Need Help - Stool Oddity

Tape worm is known to survive the freezing temps of freezers.

There is stuff you can have on hand to treat tape worm called panacur i think its 12$ a tube. Its a paste and best given by injecting the paste into the rats mouth/throat. This way snake isnt stressed and is getting its meds.


Inspect your rodents in freezer, if they have black dots on them could be fleas on them.

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Originally Posted by mpkeelee

How is the treatment going? Any luck getting the pill in the rat? I hope everything works out and it clears up soon. Is this type of tapeworm specific to certain animals or is any living animal subject to invasion?

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I tried to give her a pill stuffed rat on Sunday, but she wasn't interested because she is in shed. Hopefully next week she will take the rat, if not I will go back to vet and hope they have the injectable meds in stock. There are only 2 ways snakes can get tapeworms: insects and rodents. I don't think tapeworms are species specific either, but the only way to get them really is to eat the eggs.

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Originally Posted by Maddumpling

I never feed live too not only because they could bite the snake but things like parasites. I'm not saying you are wrong, but I'm just curious, could tapeworm eggs really live that long in a frozen rat if its been frozen for over a week or something.

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I will check with my vet to see if he knows anything about this, but I do know that rats/mice need to be frozen to a certain temp to kill the parasites. I don't know what that temp is though.

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Originally Posted by Kinra

I tried to give her a pill stuffed rat on Sunday, but she wasn't interested because she is in shed. Hopefully next week she will take the rat, if not I will go back to vet and hope they have the injectable meds in stock. There are only 2 ways snakes can get tapeworms: insects and rodents. I don't think tapeworms are species specific either, but the only way to get them really is to eat the eggs.



I will check with my vet to see if he knows anything about this, but I do know that rats/mice need to be frozen to a certain temp to kill the parasites. I don't know what that temp is though.

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I would like to know that too. Its really gonna bug me and worry me if I have to actually worry about some tapeworms being on my frozen rats.

I wonder why your vet didn't just give the snake a dose of panacure paste via tube/feeding syringe and then have you come back for a second and possibly third dose.. Or give you the proper amount and show you how to administer it. That would have been a lot easier and all vets have it on hand.

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Originally Posted by Foschi Exotic Serpents

I wonder why your vet didn't just give the snake a dose of panacure paste via tube/feeding syringe and then have you come back for a second and possibly third dose.. Or give you the proper amount and show you how to administer it. That would have been a lot easier and all vets have it on hand.

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Maybe that is what the vet was currently out of. If not call them and ask if they have it. Hope they get it in stock soon cuz if ur snake is off feed right now then no meds

Panacur is over the counter sold at TSC and other feed stores.

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

Panacur is over the counter sold at TSC and other feed stores.

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True.. But if the average person is not aware of the proper dosing for snakes and does not have the proper feeding syringe to administer it, it wouldn't be safe to just go get some and give it blindly.

You can also buy Flagyl over the counter if you know where to look for more stubborn parasites and intestinal infections but that stuff is even more dangerous if you don't know the particulars on dosage.

It's always better to have a vet helping with these things for inexperienced owners.

Parasite eggs can be very hard to kill and can live through "hell"... I know this personally from my experience with aquarium fish. I have successfully gotten rid of parasites like cappilaria and ich before but there are some that are relentless. Flukes would be an example of those, the trick in killing parasites is usually knowing the parasites life cycle and when to come back with the second, third or fourth dose. Tape worms are nasty but they are on the easier to get rid of list, follow your vets instructions to the T and you should be fine. I would recommend getting some of your other snakes poop tested just in case. When I was heavy into Discus I had a microscope on hand and learned how to look for eggs in poop, very interesting stuff. Snakes are a little hardier though and no need to be so picky. You definitely want to get rid of those tapeworms though, have you by any chance ever thought of the infected snake as a slow grower? Just wondering because with fish tapeworms really slow down their growth. If thats the case then you should see some faster growing from this animal once you get rid of the worms.

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Originally Posted by Foschi Exotic Serpents

I wonder why your vet didn't just give the snake a dose of panacure paste via tube/feeding syringe and then have you come back for a second and possibly third dose.. Or give you the proper amount and show you how to administer it. That would have been a lot easier and all vets have it on hand.

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I didn't actually bring the snake into the vet. I only brought in the tapeworm hoping they could tell me what it was. The meds he wanted to give me are inject able and only needs to be done once, but it ONLY kills tapeworms.

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Originally Posted by mpkeelee

Maybe that is what the vet was currently out of. If not call them and ask if they have it. Hope they get it in stock soon cuz if ur snake is off feed right now then no meds

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She was in shed which is why I think she didn't eat. If she doesn't eat this week I'm going to go back for a different medication. She's usually a good eater but sometimes she won't eat when in shed.

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Originally Posted by jball1125

Parasite eggs can be very hard to kill and can live through "hell"... I know this personally from my experience with aquarium fish. I have successfully gotten rid of parasites like cappilaria and ich before but there are some that are relentless. Flukes would be an example of those, the trick in killing parasites is usually knowing the parasites life cycle and when to come back with the second, third or fourth dose. Tape worms are nasty but they are on the easier to get rid of list, follow your vets instructions to the T and you should be fine. I would recommend getting some of your other snakes poop tested just in case. When I was heavy into Discus I had a microscope on hand and learned how to look for eggs in poop, very interesting stuff. Snakes are a little hardier though and no need to be so picky. You definitely want to get rid of those tapeworms though, have you by any chance ever thought of the infected snake as a slow grower? Just wondering because with fish tapeworms really slow down their growth. If thats the case then you should see some faster growing from this animal once you get rid of the worms.

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I've never noticed her to be a slow grower, in fact she's usually a little pig. If this has been affecting her growth I can't wait to see what she does when it's gone. :)