Reptile & Amphibian Forums

It is a known fact that parasites cause and contrubute to disease processes in reptiles. Despite this fact, many herpetoculturists' view is that if they are not seeing problems, then why look? "If it ain't brike, why fix it?"so to speak. At the other end is where I am. I routinely have cleaned up my geckos and snakes with Metronidazole (Flagyl) which is an appetite stimulent and works miracles given in the appropriate dosage. I also use Fenbendazole (Panacur) which can be a little more tricky but never-the-less works awesome. I have also used Ivermectin for mites but have also used other methods. Now I'm not telling anyone that this is the best way, but if you are an experienced and knowledgeable handler I think it pays in the long run. I've had some of my Satanics for six years and going strong. I've used it with all my Uroplatus and haven't lost one yet. I do work with my vet closely who appropriately doses the meds and we work with strict guidelines. But it feels so good knowning that they are parasite free. I just think they live longer and healthier.
Many reptile owners claim to have never lost a single animal to a parasite-retated death. This may be due to the simple fact that they didn't know what to look for. The following examples are a small sampling of parasite related or induced problems that have actually happened in herpetocultural collections:

1)A Uroplatus with loose and smelly diarrhea, spotted with occasional blood, still eats and eventually breeds. It is found dead the morning after breeding.
2) A tick-infested Uroplatus Phantasticus develops a generalized bacterial infection, despite the removal of the ticks.
3) A Cork Bark with mites can develop a small area of " scale rot" so to speak that escalates into a massive skin infection.
4)A Giant leaf tail with chronic regurgitation fails to gain adequate weight, and subsequent breeding efforts fail.
What is the ommon thread among all these actual cases I have experienced? A PARASITE was insturmental in each.From external parasites such as mites to internal like hook worm and Cryptosporidium are all potentially deadly. I don't know if you agree but I'm so glad it's worked for me. Here is one of my enclosers that house thirty two Uroplatus phantasticus that I have. I have just about every species of urplatus but really like Satanics. This enclosure has a pro misting unit on top which is connected to a timer with foliage like Ficus, etc. thick running throughout. After they were established they just flourished in this enclosure. It is an all glass shower unit I converted that has a door that you can open to walk inside. It is seven feet tall by four feet deep by four feet wide. It has CPU fans for circulation etc. I keep others in seperate green rooms I converted for ideal temps and humidity. Check it out and tell me what you thik. Do you think its big enough for thirty Phantasticus? They have lots of room to run and jump.
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well, after reading all of what you said about parasites, don't you think it would be a bit paradoxical to put 30 satanics in a single enclosure? i mean, if 1 of them manages to carry a parasite in (not every parasite is covered by panacur/flagyl/ivermectin), dont you realize you risk infecting 30 others, all of which you would have to preventatively treat in that case after discovering the parasites? i mean it's not terrible to keep animals in groups, i do it myself, but you could be setting yourself up for disaster, no matter how big your enclosure is.

just my 2 cents.
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-Mike Martin
North Carolina

You know, Thats a great question. Although I do have large numbers, I really only keep about, at most, fifteen in one enclosure. But for me, working with reptiles is indefinitely exciting, but also a challenging process. The method I use, and I know not everyone can manage this method because of its agregious process. I incorporate a transitional quarantine process which we use at our zoo. It's method is prescribed to identify the exact characteristics that you mentioned in your post. What I do is rotate the animals twice a year, as to not stress them anymore then need be, and perform two to three forms of fecal examinations on each lizard. These tests are fecal floats, fecal direct smears, and enzymatic bile salt tests. I suppose I'm lucky because I have my own compound microscope with needed supplies to conduct these tests myself without paying the high costs of vets as I know they can be expensive. I examine the tests, take pictures with camera attachment to compound microscope, record results using number assignments and then basically act accordingly to the results. But if you utilize the correct quarantine process and monitor them regularly, then parasites aren't an issue even with twenty or thirty reptiles. I have seen Coccidia (single-celled parasites that infect the intestines) make themselves present with high stress levels but I usually can successfully treat coccidia with (sulfadimethoxine) with no recurrence. Although they usually can be very healthy, I usually don't keep this infection at any cost or in any form with my colony. I have always liked Uroplatus, and continue to learn about the species with each year.For example, on my first trip to Madagascar, the north eastern tip of Nose Be has the most amazing specimens ever that you can find rather easily. There, I learned about the sub-species of U. phantasticus that are around nine inches in length and have no identifying class yet. These are rather most uncommon and are a Montage d' Ambre specimen isolated to that area. I have heard of people successfully interbreeding U.phantasticus and U.ebenaui in vivariums but have yet to see it myself. But as for the Subspecies of U.phantasticus, I have seen one that was indeed around nine to ten iches long. It's crazy to think about it because we are finding new species every year from the "White eyed Fimbriatus", to the U. Malama. What are we going to find next? I'm excited to see.