Parasite Videos etc.

Dave Weldon

Avid Member
Howdy All,

I created some live action :))) videos of microfilaria (worms) that I found in a chameleon's blood sample as well as flagellates in a fecal sample. This was my excuse to create a YouTube account :eek:. I took the samples during the DIY necropsy.

A good friend and fellow chameleon keeper found her WC male Oorana Mena Panther chameleon dying early this morning :(. It was only a couple of hours later that he was gone. He had been fine the previous night. Being WC, parasites are always a concern. I don't know much about blood-borne parasites but you can bet they weren't doing him any good. I also found large adult nematode-type worms (1" to 5") in tissue samples as well as a single ~3" long, fat roundworm in his gut.

The fecal smear was loaded, wall-to-wall, with swimming flagellates. The last time I saw that many flagellates, it was also while doing a necropsy on another keeper's panther that had dropped dead too (hummm :rolleyes:).

This WC had been in captivity for at least a year. What looked to be a healthy WC chameleon one day and dead the next made it clear to me that a WC needs a blood test for parasites along with the usual fecal tests. It only takes a tiny drop of blood to look for this kind of parasite.

Like I said; I don't know if the parasite loading killed him or not. If the parasites had recently exploded in population then I'd say that the smoking gun was found.

(The things that look like coccidia are actually the blood cells (I hope :eek:.)
(As we all know, YouTube compresses the videos in a way making the images look poorer than the originals. Oh well... At least I have the originals to watch over and over :eek:.)

Blood samples showing live microfilaria
100x magnification
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_jzQ9ND6gY

40x magnification
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vdd0NWqTtNo

100x magnification
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpvOfNZ4lJI


Flagellates in a fecal sample:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BvzjySnL0s

The sub-q nematodes and the roundworm:
Worms.jpg


Here's a good article covering almost exactly the same blood situation:
http://www.matthewbolek.com/publications/mattspapers/Foleyella.pdf

I don't know about you but these videos beginning to creep me out compared to looking at coccidia, pinworm eggs and other things that don't swim :eek:.
 
Thank you Dave....

Having 2 rescued Panthers in my care now for nearly a year now and another 2 that I purchased recently reminds me that no matter how clean you think you can be and how great your husbandry is that prevention is better than cure.

All 4 of my boys are going for a blood test, a fecal smear and annual check up this week and tomorrow they are having their cages steam and stuff steamed cleaned.

Gonna dream about those nasties for a good week now :(
 
Howdy All,

I spotted this on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu9bqt2OgFM.

I recall another video post here on the ChameleonForums that showed a similar looking worm leaving a cricket that fell into a swimming pool. You have to wonder how the heck those three worms fit inside that cricket without bursting out the backside :eek:.

Any doubts that yummy-looking wild feeders pose a potential risk? It is a risk that probably can't be completely eliminated even by using commercial feeders. Wild feeders offer some good benefits and could probably be continued as long as you know what precautions to take. So once again, getting a yearly fecal exam is probably good practice. Or you can join the growing number of us chameleon keepers who've invested in a microscope :)! Whenever my wife sees me peering into the 'scope she says: "I don't want to here about what gross stuff you find" :eek:.
 
Sweet videos Dave, good work on them.... That is pretty creepy.... I never see anything move through the microscope unless I am looking at a drop of pond water.
 
I've had a few of these long thin worms come out of my WC chameleons alive with their feces years ago. I put them in a jar of water and they remained alive in the water for several days until I could get them to the clinic for evaluation.

I also had a frog-eyed sand gecko whose chest split open (while she was still alive) and dozens of maggot-like worms came out. In a panic, I destroyed the maggots (dumb I know, but I did) and cleaned the wound out. The wound looked like a tumor before it burst open. Unfortunately she died a few days later. Perhaps they had done some damage inside her chest that I couldn't see with my lack of experience at the time?
 
I also had a frog-eyed sand gecko whose chest split open (while she was still alive) and dozens of maggot-like worms came out. In a panic, I destroyed the maggots (dumb I know, but I did) and cleaned the wound out. The wound looked like a tumor before it burst open. Unfortunately she died a few days later. Perhaps they had done some damage inside her chest that I couldn't see with my lack of experience at the time?

I don't think that I will be able to sleep now. :(
 
Jesus Kinyonga - I was SOOO much happier when I believed that that kind of stuff didn't happen on this planet...

The worm coming out of the cricket is a horsehair worm. I am pretty sure they're only parasites of insects, and are harmless to animals... I hope.
 
Thank you Dave....

Having 2 rescued Panthers in my care now for nearly a year now and another 2 that I purchased recently reminds me that no matter how clean you think you can be and how great your husbandry is that prevention is better than cure.

All 4 of my boys are going for a blood test, a fecal smear and annual check up this week and tomorrow they are having their cages steam and stuff steamed cleaned.

Gonna dream about those nasties for a good week now :(

what do u mean steamed cleaned? how do u do this? :confused:
 
Back
Top Bottom