Veiled not eating/ pinworms

[Loadout]

Hi

My cham hasn't been eating properly for the past couple of weeks and it has slowly gotten worse to the point where he is only eating one feeder every two days. He was eating locusts and superworms so I got him some dubias and butterworms to see if that would help. He ate one butterworm but then wouldn't eat anything else yesterday and today he wouldn't eat anything. When I offer the first feeder he always goes straight for it but then ignores all other food. He had a fecal done recently and the vet has just phoned me to say he's tested positive for pinworms. The vet said it was mild but is sending me a prescription over to treat it. I asked if the two could be related and he said they were so small that it's unlikely. He's pretty active and drinks a lot of water so I can't think why else he may not be eating. I was just looking for opinions as to whether the pinworms could be to blame here and if there's anything else I could try? Also what's the best way to administer the pinworm medication to minimise stress? I am to shoot it in to his mouth with a syringe and the vet said it has to go over his tongue.

Chameleon Info:
• Your Chameleon - Veiled chameleon, Male, 2 Years old, Had him 3 months.
• Handling - About once a week. He also has a Dracaena fragrans to chill in outside his cage.
• Feeding - Locusts, morio worms now has dubia roaches and butterworms too. He was eating 5/6 every other day but this has since fallen to 1/2 every other day.
• Supplements - Calcium on every feeder. Calcium with d3 on one feeder every 2 weeks and multivitamin on one feeder every two weeks. All exo terra.
• Watering - I mist twice a day. He is in a glass enclosure and my home is quite humid so I feel this is sufficient. He also has a dripper. I see him drinking often both from the dripper and whilst misting.
• Fecal Description - Brown and white. Tested positive for mild pinworm infection. I've noticed the urates are a little watery lately.
• History - He was in the pet store for 6 months.

Cage Info:
• Cage Type - 18"x18"x36" glass. He's getting a new wooden/mesh 3'x2'x4' at the weekend.
• Lighting - Exo terra 100w heat lamp with Sylvania Reptistar T8
• Temperature - Basking is 85-89f. Ambient is 70f. Measured with a Zoo Med digital thermometer.
• Humidity - I keep it at around 50%. When I mist this spikes to 70/80%
• Plants - Dracaena marginata along with some fake vines and plants.
• Placement - In the corner of the room. No traffic or vents. Top of the cage is about 6 ft from the ground.
• Location - Scotland

 

[FlChamMom]

Parasites can absolutely cause a decrease in appetite- my panther had a bout with coccidia last year and it was the only symptom. I would try the medicine and see if after the treatment he starts eating more. I always gave my guy his meds first thing in the morning, he is usually cranky then and I could get him to gape at me. Once the mouth opened I squirted the medicine in. Keep it on the tongue though- don't squirt towards the throat or he could aspirate. He should be fine once the medicine kicks in!

 

[zsazsa85]

My veiled had pinworms recently. Also very small amount over the limit. I have him panacur orally while he was chewing a treat.
But the vet told me I have to repeat it in two weeks. Is that normal? You get Panacur too? And do you have to repeat it?
My cham was fine had appetite, but after the Panacur he lost his appetite and was quiet lethargic for about 4 days. Then he turned to be as he was before. I don't know this little change was from the medicine or why... But I heard parasites can cause the symptoms you mensioned!

 

[Loadout]

Parasites can absolutely cause a decrease in appetite- my panther had a bout with coccidia last year and it was the only symptom. I would try the medicine and see if after the treatment he starts eating more. I always gave my guy his meds first thing in the morning, he is usually cranky then and I could get him to gape at me. Once the mouth opened I squirted the medicine in. Keep it on the tongue though- don't squirt towards the throat or he could aspirate. He should be fine once the medicine kicks in!

Thanks - I'm sure you're right So is it better to aim for the tongue itself or the back of the mouth? Tongue would be easier and minimise stress but I don't want to risk shooting too far and near the windpipe. I think he said it's about 0.25ml of liquid.

