WC Melleri parasite treatment
- Thread starter Kat77
- Start date
Justin Carl
Avid Member
Only your vet can tell you what to treat you new Mellers for.
Certain medications can only be used to treat certain parasites.
Usually panacur and baytril will take care of most parasites.
Certain medications can only be used to treat certain parasites.
Usually panacur and baytril will take care of most parasites.
Nicodemayo
Avid Member
Panacur will take care of the worms and Flagyl will take care of coccidia/protozoans. Hopefully chris carter will chime in. He has alot of experience treating chams including parsons.
Last edited:
Nicodemayo
Avid Member
My mistake, i meant to say Flagyl!
Chris Anderson
Dr. House of Chameleons
Baytril is an antibiotic. You're probably thinking about flagyl which treats protozoans.
Kat, you'd probably be a lot more successful if you waiting for Mike's babies to grow a little bit rather then buying a WC which can be notoriously difficult to acclimate for those working with WC for the first time.
Chris
Edit: You beat me to it Nicodemayo.
Kat, you'd probably be a lot more successful if you waiting for Mike's babies to grow a little bit rather then buying a WC which can be notoriously difficult to acclimate for those working with WC for the first time.
Chris
Edit: You beat me to it Nicodemayo.
Justin Carl
Avid Member
Thanks Chris, thats what I wanted to say.
I was thinking about a Derimensis that my friend is taking care of.
It's on baytril for swollen joints, some kind of bacteria infection attacking the joints.
Ditto on Mike's Mellers.
Their isnt much more satisfying then watching a baby chameleon grow up.
Yea, the upfront cost might be more.
Say 150-200 dollars, but think about the vet bills you have with a WC!
100 dollars for a wild caught and you don't know the age.
50 dollars for a check up and 25 dollars for a stool check
XX amount for medication.
Eric Adrignola
Avid Member
I second Chris - established Captive hatched/bred melleri will have no problems with parasites - and you get to grow them up yourself!
I would not reccomend that anyone buy a WC melleri unless they were primarily interested in breeding. WC melleri, if obtained from an importer that hydrates them well - very well - have a good chance of survival... IF...
If you treat them for parasites properly. Melleri seem to require different treatment regiments than other chameleons. They come wil lots of large, nasty worms "free of charge". Treatment often requires many many doses of panacur. Even then, some worms (particularly filiarial worms) are resistant. Some of these may be fatal in the long term, but the treatment is very rough on them as wel - ivermectin will do it if the worms are small and a thourough panacur cycle has been done. Use ivermectin with too much worm-biomass leftover in the melleri, and the melleri is a goner - they can't deal with all the dead worms.
It's a lengthy and expensive process. Even if you do everything right, there's a good chance you will lose some in time.
I'd wait for captive hatched or captive bred animals. It's worth it.
And then you get into the environmental concerns. By purchasing WC animals, you make the process of importing WC animals continue. By purchasing captive bred animals, you patronize businesses and breeder that take the time and trouble to hatch our and raise babies.
eco-stuff aside, I think it's great to support efforts to establish melleri in captivity!
I would not reccomend that anyone buy a WC melleri unless they were primarily interested in breeding. WC melleri, if obtained from an importer that hydrates them well - very well - have a good chance of survival... IF...
If you treat them for parasites properly. Melleri seem to require different treatment regiments than other chameleons. They come wil lots of large, nasty worms "free of charge". Treatment often requires many many doses of panacur. Even then, some worms (particularly filiarial worms) are resistant. Some of these may be fatal in the long term, but the treatment is very rough on them as wel - ivermectin will do it if the worms are small and a thourough panacur cycle has been done. Use ivermectin with too much worm-biomass leftover in the melleri, and the melleri is a goner - they can't deal with all the dead worms.
It's a lengthy and expensive process. Even if you do everything right, there's a good chance you will lose some in time.
I'd wait for captive hatched or captive bred animals. It's worth it.
And then you get into the environmental concerns. By purchasing WC animals, you make the process of importing WC animals continue. By purchasing captive bred animals, you patronize businesses and breeder that take the time and trouble to hatch our and raise babies.
eco-stuff aside, I think it's great to support efforts to establish melleri in captivity!
Kat77
New Member
Ok, you've convinced me. I had planned on getting the baby anyhow, but you are certainly right about the vet bills.
Edit: Also, the vets in my area are significantly more for a check up. $70 or $80 seems to be the average here.
Kat77
New Member
Wow. You've double extra convinced me. I had no idea that all this was true about WC Melleri parasites. I heard that they had some difficulties, but you're all right, as my first Melleri I don't think I want a WC adult. I'm glad I asked this question! I'm going to wait for Mike's then. I think I'm on the waiting list for one, but I should probably check that...
Kent67
Retired Moderator
The best reason to buy CH/CB, imho. Ever see how many of this species gets exported from Africa each year compared to how many are offered for sale as captive bred?
chamlover
New Member
Kat,
I bought a w/c Melleri at one of the reptile shows that we did. The person i bought it from i kinda knew but not well. He told me that he had treated it with Flagyl and Panacur and had had it for approx 2 mos. After bringing him to the vets i found out he still had another kind of worms that those meds wouldn't kill, sorry i forgot which kind i would have to check my records, anyway, i was lucky and he is doing really well. We took extra precautions with him because i knew how sensitive they can be and like i said i was lucky. I also deal with alot of w/c and knew what i was getting into. I couldn't find any c/b at the time. My advice to you is the same as everyone elses', If you can find a c/b then that would be the best decision. You WILL NOT save any money by buying a w/c at all!!! I wish more people would breed these guys. Of course we would have to figure out how to tell the sexes apart first. lol. I would happily breed these guys if i first: could be sure i had a male and second: could be sure i was buying a female. Have you ever read the article about failure to acclimate concerning a melleri?
Debby
I bought a w/c Melleri at one of the reptile shows that we did. The person i bought it from i kinda knew but not well. He told me that he had treated it with Flagyl and Panacur and had had it for approx 2 mos. After bringing him to the vets i found out he still had another kind of worms that those meds wouldn't kill, sorry i forgot which kind i would have to check my records, anyway, i was lucky and he is doing really well. We took extra precautions with him because i knew how sensitive they can be and like i said i was lucky. I also deal with alot of w/c and knew what i was getting into. I couldn't find any c/b at the time. My advice to you is the same as everyone elses', If you can find a c/b then that would be the best decision. You WILL NOT save any money by buying a w/c at all!!! I wish more people would breed these guys. Of course we would have to figure out how to tell the sexes apart first. lol. I would happily breed these guys if i first: could be sure i had a male and second: could be sure i was buying a female. Have you ever read the article about failure to acclimate concerning a melleri?
Debby
I heard that if you show up in a bikini at Mike's door, you get a bit of a price break if you want 2 chameleons... Unless his wife answers.
