Small amount of blood after defecating

Aurum,

Sorry to hear about the pinworms. You've got great advice from Bogertophis and it sounds like your vet is on top of it too.

I would make sure the treatment last for a few doses if every 2 weeks. Did I understand that right? The dose is administered every 2-3 weeks? Bogertophis pointed out you want to kill the pinworms and their eggs. So if 2 doses kills all the pinworms, the third dose would presumably ensure that the eggs are dead too. Not an expert, but have dealt with parasites in newly acquired animals before. You want to give medication until all worms and eggs are dead.

Once the treatment is done I would clean the heck out of her tank. Anything plastic - hides, etc. need to be cleaned with F10SC and/or Chlorhexidine solution. Anything that is that is not totally smooth - throw out!

Fake or real branches, rough style hides, vines, etc. All gone. If you absolutely are set on these items, I would soak them in F10SC solution for a while - like days, then rinse with water, let dry and then put back.

However, I would recommend new furnishings.

I would also plan to keep your snake on printless newspaper or paper towels for a while so you can spot any unusual waste easily. I would note that it might not get back to normal right away after medication even if the pinworms are gone.

Finally, I would be changing your water frequently. If you normally change and clean your bowl weekly, do it every 3 days instead. Make sure your snake is staying hydrated with clean water.

Good luck and keep us posted on the progress.

Besides paper towels, other paper (newspaper & such) is fine for substrate too, I just didn't think to mention it- maybe because my "newspaper" is now online & far less absorbent? :D

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Originally Posted by dakski

Aurum,

Sorry to hear about the pinworms. You've got great advice from Bogertophis and it sounds like your vet is on top of it too.

I would make sure the treatment last for a few doses if every 2 weeks. Did I understand that right? The dose is administered every 2-3 weeks? Bogertophis pointed out you want to kill the pinworms and their eggs. So if 2 doses kills all the pinworms, the third dose would presumably ensure that the eggs are dead too. Not an expert, but have dealt with parasites in newly acquired animals before. You want to give medication until all worms and eggs are dead.

Once the treatment is done I would clean the heck out of her tank. Anything plastic - hides, etc. need to be cleaned with F10SC and/or Chlorhexidine solution. Anything that is that is not totally smooth - throw out!

Fake or real branches, rough style hides, vines, etc. All gone. If you absolutely are set on these items, I would soak them in F10SC solution for a while - like days, then rinse with water, let dry and then put back.

However, I would recommend new furnishings.

I would also plan to keep your snake on printless newspaper or paper towels for a while so you can spot any unusual waste easily. I would note that it might not get back to normal right away after medication even if the pinworms are gone.

Finally, I would be changing your water frequently. If you normally change and clean your bowl weekly, do it every 3 days instead. Make sure your snake is staying hydrated with clean water.

Good luck and keep us posted on the progress.

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Thanks for the note about still having abnormal waste even after medication, I was wondering about that. At that point, if that is happening, I'll probably check in with my vet again too to see what they say. And yes, treatment is given every 2 weeks, 3 times, for a total of six weeks. I gave her the first dose a couple days ago, and it is panacur by the way.

So far I've scrubbed out her enclosure and everything else with clorhexidine, changed her over to paper towels, and taken out all decor except two hides, her water bowl, and some paper towel tubes. I also change her water almost daily anyway so it looks like I'm on track with that.
I would preferably like to keep her other decor items, so I was actually thinking of getting a steam cleaner to really kill everything with the high heat. I think it would also be good investment for future tank cleaning and other jobs around the house. Does that sound effective as well?

I'm also wondering if there's better technique for injecting the panacur into the feeder rodent. This first time I tried to stick the syringe in the mouse's mouth and get the medication down its throat, but that was pretty messy since most did not go down and just kind of just spilled out of its mouth. My snake still got the full dose when she ate it, but if there is a neater way to do this I'd like to know :D

Lastly, since I've read deworming basically decimates the gut flora, I was thinking about getting her this bird and reptile probiotic and mixing it into her water: https://www.amazon.com/Bene-Bac-Bird...0002ASS3E?th=1
I saw this recommended on an old old post on this forum. Would it hurt to try?

When I've given Panacur, that's how I did it too- in the oral cavity of the rodent. It's too thick to literally inject into the rodent, & a snake would literally choke on the stuff if it's not in a rodent.

Agree with using Bene-Bac too (wait until after all treatments are done)- it's good stuff & probably helpful. I've used it too, after antibiotic therapy, etc. :gj:

You might check with your vet, but I can't imagine any pinworm surviving a steam cleaner- sounds like a good idea to me. Hang in there...:cool:

Since my last post she's passed waste three or four times already. It doesn't contain any stool, and I don't even know if it's actual urates. If it is, they are not the urates I'm used to seeing. They're kind of a brownish white and more stringy (?) than clumpy in appearance, if that makes sense. They are also passed with a lot of liquid.
I think this might just be her body's natural response to the dewormer, but the frequency and weird look is concerning me a little. Does this sound like what's expected?

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Originally Posted by aurum

Since my last post she's passed waste three or four times already. It doesn't contain any stool, and I don't even know if it's actual urates. If it is, they are not the urates I'm used to seeing. They're kind of a brownish white and more stringy (?) than clumpy in appearance, if that makes sense. They are also passed with a lot of liquid.
I think this might just be her body's natural response to the dewormer, but the frequency and weird look is concerning me a little. Does this sound like what's expected?

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Hard to say, but probably normal under the circumstances (medication & all)- but you should ask your vet. I've dewormed snakes but not for pinworms.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Hard to say, but probably normal under the circumstances (medication & all)- but you should ask your vet. I've dewormed snakes but not for pinworms.

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Just contacted my vet - will update with their reply. On the slightly bright side, I forgot to add that I haven't seen any blood with her waste the past couple times she's gone.

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Originally Posted by aurum

Just contacted my vet - will update with their reply. On the slightly bright side, I forgot to add that I haven't seen any blood with her waste the past couple times she's gone.

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Good, & I think what you're seeing is normal but better to ask your vet. :gj: And no blood is definitely a win!

I'm still in the middle of correspondence with my vet. They do think this is abnormal, but we haven't come to any conclusions yet. In the meantime I'm trying to think of how she contracted pinworms in the first place. I'd like to think I've been pretty on top of hygiene for her because although I don't keep in the most sterile set up, I spot clean daily, change her water almost daily, scrub out the water bowl around every two weeks, change the substrate and disinfect everything with clorhexidine roughly every 2-3 months, and anything from outside that I've put in her tank has been scrubbed and baked. The only other thing I can think of is through her feeders, which I originally didn't consider since they're all frozen, but apparently pinworm eggs have been known to survive at 18*F, so I'm not going to rule that out completely. Any thoughts?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aurum

The only other thing I can think of is through her feeders, which I originally didn't consider since they're all frozen, but apparently pinworm eggs have been known to survive at 18*F, so I'm not going to rule that out completely. Any thoughts?

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What temperature is your freezer, most are 0*F so they likely wouldn't survive. However if your freezer is a higher temperature it is a possibility.