FroggtheCham
New Member
Joey died last night at 2100. I did my own dissection to harvest the eggs that were not there. Here is what I think happened, posted after the pictures of what I saw when I opened him up.
What I think may have happened is, he received a dose of anti-parasitic at some point on his journey. It was probably a large dose, since I don't believe they weigh and dose accurately. That would kill the majority of the adult parasites, which the body has to pass. If he had a large load, that is a lot of worms to pass. I think they got jammed up in several sections of the bowel. The second thing is that when the majority of the parasites are killed at once, the body reacts with a huge immune response causing inflammation of the bowel which now traps the balled up dead parasites in the bowel and makes them difficult if not impossible to pass. Temporary blockages in the bowel are called and ileus and can usually be treated before it becomes a complete obstruction. I saw what I believe were two of these. There was also one very large obstruction, filled with gas and necrotic. When I opened that section of bowel, I almost died from the smell. This is untreatable except by surgery to remove the dead portion of bowel, which in my opinion, he wouldn't have survived. The bowel is wrapped up on itself in the abdomen, and having several areas that are expanded/bloated, would look like eggs on an x ray. So as this section of bowel started rotting, explains the weird behavior and why he stopped eating. Unfortunately, these were also symptoms of a gravid female.
What I think may have happened is, he received a dose of anti-parasitic at some point on his journey. It was probably a large dose, since I don't believe they weigh and dose accurately. That would kill the majority of the adult parasites, which the body has to pass. If he had a large load, that is a lot of worms to pass. I think they got jammed up in several sections of the bowel. The second thing is that when the majority of the parasites are killed at once, the body reacts with a huge immune response causing inflammation of the bowel which now traps the balled up dead parasites in the bowel and makes them difficult if not impossible to pass. Temporary blockages in the bowel are called and ileus and can usually be treated before it becomes a complete obstruction. I saw what I believe were two of these. There was also one very large obstruction, filled with gas and necrotic. When I opened that section of bowel, I almost died from the smell. This is untreatable except by surgery to remove the dead portion of bowel, which in my opinion, he wouldn't have survived. The bowel is wrapped up on itself in the abdomen, and having several areas that are expanded/bloated, would look like eggs on an x ray. So as this section of bowel started rotting, explains the weird behavior and why he stopped eating. Unfortunately, these were also symptoms of a gravid female.
This is one reason I tell suppliers of WC animals not to treat them with anything before they send something to me. Sorry about your loss.
