Fecal testing.

[chamlover]

Ive got a question on fecal testing. I know i've heard that sometimes they can have something and yet still show a clean sample. But. My melleri who has been under the weather showed a clean fecal maybe 4-6 weeks ago, well the vet said that it showed red blood cells but no parasites, well today to my horror, i was trying to tempt him with a hornnworm and i notice a bunch of squiggly things on the floor of his cage. Surprise!!! At least 10 full grown round worms!!! How can that happen??? I can maybe understand if he had 1 or 2 but to have that many come out, ALIVE!!! Is my vet really bad? Or could he really have missed this one? The fecal before that showed something else, i forget, but no roundworms and that was maybe 6 mos ago.

Debby

 

[opihiman]

Round worms may or may not be seen in fecal tests of humans. It may depend on where they decide to attach themselves and if they fall off or get trapped in a bowel movement and are excreted. They may also inhabit the lungs which may make it difficult to breathe.

I would think this is possible in Chams also.

Hope that helps

OPI

PS And I hope ur Cham is doing better soon.....

 

[dodolah]

Ive got a question on fecal testing. I know i've heard that sometimes they can have something and yet still show a clean sample. But. My melleri who has been under the weather showed a clean fecal maybe 4-6 weeks ago, well the vet said that it showed red blood cells but no parasites, well today to my horror, i was trying to tempt him with a hornnworm and i notice a bunch of squiggly things on the floor of his cage. Surprise!!! At least 10 full grown round worms!!! How can that happen??? I can maybe understand if he had 1 or 2 but to have that many come out, ALIVE!!! Is my vet really bad? Or could he really have missed this one? The fecal before that showed something else, i forget, but no roundworms and that was maybe 6 mos ago.

Debby

The cycle of parasites play a big factor in this.
Therefore, it is always a good idea to do multiple fecal testing to be sure.
During my cham first 2 fecal test, they are tested negative. But, the third one we found out there is small trace of nematodes.. Lo and behold, there are squiggly worms coming out from his poops.

 

[chamlover]

I guess that answers my question. I just thought that if he had that many of them that they would have shown up.

You said depending on where they go, depends on whether or not they show up: Are there any differences in symptoms? You mentioned that if they are in the lungs it might make it difficult to breathe. If they are someplace else would there be different symptoms? My little NosyBe also had roundworms and i treated but still isn't right. One eye still closes and he won't eat on his own.

Debby

 

[opihiman]

Sx should be exactly like any other parasitic infection. The Roundworm is normally parasitic to the intestine so I would expect leathargy, possible diarhea, and the most gauratee sx of parasites would be round worms in stool....LOL.

Sx are very hard to pick out....from the sx of other problems..

Hope your Chams starts to feel better.

Good luck

OPI

 

[Dave Weldon]

...At least 10 full grown round worms!!...

Howdy Debby,

Got photos of those roundworms ?
Post'em if you got'em .

 

[chamlover]

No pics, i threw them away.

Another question: What would make all those worms come out all of a sudden like that? He wasn't being treated for parasites. He is being treated for a burn though so he is on Fortaz every other day and pain meds every day. Would that be enough to make then exit, stage left?Another thing: i am also worried that with that many coming out, does that mean he has bunches and bunches inside? And if he does; should i go slow with the Panacur to make sure he doesn't go into toxic shock? Or am i just worring myself sick?

Debby

 

[Dave Weldon]

No pics, i threw them away.


...should i go slow with the Panacur to make sure he doesn't go into toxic shock? Or am i just worring myself sick?

Debby

Howdy Debby,

Bummer about no photos . Are you absolutely certain that they were roundworms? I ask this because I've had regular baby earthworms, all of a sudden, show-up in a chameleon enclosure months after changing potting soil. They look like a parasite worm until you get a good look at them. If they were on the reddish, dark-side in color instead to being more yellowish-light brown then they might have been earthworms from your soil. Here's a quickie google search .

Roundworm example:
http://www.pitbullregistry.com/images/roundworm.jpg

Baby Earthworm example:
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_7h0fot024Ic/RgWY7i5wOzI/AAAAAAAAAA4/7rtYDH2z-6U/DSC01266.JPG

I'd keep-up with the std. Panacur treatments either way.

 

[kinyonga]

I have had worms excreted alive on several occasions. I think one cause for this could have something to do with what they are fed...they might get stuck in the food and end up being excreted.

I have even been asked to try to get more worms out of a chameleon that excreted them so that the parisitologist could study them. He was hoping to get a male so he could identify the species.

I have also had some of these worms live in water for several days...long enough that I could get them to the parisitologist's lab to be studied.

Unless the worms are shedding eggs or a worm ends up coming out of the lizard fecals can show clear.

 

[chamlover]

I'm pretty sure they were round worms. My Nosy Be did show up that he had him in his fecals and they looked like the same thing, long, slimy, thing, whittish, ickky things. If any more come out (God, i hope not) i can take a pic, we finally found our camera.

When handling chams with round worms, or whenever i hold my chams i always wash my hands with Purex hand sanitizer. Is that enough? I sometimes also will use an anti-bacterial soap cleaner but still are either of these 2 things enought to prevent cross-contamination?

Debby

Debby

 

[dodolah]

I'm pretty sure they were round worms. My Nosy Be did show up that he had him in his fecals and they looked like the same thing, long, slimy, thing, whittish, ickky things. If any more come out (God, i hope not) i can take a pic, we finally found our camera.

When handling chams with round worms, or whenever i hold my chams i always wash my hands with Purex hand sanitizer. Is that enough? I sometimes also will use an anti-bacterial soap cleaner but still are either of these 2 things enought to prevent cross-contamination?

Debby

Debby

wear vinyl gloves, throw away the gloves after handling anything related to the chameleon infected, wash your hands, and then wear a new glove when handling another chameleon.