pin worm found on a leaf

[GarynTampa]

Just when you think you have everything going smooth...

Rango is my male (~ 1.5 years old) Ambanja. He is absolutely the neatest pet I have ever owned and I must admit, he gets more attention than any other pet I have ever had.

I've had him for ~ 6 months and watched him shed and grow and do all the things you all love. He eats out of my hand, enjoys a variety of insects including crickets, butter worms, wax worms and a weekly super worm treat.

I have worked with him from a hissing, jaw-gaping, "don't come near me" new pet to a friendly, eat out of my hand/climb on me-let's go outside "best friend". Most all of you know that feeling when you finally BOND with your Cham!

He drinks from my misting bottle tip as well as laps water from the live plant leaves when the Mist King comes on...life is grand!

I always look for anything "unusual" and up to now, everything has always been about as normal as can be.

Now...for the rest of the story:

I just found a 1" lime-green worm, about the size of a toothpick with a pointed tail and definite "head". After a google search for "reptile parasites", I have found the culprit...a pin worm! This critter now resides in a test tube of alcohol.

Oddly, this "worm" was not encased in his poop, but was laying out in the open, exposed on a leaf. No other poop was around at all. I am "assuming" he came from Rango as I doubt this creature would have crawled up the plant and died on a leaf! Heck...he may have crawled out of Rango for all I know!

I have a vet appoint already scheduled for fecal work and assessment and I'd like to be armed with a little knowledge about these critters vs. chameleons before I visit the Vet.

Does the Forum have a preference on medications to treat this?
Liquid or solid?
Can you ever completely rid an enclosure of eggs?
Are there any side effects I should be aware of?
Any other advice from the experts out there?

THANKS for any posts.

Gary
Tampa, FL

 

[Hoj]

Do you have a pic of this worm?? Pancur is the most often for treatment of parasties I beleive

And just a side note. I would use the butter and wax worms as the treats and provide supers more. Supers are easy to gut load and overall a better feeder IMO

 

[laurie]

Here is the best I can do. You have to add the 2 text together. Otherwise it was too small to read. let me know if you need more.

[/url]

[/url]

[/url]

[/url]

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Pinworms are generally white rather than lime green so I'm not convinced what you found is a pinworm. if you have a live plant in the enclosure it could have been something in the plant and not from Rango. A fecal exam is a good idea regardless so collect a poop sample before your vet appointment - the fresher the better. Pinworms are not necessarily a pathogen (something that causes disease) and in fact have been found to be beneficial in some species of tortoises. Unless you are seeing signs of illness and high numbers of pinworm eggs on the fecal exam you may not need to treat at all.

 

[Miss Lily]

My cresties had pinworms last year. I saw them in their poop to start with. They had high numbers of eggs in their samples too. I hade to keep them in very simples vivs and wash everything in a 10% bleach solution every night. Was a right pain and took months to get rid of the things. Both cresties are doing really well now though and I hope to breed them next year!

 

[Hoj]

Pinworms are generally white rather than lime green so I'm not convinced what you found is a pinworm. if you have a live plant in the enclosure it could have been something in the plant and not from Rango. A fecal exam is a good idea regardless so collect a poop sample before your vet appointment - the fresher the better. Pinworms are not necessarily a pathogen (something that causes disease) and in fact have been found to be beneficial in some species of tortoises. Unless you are seeing signs of illness and high numbers of pinworm eggs on the fecal exam you may not need to treat at all.

I also am thinking it may not be a pin worm. Almost sounds like a tiny horn??

 

[GarynTampa]

I really appreciate the comments and now I am a little confused. Sounds like the majority of you think this may NOT be a pin worm after all.

When I repotted my plant, maybe I missed something in the roots and this guy just crawled up the plant and died.

Again, Rango is showing absolutely NO signs of discomfort, stress, loss of appetite, dehydration, etc...he just shed again yesterday!

When I did a Google search for "pin worms in reptiles, photos", I came across a number of photos, only 1 of them looking like this green "thing".

I tried to cut/paste that photo, but it didn't work!!

I'll try and shoot a photo of this guy and post it here. A photo is worth a thousand words.

Thanks again for your comments. This Forum ROCKS!!!

Gary
Tampa, FL