Skinny worms in poop

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My one male WC mitsio has been here for 6 weeks now eats like a champ. I started panacur treatment on the March 31st I like to wait until they’re acclimated. This morning his poop had 2 large skinny curled up worms that looked dead... I didn’t take a picture cuz I have never had this before with a cham so I freaked out and got it out of the cage right away. Any idea if the panacur is working on these worms? 2 fecal tests done and worms did not show up in them. I’m hoping with 2 more treatments it will take care of everything... advice would be amazing on this as I’ve never dealt with worms in feces before.... thank you!!!

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

All I can say is make sure you visit your vet regularly. They weren't undigested feeders, were they? I guess you would know if they were. If they are a parasite, then keep a close eye on your cham's condition. They go downhill very quickly.

 

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His fecals were clean. He’s been a bit odd since he got here but a very eager eater etc and no deff not undigested feeders lol. He still needs 2 more treatments of panacur then will be taking another fecal in and prob an X-ray I think to make sure

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

His fecals were clean. He’s been a bit odd since he got here but a very eager eater etc and no deff not undigested feeders lol. He still needs 2 more treatments of panacur then will be taking another fecal in and prob an X-ray I think to make sure

Okay good. Hopefully everything stays in the clear. It's good that you caught the issue when you did.

 

[JacksJill]

I would say the panacure killed the worms and they were passed in the feces. Sometimes parasite eggs don't show in the fecal because the infestation was all the same sex and couldn't reproduce, the parasites were too young to lay eggs yet or just dumb luck that no eggs were passed in that particular sample. I would continue the treatment as recommended by your vet and do the repeat fecal to be sure. You can call your vet and describe what you saw to confirm.

 

[Code]

This was another stool today

 

[jamest0o0]

Were those alive today?

 

[Mawtyplant]

theses are parasite for sure, need another treatment of panacure and +++ hygiene, clean up the cage with virkon change dirt, plants etc regular (now you should go with plastic plant for the 40e period

Panacure treatment must be more than just a one shot deal.. it kill the worms not the eggs

Good luck and make decal test every 3 month till 2 negative then.. do fecal checkup every years, you never know when this can pop out (they can stay hided for years)

 

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All my chams are housed in cages with fake plants for easy clean hygiene. I always treat my WC 2-3 times depending on fecal results which I do myself and have my vet double check. Today was second round of panacur fingers crossed

 

[Mawtyplant]

All my chams are housed in cages with fake plants for easy clean hygiene. I always treat my WC 2-3 times depending on fecal results which I do myself and have my vet double check. Today was second round of panacur fingers crossed

Excellent, you will probably get rid of it soon with this condition

Still.. if not working Ivermectin can be a solution.. but this is a chameleon killer.. so.. Ivermectin is probably your last last last solution

 

[jajeanpierre]

My one male WC mitsio has been here for 6 weeks now eats like a champ. I started panacur treatment on the March 31st I like to wait until they’re acclimated. This morning his poop had 2 large skinny curled up worms that looked dead... I didn’t take a picture cuz I have never had this before with a cham so I freaked out and got it out of the cage right away. Any idea if the panacur is working on these worms? 2 fecal tests done and worms did not show up in them. I’m hoping with 2 more treatments it will take care of everything... advice would be amazing on this as I’ve never dealt with worms in feces before.... thank you!!!

What you are seeing is pretty normal for a wild caught that has just been wormed. As @JacksJill said, there are reasons the fecals didn't show anything since fecals look for parasite eggs. Your only worry is that he is so loaded with parasites, a mass die off will cause a blockage. You can also get a systemic infection from the little wounds in the gut from a massive parasite load. I've had to treat a couple of my wild caughts with antibiotics that weren't doing well from what my vet believes were infections introduced from wounds to the gut. If he starts to just not be doing well, don't hesitate to ask your vet to put him on an antibiotic that would be used for intestinal infections.

Here's what commonly happens with a wild caught. Healthy wild caught happily living in perfect conditions in the wild until he is taken. He and his parasite load have been living in harmony. There is some research lately that suggests that parasites actually are a benefit to host animal. What you need to know is that he's been living with them pretty much his whole life.

Once he is captured, he will likely have been housed in pretty awful crowded conditions so his stress levels will go up. He is then shipped to the US which takes many days and then possibly shipped out again to a pet store. He's gone through Hell to get to you alive.

The stress of all this weakens his immune system so the parasite load he has been living with in perfect harmony explodes. He had many parasites in various stages of their life cycle in his body. He had immature ones in his gut which then would have pierced through his gut and gone into his blood stream where they might have encapsulated in his tissues. The dormant parasites encapsulated in his tissues will have become active and migrated to the lungs where they end up swallowed as mature worms. In the wild, all this would have been kept in check by his immune system but now there is no immune system to keep things in balance.

Many zoos won't even look at their parasite load until they have been in their hands for at least 90 days because they know that there will be a huge spike in the parasite load around import that will be reduced once the stress levels are under control and his immune system kicks in.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Excellent, you will probably get rid of it soon with this condition

Still.. if not working Ivermectin can be a solution.. but this is a chameleon killer.. so.. Ivermectin is probably your last last last solution

Ivermectin is really too dangerous to use, especially when Panacur is clearly working.

 

[JacksJill]

If ivermectin crosses the blood brain barrier it can cause serious problems or death. There are breeds of dogs that it can not be used on.

 

[Mawtyplant]

Ivermectin is really too dangerous to use, especially when Panacur is clearly working.

Yep, Chameleon killer, some vet use it.. personally i will avoid this solution