parasites and wild animals?

[alejandro2004]

so we know for fact that almost every wc cham has parasites and if we dont treat them it can cause some problems and even death. But what happend to all wild chameleon, that dont get threated? they trive really well and reach old ages. do they have stronger inmune system? do their inmune system get weaker because of all the stress from the collecting and shipping? are captive animal inmmune system weaker?

 

[Brandy]

some parasites will live without ill effect on your cham IF your cham is healthy and strong, if you have a highly stressed or ill animal this is when they can do major dammage to the cham. How fast a WC cham adapts to captivity plays a big role as well. sometimes treeting blindly for one type of paracite can allot other parasites to take over. thats why identifying what type(s) is important. So i quess yes in short they do have a stronger inmune system so to speak. But there is alot more involved then that. Type of parasite is also a factor. At least this is how i have interperated stuff

 

[jleahl]

I would guess that captivity itself, particularly BEING captured (and shipped) could stress an animal enough to make it more susceptible to any kind of infection--bacterial, parasitic, fungal, whatever. Whereas the guys that are cb or captive hatched don't have the stresses of adjusting to a radically different environment...besides which, they're probably not exposed to the parasites anyway.

 

[chrisandpugs]

Added possibility why Chameleons can still survive in the wild with parasites:

1. The gut content of insects in the wild are so much more nutrious plus they get so much more variety of insects to eat. (regardless of how much our insects are gut-loaded properly, it can't match the diversity of different types of bugs found in the wild).

2. As mentioned, shipping adds to their stress level but even under the best cage and lighting environment, it is still an artifical environment that we create for them and it can never duplicate their ideal habitat (such as consistent humidity and true sunlight) that they are accustomed to from the wild.

 

[roo_71]

I agree … captivity for WC critters plays a huge role in throwing off the balance with parasites.

I just picked up that “Understanding Reptile Parasites” book from Amazon for around $8 – gave it a quick look last night. It’s a small enough book where some of us who own it could put a nice summary/sticky of its contents. Either ways it’s cheap enough for all of us to just own it.

-roo

 

[Brandy]

I have that book as well roo i think its a really good cheap book every reptlile keeper should have.