books by two aknowledged experts. I am not going to argue with what either of them has to say about parasites. It does seem to me that small numbers of many different types of parasites can be nonpathologic and large numbers often are pathologic. I do not have enough experience with fecal exams to know what might be an exceptable number of pinworms and what might be pathological.
Jeff

>>I am a bit confused. So, I thought I'd ask the experts! I have no concerns with my Brb's about this situation, but figured it wouldn't hurt to know for any future event.
>>
>>I once found pinworm ova when doing a fecal on a snake I own. I was feeding her live mice at the time and was told that pinworms are non-pathogenic in Brb's. I wasn't overly concerned but did give her 2 doses of panacur just for good measure and began their switch to f/t. This was the deciding point for the conversion from f/k to f/t.
>>
>>The book, Understanding Reptile Parasites, by Roger J. Klingenberg D.V.M. states that "Pinworms usually live in the lower GI tract and cause little overt disease" when speaking of lizards and turtles. He further states "Mouse pinworms are often seen in stools of rodent-eating reptiles. These eggs came from the the ingested rodent and the eggs are passed through the GI tract. Mouse pinworms do not cause disease in reptiles."
>>
>>Now, the contradiction....
>>The Boa Contrictor Manual, by Philippe de Vosjoli states in reference to rectal prolapse, "This boa was heavily infested with pinworms which are known to cause intense rectal and perianal itching and discomfort in other animals. The straining secondary to such irritation was hypothesized to have caused the prolapse, and the boa was treated with fenbendazole (Panacur) to eliminate the pinworms."
>>
>>So, the question is.... are pinworms a concern for snakes eating live rodents or not?
>>
>>Linda
>>
>>

I'm still not certain what to think of all that, although I see your point. I better break out some books and learn more about their life cycle to come to my own conclusion. I just can't understand how ova could cause much problem besides a mucoid, loose stool and my current understanding is that adults can't be present-which I think could cause problems.

The only ones I have on live are the babies, but I guess curiousity got me on this one.

Thanks,
Linda
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"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance- that principle is contempt prior to investigation." Herbert Spencer