Zen Reptiles
Avid Member
My panther I have been keeping alive for about 2 months now has finally passed.
I did a necropsy, and everything looked normal except his colon.
It was 3-4 times the size it should have been, so I cut it open.
Was full of 'deflated' waxworm skins. It was not parasites, or any other type of worm.
Here is the strange part....he hasn't had waxworms in over a month. I fed him some because he was on a hunger strike and I felt he needed some high-calorie food and some fat.
There were about 15-20 in there, totally undigested. When he was getting them, I was feeding him 3-5 a day, however many he would take, for about a week.
Another strange thing is, he was digesting crickets and superworms perfectly fine, and amongst the waxworm carcasses, there was well-digested cricket and superworm material....but was blocked from being pooped out from the waxworms.
He had a basking spot on 12 hours a day with a 75w, halogen soft white bulb that made his basking spot 85F, with option to get closer up to 95F+
No parasites, fecals were done in the Fall with no problems. This one is a mystery to me. I thought the soft bodies would be the most easy thing to digest....clearly not.
I did a necropsy, and everything looked normal except his colon.
It was 3-4 times the size it should have been, so I cut it open.
Was full of 'deflated' waxworm skins. It was not parasites, or any other type of worm.
Here is the strange part....he hasn't had waxworms in over a month. I fed him some because he was on a hunger strike and I felt he needed some high-calorie food and some fat.
There were about 15-20 in there, totally undigested. When he was getting them, I was feeding him 3-5 a day, however many he would take, for about a week.
Another strange thing is, he was digesting crickets and superworms perfectly fine, and amongst the waxworm carcasses, there was well-digested cricket and superworm material....but was blocked from being pooped out from the waxworms.
He had a basking spot on 12 hours a day with a 75w, halogen soft white bulb that made his basking spot 85F, with option to get closer up to 95F+
No parasites, fecals were done in the Fall with no problems. This one is a mystery to me. I thought the soft bodies would be the most easy thing to digest....clearly not.