[Brian317]

So yesterday, I sent out my fecals and got them back today. Looks like some of my groups were negative, but my auratus came back with hookworms.

Now, this was not their first fecal(last one was neg) and this most recent one it came back with hookworms. The bad part is that they are now in their big viv. I've been told I can treat with panacur, but would that get rid of ALL the hookworms, or just limit them. I know they can live in the soil as well correct? The other problem is that the viv with the hookworms is my split 55 gallon....nothing is on the otherside as of now....but if one side is infected, i would expect the otherside would be too correct?

Considering tearing everything down and starting fresh(some plants will be treated with 10% bleach solution).....considering just treating with panacur so that can cure them(but will it totally cure them?).

Please let me know what you think and I hope this is where this post is suppost to go....

Thanks all,
Brian

 

[frogparty]

panacur will just keep the load down if they are already in your viv. If you want to get rid of them forever, remove frogs to qt, treat, dispose of substrate, treat, dispose of substrate till they are continually getting clean fecals. paper towels are good for this. The hookworms are being released everytime they defecate, and can reinfect if the substrate remains contaminated. Tear down and redo their viv. Sterilize EVERYTHING and you'll be set.

 

[Brian317]

thanks for the advice. I have a spare 55 laying around that im prepping now for the leucs. Clean tank I can hold them in soon bc i was gonna put them in my split 55 set-up....but i dont want to risk them getting worms as well. I think I am going to tear down the auratus tank and treat the frogs like you said. Hopefully that will get rid of them all. I also ordered panacur as well.

what ratio should i use to sterlize the plants? 10% bleach to 90% water? let them soak in bleach/water then soak in water to clean off bleach?

Thanks !

 

[Ed]

How many fecals did you have checked before you added them to the tank?

 

[Brian317]

had two checked at a local vet before i put them into the viv....Both were neg.

 

[varanoid]

I would always prefer to be on the safe side when it comes to parasites and disease. Quarantine the animals until they are good, and start the frogs vivarium from scratch being sure to thoroughly strerilize anything you plan on reusing.

 

[Ed]

had two checked at a local vet before i put them into the viv....Both were neg.

This isn't uncommon. Animals that are positive for various parasites can shed several clean fecals in a row as the frogs' immune system is controlling the parasites. If the frog becomes stressed you can then suddenly see one or more positive fecals. Many institutions use 3 clean fecals collected at least one week apart to try and reduce this issue.

You may want to read through this post by Dr. Wright (one of the authors of the book on amphibian medicine) http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/ge...regular-treatment-parasites-4.html#post298624 and discuss it with your vet.

Ed

 

[Brian317]

Yeah it stinks that they were neg, so i put them into the split 55 and now they have worms and have to tear it down .

So once I clean out the vivarium and get the frogs clean from the worms and fecals are negative, They should be good to be housed in the new vivarium again? Is there such a thing as a "clean" vivarium? I just hate to build 2 new vivs and have the same things happen....

Thanks for the opinions.

 

[Ed]

There are two schools of thought on the process which is why I suggested you read through Dr. Wright's post.
The first school of thought is the older school of thought in which any signs of parasites are automatically considered a problem requiring isolation, treatment until clean along with disinfection of the enclosures.
The second school of thought is to monitor the frog, continue routine fecal checks to monitor the infection level of the frogs and only isolate, treat and disinfect if the frogs show signs of problems with the parasites.

Hookworms can build into superinfections in susceptiable animals as hookworms produce eggs which hatch into larva that are directly infective to the frogs (the hookworm larva don't have to be eaten to infect the frog).
This is why it is important for you to discuss the issue with your vet.


Ed

 

[Brian317]

Yes, I just read his post. Very informative. I think I will be going more towards the old school train of thought and treating and tearing down the vivarium they are in....along with sterilizing plants, objects, ect. I plan to build new tanks them so I can start over with clean frogs in clean tanks. I just want to do everything I can right and understand how these pests get introduced, so I can prevent these newer tanks from getting infected and have to do everything over again. My auratus with the worms are not acting out/stressed/show no signs of problems, but I still want to be on the safe side, set up a clean qt tank and get them clean while making a new clean home for them after they pass their fecals consistantly.

Ed, thank you for all the help, I really do appreciate it very much !

 

[DougP]

Does anyone have a book or paper on parasite identification they could recommend. I work at a college and have access to some very nice microscopes and I would love to perform fecal exams for my frogs but I would need a reference so I could identify any parasites.

Doug

 

[Ed]

Amphibian Medicine and Captive Husbandry, Krieger Press, 2001

 

[DougP]

Amphibian Medicine and Captive Husbandry, Krieger Press, 2001

Thanks Ed.
Looks like I will be making a purchase in the near future.
D.