Steve has PINWORMS!!!!

Iluvheidi

Iluvheidi

New Member
Okay I got steves medicine and I was told to clean his whole cage with soap and water really well. She said for me to replace the plants he has been on.. HE HAS BEEN ON EVERY PLANT IN MY HOUSE!!!! is it possible to clean the plants with a soap water mixture then rinse really good. Ill even go as far as to wash the roots and repot the plants. Im just looking at hundreds of dollars of plants!!!!:eek:
 
This is just a guess. I would wash and repot the plants with new soil. I think that should be fine. I live in the north and would not have the option to replace my plants in the winter.
 
Pinworms are common..and not difficult to take care of. Panacur will clear them up.

Pinworms are passed on to hosts through ingestion of fecal matter. Re potting you plants should be sufficient and you can each the leaves with a mild soap and water...

Getting rid of all your plants may be over kill. It is often suggested to do if the chameleon has Coccidia which is hard to get rid of not pinworm.
 
The Panacur should work for pinworms very well. Pinworms do not require the clean up that coccidia does. With that said it's alway a good idea to clean your cage and I would clean the plants the same way that you did when you bought them. I would also recommend another fecal a week or two after you finish with the Panacur treatment.

How to clean plants from my blog for new keepers.

You will need live plants for your cage to help keep up the humidity. I really like the Pothos it seems to hold the water for a long time and also does quite well inside. The Ficus and Schefflera also do great indoors. The Hibiscus is a favorite of the veileds but needs allot of light so your need to use hibiscus outside or have a couple to rotate from inside to outside for sun. Your plants will need to be washed and rinsed well and replanted before you use them. Use organic soil and buy large river rocks to cover the soil so your cham will not be able to eat the soil. Make sure the rocks are very large so the cham cannot eat the rocks.

My blog for new keepers: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html
 
I was given panacur for pinworms last Friday, but was not told to wash my plants and cage..
Click to expand...

My understanding from veterinary advice from one of the best at that time but is now information that is 15 years old so may be out of date-

Most even healthy lizards probably have a few pinworms. But when the lizard is healthy and has a good immune system, most of the time the pinworms are not a problem. At one point it was thought there might even be some benefit to the host, but I have no idea how that speculation turned out- probably not much benefit if any.

Most pinworms are specific to their type of host (in other words, your chameleon's pinworms are probably there from ancestors of the chameleon or other chameleons at the pet shop, etc, rather than contamination in some other way such as original food supply or other pets. Although, from time to time I think about the crickets being counted out by pet shop employees that spend all day in with wild caught lizards).

Pinworm eggs are very tiny and stick to everything. Including hands that move into the enclosure to clean or touch the lizard and then into food supply of the lizard and other cages, etc. Treating the lizard will not remove or harm the pinworm eggs. They are very difficult, maybe next to impossible, to completely remove from the environment without putting the lizard in a completely sterile and regularly sterilized environment for a while (such as a plastic tub set up with disposible limbs or something which are tossed out and the tub sanitized regularly) and then dumping everything and eventually put into a brand new clean terrarium.

That is why you are being told to clean everything and replace. Your vet either believes a more sterile pinworm free environment is better generally or is of the opinion that the levels of pinworm in the lizard are high enough that it is better to start over with a clean environment to give the lizard a break from dealing with them while it recovers and gets it's strength and immune system back up and running.

And that is the same reason the other poster was not told to clean the environment. The vet may have decided the levels were not too severe and therefore routine worming was the way to go and enough to give the lizard a boost against future worms and especially if you are in the habit of bringing pets in for regular health checks, wormings can always be given in the future if the lizard needs them and there aren't so many.

And vets see things different ways- some really want a sterile environment, some either see that as next to impossible to acheive or see benefits to a non-sterile environment (excersize for the immune system if the environment is clean but not sterile). So you can expect some difference of opinion about treatment from that as well.

There are some vets here on the forums that might chime in with advice for you, otherwise, I'd do what your vet says, especially if you are talking about only one lizard that needs plants replaced...
 
WOW lots of info. Thank you so much everyone.

I do have live plants in all my cages and free ranges. living in seattle it would not be easy replacing them as winter comes. What is coccidia? I guess i can just search it but since it was mentioned a couple times i figure i ask now.
 
If he actively eats the leaves of certain plants, wash those leaves or replace those plants. don't bother with the others.
a few pinworms are not uncommon and are easy to treat.
 
Okay.. I got a bigger problem now.... So the vet calls after i get my other male tested.. He has coccidia? since i handle my chameleons most every day im pretty sure i have to now clean all the cages with bleach or something? Is it safe just to bet a bucket fill it with dawn and dunk all the plants into that a few times then wash off really well? I will scrub down the cages too.
 
Bleach does not kill coccidia- I am dealing with this in my panther male right now. You have to get peroxide developer from the beauty supply store. I ended up replacing everything, cage, plants, vines. The medicine the vet put mine on is Ponazuril, he has taken three rounds. It is a nasty one- so sorry you are having to deal with this!
 
yea. okay I was afraid thats what i was gonna have to do! man Its gonna be hard to replace umbrella plants in oct here in seattle.
 
Iluvheidi said:
yea. okay I was afraid thats what i was gonna have to do! man Its gonna be hard to replace umbrella plants in oct here in seattle.
Click to expand...

I live in Renton and the Fred Meyer on Ranier has some nice umbrella plants. Quite a size range. I have two i bought recently and after repotting they are both doing well.
 
Renton!

HA small world I live in renton as well. I actually live like three blocks up the hill from freddmeyers so I will go check them out. exciting to know it is a really small world!
 
Iluvheidi said:
Okay.. I got a bigger problem now.... So the vet calls after i get my other male tested.. He has coccidia? since i handle my chameleons most every day im pretty sure i have to now clean all the cages with bleach or something? Is it safe just to bet a bucket fill it with dawn and dunk all the plants into that a few times then wash off really well? I will scrub down the cages too.
Click to expand...

sorry to hear this - coccidia is a much bigger deal than pinworms.
You'll want to use boiling water, steam and peroxide for cleaning, replace plants and anything else you can replace. You will likely have to do this in all the cages if you have more than one chameleon and have probably cross contaminated.

maybe you can sell your existing plants to someone as houseplants to help ease the burden of buying new
 
As soon as I got my chameleon in the cage, he took a poop right on the plants soil lol! AND he is wild caught so that means he is probably loaded with parasites...I plan on breeding, now I have to plan on getting more plants...DAMN IT.
 
This stuff I get from beardeddragon.com called Quaternary Disinfectant is said to kill anything! even coccidia.

You dilute it with water, spray the cage and everything (sans the cham) in it, then let it dry (no rinse).

I also use 13 to 35% hydrogen peroxide (35% is more expensive, and you to
special protective ware, like rubber gloves, safety glasses, etc. when using it.

If coccidia can survive 35% peroxide, I would be surprised. :eek:

I would toss any potted plants.
 
Replacing plants. this is only VA i am talking about, but would assume corporate rules may apply. i know lowes and home depot stock 3 (hd) - 12 (lowes) pothos and umbrella plants year round. they are kept in the indoor section on tables, not in the outdoor section. they acquire them from the same local nurseries we all like to buy from. even though the nurseries can close to the public in offseason they still take care of their stock and refurbish local hardware stores. good luck. (you can also order them from nurseries at the customer service desk also. be prepared to wait possibly 2 weeks though. i think that is the shipping times for new stock (bi-monthly).
 
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