heads up to anyone who has purchased a snake from ed clark...

[mlededee]

please have fecals done on any snake that came from ed clark, as i discovered heavy parasite infestation in a ball python that i got from him.

please see this thread: http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...d.php?p=629117.

from the above thread:

okay, well back from the vet with less than happy results. the nasty thing in the photo is a tapeworm. the vet was rather impressed by it and told me that it is quite uncommon that snakes actually expel a tapeworm like that and that it had to have been caused by something else or some other irritation.

so onto the fecal, which confirmed the tapeworm and also strongyloides. i got to view both under the microscope (i love my vet). then he showed me the heavy infestation of coccidia on the slide. COCCIDIA! (so now i'm flaming mad.) he said that the coccidia would have caused irritation to the tapeworm causing it to come out like it did and that he was concerned by the large number of them present in the fecal sample.

the vet wanted to know where i got the snake and if it was from a place that buys wholesale and resells wild caught or large numbers of snakes... well, unfortunately yes she did. the snake came from ed clark along with several others in a trade deal i did with him about a year ago. at the time i was not aware that he resold or did wholesaling and was told that he produced these snakes himself (maybe he did, who knows?). when talking to me about his snakes he said, "all my stuff is as clean as you will find," and at the time i had no reason not to believe him. i never had a fecal done on the snakes i received from him as i trusted him. i have had several fecals done on other snakes since then, all of which were clean. the vet said that since i practice good husbandry and don't share prey items or house snakes together that my other snakes should be okay, however, i will be taking random fecal samples in for testing for the next few weeks as i can get them.

i got panacur for the tapeworms and strongyloides and albon for the coccidia and will be treating all of the snakes that came from ed. if any of the other fecals test positive those snakes will receive the same treatment regimen.

let this be a lesson to us all, to be extremely picky about the source of our animals and to have fecals done no matter how much you trust(ed) the source. these girls all eat great but are on the small side for their age and now i know why. i feel like i have neglected them for not having found this and treated them sooner. be careful, be aware, and be responsible for your animals' welfare!

tapeworm expelled by the infested snake:

[juddb]

Thanks for posting this up. Im sure its super frustrating for you and your babies to go through this. Regards....

[LadyOhh]

That picture is disgusting...

Good for you for catching it.

[bigballs]

hey its not your fault and these thing happen. good thing you caught it and now are treating them properly. goodluck with everything. i hope all your snakes recover and stay healthy.

and im sure they will!

[stangs13]

I am really starting to loose my trust with ed...

[Ginevive]

Yuck! I am eating ramen noodles now and I think that I lost my appetite
Did he advertise the snake as being parasite-free and CBB? I would be very disappointed in him if so.

[frankykeno]

Jen, I belive Emily mentioned in the original thread that the snake was sold to her as a CBB, not an import captive hatched or whatever. Perhaps I'm wrong but I thought coccidia was generally only seen in imports or snakes housed with imports/poor quarantine type thing? So I wonder what's really up with this snake that Ed sold to you Emily. I'm sorry you're having to go through all this. We have two snakes in our collection as well that came through Ed (indirectly) so we'll get fecals done on them as well just to be sure.

[jkobylka]

so sorry to hear about the trouble, and I hope you are able to resolve this quickly. Have you contacted ed about the issue?

[mlededee]

yes, ed has been contacted and responded saying he would "look into it".

at the time of the trade he said that the snakes were captive bred 2005 females and stated "all my stuff is as clean as you will find." (i am copying that quote directly from an old e-mail about the transaction.)

i suspect that these females were likely actually from a group of ch/farm hatched or imported bps that he purchased wholesale to resell, since at the time he was selling a lot of females that were about the same size and age as these girls.

i weighed bree on friday and she weighs 435 grams. that is what the girls that i hatched in september of 2006 weigh. hopefully once she is finished with her course of medication her good eating habits will actually put some weight on her.

[Freakie_frog]

I weighed bree on friday and she weighs 435 grams. that is what the girls that i hatched in september of 2006 weigh. hopefully once she is finished with her course of medication her good eating habits will actually put some weight on her.

You'll find that she might take a seek or two off due to the stress expelling the parasite takes on their digestive tract. But yea she should start packing on the grams.