Reptile & Amphibian Forums

it has happened twice now, i have recently purchased a baby water monitor and i have been feeding him meal worms and pinkies, but latly he has been very lathargic and has had this long string spagetti looking substance in his stool it looks like has some type of scale form but entirely too long to be the actual meal worm itself, its about 4inches long and he is only about 15himself, anyone know what this could be? thank you

I say its a tape worm. If it is segmented and has an obvious proglottid then you probably have a tape. As you didn't put a picture it is hard for anyone to speculate what it just might be. It could be anything chances are it is a parasite of some sort. Bring that what you have and the lizard, along with a fecal sample, to the vet and see what they think. That is the best you can do to keep it alive. Hopefully it hasn't gotten to far and can't be revived. About the mealworms, if your temps are high enough you should have no prob. with your lizard digesting the mealies among other things.
Good luck with your lizard. Let us know what it was that was troubling your lizard.

thank you , that sounds right, let me ask you, he bit me today pretty good , do i need to worry about catching anything?

As I am no expert but, no not really. I have been bitten lots of times by monitors whether(mosty) my fault or the monitor just being iin a bad mood and dodn't make it totally apparent....I would, really, wash my hands a couple times and pour/spray(I put my rubbing alcohol in a spary bottle for me and sterilizing whatever) and clean it off. It will be sore for a few days but you'll be alright. I could be totally wrong as there are many waaaay more experienced folks than I, but I have never had any severe probs. If it is as severe as some folks have had than I would consult with a more experienced person.

Sounds like tapeworms to me also.Take a stool sample or the worms to a Vet and they will give you some Droncit to clear it up.Don't wait to long because tapeworms only get worse.