BP hasn't eaten in 4 months/(found worms in water bowl)parasites???

Hey everyone. So, my 3 year old male BP went off feed for the first time in the beginning of August. Before this, he never skipped a meal. I wasn't initially too worried about this, because from what I've heard it's common for BP's to not eat for months at a time. Anyways, I was changing his water bowl because some of the substrate got in it, and I noticed a few black worm like insects swimming around in it. After I cleaned the whole bowl out, and dug around in the substrate to see if there were any more, I came to the conclusion that my BP might have some sort of parasite. I'm thinking that I should clean the whole tank, and use paper towels for now to see if I notice anything suspicious. (P.S: the last time he pooped was a few weeks ago, and I didn't see any signs of worms). I'm trying to avoid any sort of vet visits because of the whole pandemic, but may be able to get an appointment if I absolutely have to. Does anybody have any ideas? What should I do? Thanks.

Do you heat treat the substrate before using it? did you take a picture of the "worm" an google it? Google would tell you what it is. Or bag one an drop it off at the Vet.

Did the snake poop in the bowl?

Without seeing it I have zero clue. The safe thing to do is clean an make a Vet appointment. The Vet will need a stool sample for a float test.


Good luck!

I had almost this exact situation happen to me with one of my males when he was about 8 months old. As recommended above i bagged up some poop and got a small amount of his water with his urate/the suspected parasite in it and brought both to my vet. I am so glad i did too because it was a nasty little parasite that was preventing him from eating and without the vet visit he absolutely would not be with me today. My recommendation is to find a vet that you really, really like and trust and request that they do a curbside visit. My vet comes out to the car, grabs my snake and takes it inside and then just simply brings it out to me with the medicine and care sheet once he is done. The reason i say that you should really trust this person is 1. they're taking care of your pet and 2. if its a curbside visit you will be much less informed of whats going on so you MUST make sure your animal is in good hands. I gave about 2 weeks of oral antibiotic and flagyl and the problem disappeared and has been fine ever since. I know you're trying to avoid the vet but this is what worked in my personal experience so i hope this helped. Let me know if you've got any more questions.

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Originally Posted by gcostello123

I had almost this exact situation happen to me with one of my males when he was about 8 months old. As recommended above i bagged up some poop and got a small amount of his water with his urate/the suspected parasite in it and brought both to my vet. I am so glad i did too because it was a nasty little parasite that was preventing him from eating and without the vet visit he absolutely would not be with me today. My recommendation is to find a vet that you really, really like and trust and request that they do a curbside visit. My vet comes out to the car, grabs my snake and takes it inside and then just simply brings it out to me with the medicine and care sheet once he is done. The reason i say that you should really trust this person is 1. they're taking care of your pet and 2. if its a curbside visit you will be much less informed of whats going on so you MUST make sure your animal is in good hands. I gave about 2 weeks of oral antibiotic and flagyl and the problem disappeared and has been fine ever since. I know you're trying to avoid the vet but this is what worked in my personal experience so i hope this helped. Let me know if you've got any more questions.

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I totally agree with this ^ ^ ^ ! :gj:

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Originally Posted by 303_enfield

Do you heat treat the substrate before using it? did you take a picture of the "worm" an google it? Google would tell you what it is. Or bag one an drop it off at the Vet.

Did the snake poop in the bowl?

Without seeing it I have zero clue. The safe thing to do is clean an make a Vet appointment. The Vet will need a stool sample for a float test.


Good luck!

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No, I've never heat treated the substrate. Is this necessary even when buying reptile brand substrate? Unfortunately I dumped the worms down the drain without a second thought. No, the snake pooped in his hide as per usual. I'll wait for his next poop and see what happens. Thanks for the reply.

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Originally Posted by gcostello123

I had almost this exact situation happen to me with one of my males when he was about 8 months old. As recommended above i bagged up some poop and got a small amount of his water with his urate/the suspected parasite in it and brought both to my vet. I am so glad i did too because it was a nasty little parasite that was preventing him from eating and without the vet visit he absolutely would not be with me today. My recommendation is to find a vet that you really, really like and trust and request that they do a curbside visit. My vet comes out to the car, grabs my snake and takes it inside and then just simply brings it out to me with the medicine and care sheet once he is done. The reason i say that you should really trust this person is 1. they're taking care of your pet and 2. if its a curbside visit you will be much less informed of whats going on so you MUST make sure your animal is in good hands. I gave about 2 weeks of oral antibiotic and flagyl and the problem disappeared and has been fine ever since. I know you're trying to avoid the vet but this is what worked in my personal experience so i hope this helped. Let me know if you've got any more questions.

