Deremensis update

[jmart]

Well, I finally brought my sleepy male deremensis to an exotic animal vet. He had to stay in a container all day, while I was working, then I brought him last evening.
The vet said he was in good shape, but has no idea why he is closing eyes.
I was lucky in that he pooped in container yesterday, so i had a really fresh sample.
I asked her to do a fecal and give a general antibiotic. He was FULL of roundworms and coccidia!
She gave me STRONGID T for the worms and TRIM/SULFA for the coccidia. It is also antibiotic that is "safe" for a chameleon.
Anyway, I came home from work and both eyes were open. He ate 4 crickets and I gave him his meds. His eyes just seemed sore or itchy or something.

This vet sees mostly parrots and rabbits, but I had no choice.
Are these the right medications for chams? What do you guys in the US use to treat these parasites?

I also asked if I could have meds for my 2 wild caught oustalets, but she needs an exam for each=$100 each cham. She said to leave them if they seem fine. I live an hour away from the vet.
I am happy the deremensis seems better.
Thank you for your replies.

 

[kinyonga]

I'm not sure what STRONGID T is but TRIM/SULFA has worked well for coccidia in any chameleons I had treated with it. Just make sure that you water the chameleon well when its on the meds. and follow the instructions that the vet gave you.

IMHO the vet is right not to treat the ousties without a test. Unless you have a test done you won't know what they have (if anything) and you might either be treating when there is no reason to or treating the wrong thing.

Sounds hopeful that the chameleon is opening its eyes now. Good luck with it.

 

[ajacobson]

If I've heard correctly coccidia spread like crazy. If you haven't already do a super cleanse on that chams cage, plants everything. If your other chams are near it, you might want to get fecals done for them too...

 

[FFSTRescue]

Strongid is pyrantal pamoate, also called Nemex. It is a fairly "safe" dewormer used to kill roundworms, hookworms, and pinworms.

 

[kinyonga]

Thanks FFSTRescue! I'm used to fenbendazole.

 

[jmart]

The only chams that were fairly close to the deremensis, when he looked healthy, was a male rudis and gravid werner's.
They are both doing fine and do not want to risk treating a gravid female.

When my baby beardeds are gone, I will keep the wild-caughts in 1 room and captive-bred in the other. I am pretty much at my limit now anyways, except for maybe the Ste-Marie panther I might be getting and any babies that I am lucky enough to keep alive from the werner's.

Thanks for the help

 

[FFSTRescue]

Thanks FFSTRescue! I'm used to fenbendazole.

Me too, fenbendazole is more broad-spectrum, killing a wider range of parasites whereas pyrantel is limited to just rounds and hooks, so it is only good if you know the animal has those and only those. I always assume if an animal has one parasite that it is shedding, there are probably others that it is not shedding so I like to use Panacur (fenbendazole) in hopes that it will take care of those, unless it is coccidia though of course.