OMG I FOUND BUGS....

[dragonqueen4]

OK, I was just cleaning my baby Brazilian Rainbow Boas tank and i took out what looked like a piece of urine. When I looked closer it had all these little raised bumps on it. Then i noticed they were moving, all these tiny little white bugs everywhere. I could tell he wasnt feeling well, now I know what the problem is. Make no wonder he wouldnt eat last night.

 

[ashesc212]

Oh man, do you have him on Panacur or something now?

 

[Beazer]

Do the little bugs look like tiiiiiiny maggots? They could be Phorid fly larvae or some sort of other gnat larvae. Though, ashesc212 has a good point. If its an internal parasite you will want to pick up some Flagyl (metronidazole) and/or Panacur (fenbendazole). You may beable to pick up the meotronidazole at a fish store, ask them if they have "Metrozol" (its a green and yellow pill form 250mg per capsule). Both medications are very hard to over dose the animal with. I believe it takes literally over 500 or something thousand times the suggested dose to do such. Also, before you treat the animal, try finding a book by Dr. Klingenburg on dosing reptiles. The price on the book is cheap but the information it offers and parasitology it covers is priceless. I forget the name of the book (I had a copy but when my dog was a puppy he ripped it up). To save you money, try to scoop the next piece of poo into a plastic baggy or small deli cup and see if the vet will do the fecal. Instead of taking the animal in and racking up a bill. Also, vets seem to like to use stronger than necessary medications on reptiles so you may be better off treating the animal yourself IF it has worms. Its very easy and there is very little risk to the animal with the above medications. Hope thats of some help.


-Jon DeLong

 

[Beazer]

I also forgot to add. Make sure the basking temps are good and minimize stress as that helps for fighting internal parasites and keeping a strong immune system. And be sure to keep the cage especially clean and the water especially clean as possible to prevent the animal from contracting the parasites again. If you keep them housed together be sure to seperate them (10gallons would be useful).