My veiled had pinworms recently. Also very small amount over the limit. I have him panacur orally while he was chewing a treat.
But the vet told me I have to repeat it in two weeks. Is that normal? You get Panacur too? And do you have to repeat it?
My cham was fine had appetite, but after the Panacur he lost his appetite and was quiet lethargic for about 4 days. Then he turned to be as he was before. I don't know this little change was from the medicine or why... But I heard parasites can cause the symptoms you mensioned!

Thanks for letting me know. He didn't say what he was sending but panacur is pretty standard for pinworms. Yes, that's normal. I believe the second dose is more of a precaution to make sure they're gone. I've to give him one dose and then repeat after a week.

Thankfully he's getting his new cage soon so I can medicate him then switch him over. What's the best way to clean live plants? I'm just going to throw out the one in his cage because he seems to be targeting it for his droppings but the larger one outside he has only been in about 5 times and I'm sure he would love it in his new taller enclosure.

 

[zsazsa85]

Thank you, I will do that than. I hope he will be ok after!
The live plants, I just rinse in the bathtub. When I buy a new plant from the store, I wash it leaf by leaf.

 

[FlChamMom]

I replaced all of the live plants, but coccidia is harder to get rid of than pinworms. There is also a great antimicrobial cleaner I got from here: http://www.beardeddragon.co, you can also use full strength hydrogen peroxide developer (the kind you use when you color your hair). You also want to make sure to remove the feces as soon as you can. As long as you give the viv a thorough scrubbing to prevent re-infection he should be fine! Pinworms are fairly common and I have read that the animal usually makes a full recovery.

 

[Loadout]

Thanks for the help. Unfortunately he wouldn't eat anything today either but the prescription arrived and I can collect the Panacur tomorrow. Would F10SC be strong enough to sterilise his viv during treatment?

 

[Loadout]

UPDATE: I gave him the Panacur on Saturday and so far no increase in appetite but I guess it takes time to work/ get over the Panacur. I've stripped the cage to the essentials, poured boiling water over the remaining vines and washed everything with F10. He's to get another dose in two weeks (not one!) to kill the newly hatched worms.

His new enclosure should be ready tomorrow and I was wondering if I should move him in tomorrow with his new plants or whether I should wait until after the two weeks and move him in then? Ideally I'd like to move him in sooner but not if it's going to significantly increase his chance of reinfection. Can't tell if I'm overreacting or not

 

[Loadout]

Anybody have an opinion on this?

 

[zsazsa85]

Pinworms are not difficult to get rid of. I know it is hard to wait but it would be may better to wait the other panacur and move him after. Does he have any problem pooping after panacur? I don't know in my cham's case is is the panacure or something else....

 

[Loadout]

Pinworms are not difficult to get rid of. I know it is hard to wait but it would be may better to wait the other panacur and move him after. Does he have any problem pooping after panacur? I don't know in my cham's case is is the panacure or something else....

I have no issues waiting if it's for the best. I'm just not sure how the Panacur ties in with the parasite's lifecycle. Presumably once the remaining eggs (left by the first dose) have hatched it is safe to move him, seeing as any worms will die outside of the host and any left inside will be killed by the second dose of the Panacur. Most of the eggs would have hatched in hours in humans, not sure about reptiles. If I moved him now it would reduce the chance of him swallowing old eggs (even though I'm keeping his enclosure clean) in his enclosure which might interfere with the effectiveness of the second Panacur dose but of course there's no way of knowing if all the eggs have hatched so it might be better to leave him. I know I'm rambling a bit. I'm just trying to decide which is best here but thank you for your input. I'm going to leave him alone for the time being

His droppings have been fairly regular actually. The Panacur isn't too hard on them so I don't know if it could be related. Is he eating normally? That's all I can think of. The Panacur should be mostly out of his system in about 5 days so if it's been longer then it is likely something else. If you are worried about it then ask and hopefully a more experienced member can help.

He ate two bugs today and one yesterday! Massive improvement over one every three days