Pinworms please help!

My 15 month old Panther has been diagnosed with pinworms the Dr. said he could give him panacure orally or an injection. Which is better? He also said to just treat my other two who have temporarally shared a cage instead of doing fecals on both of them. I figure give them the medicine only if they really need it right? I'm going to just toss everything in his cage and get new stuff so I don't have to be sure everything is disinfected. Should I wait until he's done with the meds or after his first does?
Sorry for all the questions but I figure opinions on the forums may be better than a vets who's never had a Chameleon.

I'd go with the vets recommendations.

Panacur is extremely safe. Its very easy to administer orally. Disinfecting the cages makes sense, as you may have a reinfection anyways sometime in the future from contaminated feeders. You certainly can't throw everything away each occurance.

sarah777 said:

My 15 month old Panther has been diagnosed with pinworms the Dr. said he could give him panacure orally or an injection. Which is better? He also said to just treat my other two who have temporarally shared a cage instead of doing fecals on both of them. I figure give them the medicine only if they really need it right? I'm going to just toss everything in his cage and get new stuff so I don't have to be sure everything is disinfected. Should I wait until he's done with the meds or after his first does?
Sorry for all the questions but I figure opinions on the forums may be better than a vets who's never had a Chameleon.

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oral is less stressful than injection.
I tend to agree with your vet. I would treat the other two. Panacur is quite safe. It only affect the worms.. So, if your chameleons doesn't have one, he will be fine.
Now.. Why do you have three adult chameleons sharing a cage? I hope you separate them ASAP. Chameleons are highly territorial.
http://chamworld.blogspot.com/2008/01/parasites-warning-this-health-chapter.html

They don't share a cage (really) one is his girlfriend who I've been trying to get to breed so she goes in for "visits". And the other recently switched cages with him and I didn't disinfect everything.

Normally, I agree with you to only treat those that you know need treatment. but with this medication, is safe and easier to treat all of them.

When one of mine had pinworms, the first oral treatment was immediate - right at the vets.

The next day I removed everything from within the cage, and then thoroughly steam cleaned the cage itself. I gave them each some new branches (which I had on hand anyhow), tossed all the old branches. I replaced the plants (I always have new pothos rooting, because one of my chams eats the things quickly). I boiled the vines and put those that survived the process back in. As I happened to have a spare cage freshly painted, I moved the chameleon to the new cage, again with new branches, after his last treatment. I figured better safe than sorry. The old cage will be repainted this spring, thus making it safe for the next occupant.
So i guess Im saying, if you can afford to replace the branches and plants, why not.

Good to know, I will go ahead and treat all of them. Thank you for the advise!

sarah777 said:

They don't share a cage (really) one is his girlfriend who I've been trying to get to breed so she goes in for "visits". And the other recently switched cages with him and I didn't disinfect everything.

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Aahhh.. i see.
In that case, more the reason for you to treat them all.
Don't worry.. Pinworm is quite easy to treat.
Just make sure you disinfect the cages well.

Panacur is great stuff.

match .1ml to each 100g of cham weight.

A trick to getting them to open? offer crickets in a cup... when they snatch a cricket, be fast... and squirt the panacur into the mouth as it is open. Be careful not to let them bite the syringe.

I had some nice swimmers in some recent melleri and knocked them down pretty quickly with my dosing. I do 3 days in a row (one dose a day) and then let the cham go for about a week and then do another three doses in a row.

"swimmers" ewwww! The thought of worms really disgusts me!!!! I assume bleach and water is the best to be cleaning the cages with? Do I really have to trash the live plants or can I put them outside for a few months?

sarah777 said:

"swimmers" ewwww! The thought of worms really disgusts me!!!! I assume bleach and water is the best to be cleaning the cages with? Do I really have to trash the live plants or can I put them outside for a few months?

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bleach and water is good.
After that washed with soapy water to loosen the worm eggs and flushed them away real good.
I would trash the live plants.

dodolah said:

bleach and water is good.
After that washed with soapy water to loosen the worm eggs and flushed them away real good.
I would trash the live plants.

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That's makes me so sad to have to trash so many nice plants Oh well better to be safe than sorry!

sarah777 said:

That's makes me so sad to have to trash so many nice plants Oh well better to be safe than sorry!

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Pinworm eggs survive quite a long time, even in the cold.

You could use the plants elsewhere in your house, if you dont have kids (or adults) who are going to touch them and then touch their mouths, or lick leaves.

I took a few potentially pinworm carrying plants to my office at work. They sit on a high shelf and Im not in the habit of touching them (I barely remember to water them). Better than trashing them.