Parasites again! :( Can I still save the plants?

[Anastasia_k]

Hi fellow chameleon lovers,

Today I found some string-like transparent thingies in my chameleon's poop (he's a male veiled about 5 months old), and I'm pretty sure it's some kind of worms, nematodes maybe. Surely, I am taking him to the vet tomorrow and will bring the poop sample for examination. I am extremely frustrated because I only have him for 2 months and it's already the second time he gets parasites! Last time was a bit over a month ago and it was some different one-cell thing. Last time I cleaned the entire enclosure with ammonia solution, but most of the live plants had to go because he pooped on them and I wasn't sure if the ammonia would disinfect the plants and not harm them. So now he has all these nice brand new plants in there and I would REALLY hate to replace them again... Is there anything I can do to save them? And is there a way to prevent him from getting infected in the future? These trips to the vet are very stressful for both of us...

Would appreciate any input! Cheers!

 

[Andee]

What are your feeders and where are you getting them from? Was the one cell thing... coccidia?

 

[jannb]

What kind of parasites did he have before. Very important to know what kind so you can do the proper cleaning. After this next vet visit please let us know what kind of parasite he has this time.

 

[Anastasia_k]

What are your feeders and where are you getting them from? Was the one cell thing... coccidia?

What kind of parasites did he have before. Very important to know what kind so you can do the proper cleaning. After this next vet visit please let us know what kind of parasite he has this time.

It was definitely not coccidia, I keep forgetting the name... But the vet adviced to just clean with ammonium solution (I used Zoo Med's Wipe out spray which contains it). And I got a new enclosure since then, around 2 weeks before. His poop looked totally fine until today, he had good appetite etc, but last 2 days was showing stressed coloration for most of the day.
I feed him crickets from a local pet store chain, but last week they were out of them so I bought a box from some small shop. So, not sure which batch the parasite came from, if he got it from food. Also, I saw a few small fungus gnats/flies in his enclosure, probably from the plants (was planning to take care of it), and maybe he had been eating some of them. Could he get infected this way?

Anyway - I will ask for the name of the parasite and post it here tomorrow. Thank you for replying!

 

[Andee]

Likely if it's a parasite it's from the crickets and it's likely from the pet store chain, since I don't feel a week would be long enough for them incubate for them to become a serious issue. All it takes is for them to be fed badly once or poorly cleaned a couple times and they are easy carriers. If he was showing stress coloration more lately he could also have had issues fighting it off.

 

[carol5208]

What med were you given to treat the parasite?

 

[kinyonga]

We will not be able to tell you if you can save the plants if you don't tell us what the specific parasite is.

 

[Anastasia_k]

So I went to the vet and it turned out to be false alarm... The parasite test came out negative and what I thought to be worms was actually pieces of hair or some fiber coated in mucus. My dog is in heavy shed now butstill it's a mystery how his hair got into the enclosure... I was so excited to find out he doesn't have parasites that I forgot to ask the vet what he had last time Anyway, thank you for everyone who replied and sorry for wasting your time... Sometimes I get way too paranoid when it comes to my animals. But since we are at the plant topic, does anyone have suggestions on how to deal with fungus gnats or those small flies that gather around plants?