Reptile parasites - No treatment needed?

[Mikoh4792]

So I was talking to this seller of imported snakes and this is what he said

" I do not treat for parasites unless there is an obvious issue, in which case they would not be for sale. Proper husbandry will cycle out a parasite load quicker and more efficiently than anything man made either way."

What are your experiences with parasites, and having experienced them what are your thoughts on this comment?

[Aaron_S]

So I was talking to this seller of imported snakes and this is what he said

" I do not treat for parasites unless there is an obvious issue, in which case they would not be for sale. Proper husbandry will cycle out a parasite load quicker and more efficiently than anything man made either way."

What are your experiences with parasites, and having experienced them what are your thoughts on this comment?

According to some very useful reading material that has been posted it is a true statement. I'm sure it depends on the type of parasite though.

Wayne has posted the same information about parasites in monitors.

With proper husbandry the parasites usually just get left behind.

The reason it happens is that the parasites are in the feces of our reptiles. Other animals go into those feces to get what isn't digested properly or whatever then a bigger animal eats that which in turn picks up the parasite. Then our reptile eats that animal and gets the parasite all over again and passes it along though.

It's a cycle that is easily broken due to the fact we feed prey items without parasites so they shouldn't get them again barring any sickness or illness.

[Terranaut]

Don't buy wild caught =problem solved.

[drumcrush]

So I was talking to this seller of imported snakes and this is what he said

" I do not treat for parasites unless there is an obvious issue, in which case they would not be for sale. Proper husbandry will cycle out a parasite load quicker and more efficiently than anything man made either way."

What are your experiences with parasites, and having experienced them what are your thoughts on this comment?
This is pretty interesting

[Chris72]

A) Are you sure you actually have parasites?

B) What are the symptoms?

C) What is the history of the animal (as far as you know?)


Some things like illness or weakness in the gut from previous administration of antibiotics could lead one to believe there are parasites. (soooo just checking)

[Mikoh4792]

A) Are you sure you actually have parasites?

B) What are the symptoms?

C) What is the history of the animal (as far as you know?)


Some things like illness or weakness in the gut from previous administration of antibiotics could lead one to believe there are parasites. (soooo just checking)

I have no wild caught animals. I just saw an ad for good looking IJ carpets which were imports... so I asked the breeder if by import he meant farm bred or W.C. then we got into that topic.

[KORBIN5895]

I have no wild caught animals. I just saw an ad for good looking IJ carpets which were imports... so I asked the breeder if by import he meant farm bred or W.C. then we got into that topic.

Where were they imported from?

[Mikoh4792]

Where were they imported from?

The seller says indonesia. They are irian jaya carpets.

If you go to fauna or kingsnake you should see the ad "3-4ft IJ carpets"

[KORBIN5895]

I thought the irian jaua was from Papua new Guinea?????

[Mikoh4792]

In the book " The complete Carpet Python" there is a map of indo/new guinea with highlighted parts which represent the range of IJ carpets.

There are four main populations, two of which are in the indonesian half ( north jayapura and merauke) and two of which are in the PNG half ( Western and port moresby)


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/New_guinea_named.PNG

[Chris72]

The seller says indonesia. They are irian jaya carpets.

If you go to fauna or kingsnake you should see the ad "3-4ft IJ carpets"

In this case I would defer to what Dan said.

Just say no=problem solved.

Might be a non-issue but you don't know what you get when you open the box.

Evaluate risk Vs reward...can you get it as a CB animal from a North American breeder or is it a "one of a kind in the country" animal..?

Is the discount worth the risk?

I would rather pay a few extra bucks to get something hand raised in a local basement before I get something direct from New Guinea.

My $0.02 :)


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[Mikoh4792]

In this case I would defer to what Dan said.

Just say no=problem solved.

Might be a non-issue but you don't know what you get when you open the box.

Evaluate risk Vs reward...can you get it as a CB animal from a North American breeder or is it a "one of a kind in the country" animal..?

Is the discount worth the risk?

I would rather pay a few extra bucks to get something hand raised in a local basement before I get something direct from New Guinea.

My $0.02 :)


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yeah i probably won't buy it but they look so different to the ones i've seen.

Price is $140 so not very cheap.

[StudentoReptile]

The main thing is habitat/environment. If the animal is maintained properly in a habitat with ideal temps & humidity, etc, most internal parasites (and most health issues in general) are not something to worry about, especially if the animal is not showing any symptoms [EX: irregular stool, anorexia, etc.].

[Aaron_S]

yeah i probably won't buy it but they look so different to the ones i've seen.

Price is $140 so not very cheap.

Not cheap? Man people outside the ball python world have a completely different definition of "not cheap" lol.

[Mikoh4792]

Not cheap? Man people outside the ball python world have a completely different definition of "not cheap" lol.

haha! I meant compared to other Irian jayas. I would even say for wild caught imports 140 is expensive but hey.. they do look unique. Might want to breed one to my male and see what happens.