Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi I'm new here so I might as well say hello! Now my peach throat had parasites and I took him to the vet and stuck him in a temporary cage till his medicine was administered. Now my problem is that his regular cage is made of wood and I was wondering if there was a way to sanitize it or if I have to get a whole new cage and set up for my little guy. Any help would be much appreciated!

Which parasites did it have?

Flukes and hingeworms.

I've never heard of hingeworms (do you mean hookworms?), but flukes require an intermediate host, so they can't be spread via the wood in your enclosure.

Healthy monitors have very effective immune systems. The parasites typically found in herp cages are not problematic for them. Because the vet released your lizard, apparently without apprehension, I imagine it is not drastically compromised.

Highly stressed and unhealthy monitors, however, have weakened immune systems. They can become so unhealthy, in fact, that they are unable to keep up with parasites that are otherwise unthreatening. This is often the case with imports. If your lizard is having problems, a visit to the vet is likely not the answer, as those sorts of things are very stressful for your lizard.

The best thing you can do is make sure your monitor is properly set up. That way, its body can handle the parasites on its own... Perhaps you should share with us the relevant captive conditions (particularly the temps, substrate, and 'hides' situations) so that we can assure you're doing right by your lizard, because it is unlikely that wood is the issue.

Sorry it took so long to respond. He's in a 48x42x36 for now. The main issue was the flukes. Right now he is in a temporary cage till I get the back panel of his new cage on. That's a six foot tall, four feet long and three feet wide so he has plenty of space to climb, sprawl and burrow. His appetite has also gotten bigger and his attitude is improving so I know the medicine worked. I was mainly curious if his old cage would still carry the parasites and if it did, if there was a way to disinfect the entire cage. Sorry for the late rfesponse. He was a wild caught so I'm pretty sure I know where they came from. And also to mention that he is my first monitor so now I know what needs to be done. Thanks for the help guys! I really appreciate it! =D