internal parasites? need some help

[dr del]

Hi,

Internal parasites shouldn't really be that big of a concern if you take a few basic precautions.

The main source of internal parasites would be from another infected snake - probably though exposure to poop or through the waterbowl.

This shouldn't be a problem if you buy captive bred snakes from a good breeder and only keep one snake per enclosure.

There are a few parasites that can be caught through an infected feeder animal - but again this is fairly rare.

Feeding F/T should eliminate this risk entirely but it's not common enough for me to say it should be the recommended method of feeding. Buy good healthy feeders if you feed live and you should, again, be perfectly fine.

If you buy in Captive Farmed or Wild Caught snakes then they should be checked ( and, if needed, treated ) before the quarantine period ends if you think there is a problem.

Once a snake is in your collection then good quarantine, good husbandry and good quality feeders should really mean you don't have to give much worry to internal parasites at all.

A fecal float isn't really that expensive ( and they don't need to see the animal unless they find something ) so, if it really bothers you, then by all means test a sample from a snake if you have reason to suspect a problem. But you don't really need to do one regularly for every animal or anything like that.


dr del