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Unfortunately I drained all of the parasites that I could find before thinking of bringing one to a vet. I have no clue on how I can find a reptile vet that I can trust right now because of the pandemic, but I'm most likely going to wait for his next poop, and get a stool sample for the vet. If I find any more of the parasite I will definitely try to get one to a vet. Thanks for the reply.

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Originally Posted by Danya

Unfortunately I drained all of the parasites that I could find before thinking of bringing one to a vet. I have no clue on how I can find a reptile vet that I can trust right now because of the pandemic, but I'm most likely going to wait for his next poop, and get a stool sample for the vet. If I find any more of the parasite I will definitely try to get one to a vet. Thanks for the reply.

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Might try this: https://arav.site-ym.com/search/custom.asp?id=3661 ;)

Yes, heat treat substrates. 250 deg in the oven for 1.5-2 hours will kill everything. Start calling all your local Vets looking for a Reptile one. Worse case you can ship the poop to some labs. The test is easy, it's the treatment that can be a pain. There is twenty ways to treat the same parasite in snakes. Some work fast an some take time. Some you give the snake shots an others you load the prey.

Now, do you feed live? That can be source for parasites. The substrate could have had eggs or bugs from shipping or the warehouse or store.


I wish you an your snake the best.

Good luck!

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Originally Posted by 303_enfield

Yes, heat treat substrates. 250 deg in the oven for 1.5-2 hours will kill everything. Start calling all your local Vets looking for a Reptile one. Worse case you can ship the poop to some labs. The test is easy, it's the treatment that can be a pain. There is twenty ways to treat the same parasite in snakes. Some work fast an some take time. Some you give the snake shots an others you load the prey.

Now, do you feed live? That can be source for parasites. The substrate could have had eggs or bugs from shipping or the warehouse or store.


I wish you an your snake the best.

Good luck!

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Alright, I'll definitely start heat treating the substrate from now on. I've only fed him frozen, so I doubt the parasites are from the prey. Thanks.

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Originally Posted by Danya

Alright, I'll definitely start heat treating the substrate from now on. I've only fed him frozen, so I doubt the parasites are from the prey. Thanks.

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Whomever you got this snake from might have fed live though (unless you bought him "right out of the egg"?) & if their source of rodents was less than stellar, internal parasites can happen.

There are other ways a snake can pick up parasites too: do you ever let him crawl in the grass outside? I really wish you had kept the worms to test & taken pix of them to post here, since from your description, they could have been from either the snake OR the substrate that got into the water bowl*, & without seeing them, we'd only be guessing. (*normally, if they were from the substrate, there's no way they could have crawled into the water bowl, so that would have been more conclusive.)

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

There are other ways a snake can pick up parasites too: do you ever let him crawl in the grass outside? I really wish you had kept the worms to test & taken pix of them to post here, since from your description, they could have been from either the snake OR the substrate that got into the water bowl*, & without seeing them, we'd only be guessing. (*normally, if they were from the substrate, there's no way they could have crawled into the water bowl, so that would have been more conclusive.)

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The last time I let him crawl outside was over a year ago, so I doubt the parasites are from then. When I found the worms in the water bowl, they were swimming quite well, so I'm guessing that they must've been some aquatic type of parasite.

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Originally Posted by Danya

The last time I let him crawl outside was over a year ago, so I doubt the parasites are from then. When I found the worms in the water bowl, they were swimming quite well, so I'm guessing that they must've been some aquatic type of parasite.

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Snake intestines are rather "aquatic" too though. And if he caught parasites a year+ ago, it can take a while until they build up to the point where they're being defecated out. By that time, they may also have done a fair amount of internal damage by now, not to mention stealing the nutrition that your snake needs to grow with optimal health. Out of an abundance of caution, in case these ARE his parasites, I would not wait too long to get him/his stool tested...for his sake.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Snake intestines are rather "aquatic" too though. And if he caught parasites a year+ ago, it can take a while until they build up to the point where they're being defecated out. By that time, they may also have done a fair amount of internal damage by now, not to mention stealing the nutrition that your snake needs to grow with optimal health. Out of an abundance of caution, in case these ARE his parasites, I would not wait too long to get him/his stool tested...for his sake.

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As soon as he poops next I will definitely get a stool test.