Isospora from a bearded dragon.
Pinworm eggs (large brown ovals)
with Isospora.
protein losing enteropathy and limb oedema.
Isospora from a bearded dragon.
Pinworm eggs (large brown ovals)
with Isospora.
Recommended treatments for pinworm is Panacur liquid for 3 days at normal dose rates.
I have found the textbook treatments for coccidia to be of poor efficacy and have treated these problems most successfully with baycox at 7.5mg/kg daily for 2 consecutive days, repeating the treatment after 2 - 3 weeks. (S.Lloyd- personal communication).
Avermectins can be used in snakes and lizards but are HIGHLY TOXIC TO ALL CHELONIANS and must not be used in these species.
It is vital that the vivaria are thoroughly cleaned out; substrates and cage
furniture should be discarded; it is notoriously difficult to destroy parasite eggs and
spores. Newspaper should be used as a substrate until the infection is under control and
faecal samples should be repeated every 3 months. These infections are so common in
lizards that I tend to check faecal samples on all my r
GASTROINTSTINAL PROBLEMS. As well as the
gastrointestinal problems caused by dietary errors, the most common cause of problems I
have encountered is with internal parasites. This is a consequense of keeping these
animals in a confined space in which it is ideal for parasite species to multiply in an
exponential fashion. They are a particular problem in insectivorous lizards and in wild caught snakes.
Infected animals may simply present with ill thrift and lethargy but will often have loose
or mucoid faeces, with blood in severe cases. Diagnosis is made by microscopic examination of faecal samples. The most common
findings are helminth parasites (usually pinworms) and coccidia (Isospora, Eimeria).
Spores and eggs can usually be found in simple wet preparations without any need for
concentration techniques. Animals may have multiple infestations. this bearded dragon
presented with swollen limbs; intestinal coccidiosis had caused a PROLAPSES. Cloacal/rectal prolapses are not uncommon in reptiles especially snakes. Like
prolapses in other species they can be reduced and replaced if they have not been
prolapsed for too long or severely traumatised. They may be a consequence of parasitism,
constipation or of a subclinical MBD in lizards but sometimes seem to have no predisposing
cause. After reduction, a steroid enema helps to reduce the swelling and irritation and
helps to prevent recurrence; the vent can be closed with a mattress suture for several
days- snakes usually only defaecate weekly. I am treating one rat snake which has a monthly steroid enema; if we try to stop
treatment or increase the intervals between treatments he starts to prolapse. He has been
treated now for over 2 years. prolapse reduced
and mattress suture temporarily closing the vent. INTESTINAL OBSTRUCTION. This is not uncommon- it may have a variety of causes from unsuitable substrates,
subclinical MBD, intestinal parasites. It is usually diagnosed by palpation of the
abdomen in lizards and snakes and confirmed by radiography. Sometimes faecoliths (impacted
dried out faeces) can be softened by administering fliuids and small doses of laxatives
such as lactulose but foreign bodies and severe impactions require surgery. radiograph of monitor lizard with intestinal impaction.
conservative measures failed to remove this faecolith which was eventually removed by
surgery.
intestine repaired after removal of obstruction faecolith after removal; keys give an idea of scale.
PARASITISM
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