parasites????

tbarthelmess

New Member
I am a new owner- I have only had my first cham for 2 months. I can see what looks like little worms under it's skin. I did a little research and found out about Nematodes. I have researched for a specialized vet in the area, but cannot call till tomorrow morning. Is he going to be OK? will medication cure him? did he get it from the crickets?????? :confused::eek::(
 
Very doubtful he got them from crickets. What kind of cham is it? Worms under the skin are more common in wild caught chameleon than captive bred. They're in the cham already when they're imported. They will probably have to be surgically removed. He should be fine in the long term.
 
it is a senegal chameleon, was a baby when i bought it 2 months ago, and i still don't know the sex. No sign of anything wrong until just recently. Is this surgery going to be very expensive? but you think it will survive this?
 
here is a pic, see the squiggles on his side? those are worms, right?
 

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yep...def. looks like worms...i've never experienced 'em before but hopefully someone else on these forums has!
 
I know a guy who can do the surgery. He preformed it on his panther. Let me know if interested


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They're definetely worms.I recently removed worms from a W.C. panther.The procedure to remove these worms is relatively easy to perform.You will need tweezers,a good pair of sissors(I used revlon cuticle sissors),a cross stitch needle the ones with the hook at one end ( very small size) and isoprpyl alcohol.Once you have everything, setup a worktable,place a towel across your work area and postion a heatlamp above the work area,this is intended to draw the worm close to the surface.Place your tweezers and sissors in a bowl that you have poured some isopropyl into.To do this procedure you will need to have someone help you, they're job will be to hold the chameleon down.They should place one hand on top of his head and front legs,the other on top of his back legs to keep him still.With your tweezers pull his skin up above the worm you are about to remove,with the sissors make a small cut approx 1/16" (remember that you have the skin folded so a 1/16" cut will produce a 1/8" hole).Once the hole is made place two fingers on either side of the hole, role the skin till you locate the worm.Once you locate the worm use the cross stich needle to get under the worm(minimal depth).Pull the worm up to the point where you can grab it with your tweezers and remove and discard.They come out real easy.If you position your cut well you might be able to remove two worms from one hole.Sometimes blood is drawn so have a cotton ball at the ready to remove that blood so you can find the worm.Work carefully but purposefully,as it does cause some pain to your chameleon.If done correctly after his next shed the holes will not be noticeable and he will be no worse for wear.One final item if he has these parasites there's a good chance he has others you might want to get a fecal done on him or you can "shotgun" him with panacur.Panacur is a safe drug that is effective on certain internal parasites.You can obtain this online at "The Bearded Dragon Store".Good Luck
 
wow- that sounds intense... I don't know if I can do it! I made an appointment to see the vet on Monday. Can it get much worse over the next two days? If my cham is acting fine, is he still getting enough food or are the worms eating his food????? I still am very curious how he got them, and if it was because he was WC, why did they not show themselves for 2 months????? After treatment, will they most likely be gone for good, or are they always there? Is it not safe to handle him until this is taken care of? what about his enclosure- do I have to get rid of everything and start fresh????
 
It really is not as intense as it sounds I managed to pull out 4 worms on first try and then a week later a 5th one.Iniatially I took my cham to the vet they wanted $300 to remove the worms and also to sedate him which might in and of itself kill him.So I called a breeder here in Canada,I knew that he had done this procedure before, he gave me basically the same instructions that I have given you.I've added my own personal experiences but basically the same instructions.Your chameleon has had these parasites for quite some time so a couple of days should'nt be critical.My chameleon developed secondary health issuses he stopped eating and sat around his cage with his eyes closed so I acted swiftly and removed those worms. I also dosed him with panacur, he ended up passing a round worm in his stool.I would at a minimum take a fresh stool and get a fecal done on it.As fresh as possiable to get an accurate assesment of potential parasites.Also panacur has no impact on those subcuteaneous parasites that your chameleon is carrying they can only safely dealt with by physical removal.I made an assumption that these parasites are detrimental to the overall health of my chameleon and removed them.I'm not an expert on this matter but I do know how to remove them I don't really know what happens if you leave them in place maybe someone else can comment on that. I'm glad that I removed them.Today my chameleon is the picture of health.His skin texture is superb and he is active and eating very well.
 
we decided to go to the vet first ( on Monday), and if it is going to cost a fortune, then I will attempt the extraction myself.
After he is medicated and hopefully parasite free- what about his cage- do I need to get new plants and vines????
I could not find the Bearded Dragon Store. what is the link?
 
he is in california. If you send him there he will do the surgery for you.. on video if you would like and then send him back a few days after when he has regained strenght.. he has done it multiple times on WC will success on all! Pm me for more details! He will be exponentially cheaper than the vet and the odds of a vet performing the same operation as many times is not realistic.
 
Hi all-
took Franky to the vet today, and his worms have been removed. The vet had experience pulling worms from a tree frog. They only charged me $142 for the entire visit and meds. And said if I see anymore worms- to just bring him back in and they will remove them at no charge. She said she never saw these worms before and is sending them out for testing. The entire office stopped what they were doing to watch the extraction!
Franky is resting and hopefully on his way to a full recovery. My little guy is small, only 10oz.;)
 
Hi all-
took Franky to the vet today, and his worms have been removed. The vet had experience pulling worms from a tree frog. They only charged me $142 for the entire visit and meds. And said if I see anymore worms- to just bring him back in and they will remove them at no charge. She said she never saw these worms before and is sending them out for testing. The entire office stopped what they were doing to watch the extraction!
Franky is resting and hopefully on his way to a full recovery. My little guy is small, only 10oz.;)

Glad to hear you got the worms removed. Fingers crossed they don't return.

I can't believe people on here have actually carried out DIY Cham surgery. Haha crazy!
 
Bad News!!!!!

A week ago today, the worms were removed from Franky. Today I got the call from the vet about what kind of parasite they are- and the results are scary to me and I am scared for my cham.
They are Foleyella, and from the research I did- not really curable. It seems as though I just have to wait until they kill him.
Does anyone else know anything about these parasites, and if there is a treatment that kills the worms and saves the cham???????
here are the pics from last weeks vet visit....
 

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