moving worms on stool

lainezor

Member
I just did my routine clean up of the boys and I found something rather unnerving. My 8 month old male veiled chameleon had a pile of poop in the base of one of his pathos plants. I went to clean it up and realized that it was moving... It had little white/beige worms crawling all over it. Is this a parasite? I have noticed tiny fruit flies in my apartment but I wasnt concerned with them. He is eating normally, the poop was solid and brown and there was no strong foul smell. The urates were white. I have already been over housing/husbandry here before many times and I am confident it doesnt need to be posted here again.

Should I call the vet right away? I threw out the poop the second I saw it because I was really grossed out by it
 
Could be a maggot from an insect or a worm from inside the chameleon. The only ways to know for sure are to either grow it into an adult or find an entomologist who could ID it I guess.
 
Could be a maggot from an insect or a worm from inside the chameleon. The only ways to know for sure are to either grow it into an adult or find an entomologist who could ID it I guess.

If it is a parasitic worm couldn't a vet identify it???
 
I cant find anything like it online, its odd. I will call the vets tomorrow and keep an eye on him. He seems to be acting completely normal atm.
 
More than likely those are non parasitic roundworms. They live in the soil etc and will feed on chameleon feces if left in the cage for a few days. Normal cleanup crew in my opinion. If he is acting fine I would bet this is the case, but keep an eye on his weight as well as appetite changes. If possible try to find very fresh poops and examine those. If they are worm free you are likely ok, but if you see worms immediately after he defacated in the stool that is a problem and time for a vet visit. Hope that helps and if he is the guy on your avatar he is one handsome fella and you should post more pics :p
 
I really don't think you have anything to worry about. Worms usually aren't a concern for chams in good health but a fecal will best determine this and exactly what type of worm (if its one to indeed worry about) and a regular vet check should do it ;)
 
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