Hookworm fecal result

I just purchased some nice Leos and received with them a free "skinny"(from breeding per the breeder) patternless. The breeder was treating her for a yeast infection. I took a poop sample in and the vet is telling me it is positive for hookworm. But the vet won't dispense the meds unless I bring her in so they can see her which is another $55 for an "exotic" plus the charge for the meds. Has anyone dealt with this? I am going to treat the two giants and other leo I received in the same shipment just in case. And yes, I quarantined them when I received them like everyone advises....Thank God!!!

I don't want to see like a cheap a$$ here but if I can save the $55 (just for the vet to say, yup she is skinny and that makes sense since she has hookworm in her fecal sample), I'd like to. Plus, since I need to treat the other 3 that came in, in the same shipment, the vet will have to see all three, which is three sepearte charges....And I need a new vet Any advice?

Thanks!
Shannan Donivan
www.leopardgeckosinc.com

She said it had a yeast infection? What was she treating it with, Monistat? Sheesh, I'm sorry but I have never heard of a gecko with a yeast infection, that is B.S.

About the hookworms, they are treated with panacur, which you can purchase in a paste form at a feed store (it is marketed as a horse dewormer), or you can try and find a breeder in your area that has access to the drug.

Best of luck

personally i would either a.) send them back and ask for a full refund or b.) tell the seller she needs to step up and be responsiible for the parasitic animals this person sold you and cover the vet bills.
i have never heard of a yeast infection in a leo, except from one person, and it wouldnt suprise me if whom you bought them from was this person.
none the less she should refund you or be responsible for the vet bills associated with the parasitic ridden geckos

Panacur is also sold as Safe-Guard, I use the paste form, apple flavor.

thats true , you should find another vet. i recently had to bring some geckos in and it cost me a total of 48.00 for 4 geckos to be examined and treated. he doesnt file them under exotic ether, just reptiles. he gave them panacur and it did wonders for my fattails. they had hook worms also. I meen these where so close to the edge and now are fully heathy. but dont wast time, and type of parastie can have an unpredicatble effect on the host, you wouldnt want to lose your leos. also let the seller know what happend. good luck and keep in touch.

I have informed the seller. She told me if I don't have time to take care of the patternless to give her away or donate her somewhere. I've been hearing from a bunch of people who guessed right off the bat who I bought them from saying they had similar run ins. Some have also heard she sells sick animals. From here on out, no matter how much I want the Leos, I am posting for info on the breeder.
I'd like to send the whole bunch back, but then I feel bad for sending the skeleton patternless back. Of course, she was free. So does that mean I get to keep her?

I don't know what to do!

I say you should make up for the lack of responsability of the last keeper, nurse the sick one back to heath and dont let the ones that apear heathy fall ill. hook worms spread easy so be careful. who sold these to you? if one leo they have has hookworms then most likely alot of them do.

since this person sent you the sick gecko(s)... dont you think it is her responsibility to pay the vet bills? whatever you chose i would post on the BOI about this seller, this is not the kind of people we need in the herp business. because it will continue to get done to tohers opver and over..

Marcia from Golden Gate Geckos sent me the dosage recommendation. I am just going to keep everyone and try to nurse the Patternless back to health. If successful, I am going to have one beautiful girl that I received for free! I'll post an inquiry on BOI and see what other run ins with this breeder people have had. My biggest complaint is that the patternless was posted in the ad on Kingsnake as free with the Tremper Giants because she was thin from breeding. In prior emails it was that she was thin from breeding with a possible , but very common in Leos, yeast infection that is treatable with active culture yogurt , and after the shipment was received, it was more of a oh, not so sure what is wrong give her away if you don't want to deal with it.

Her skeleton like appearance was not from breeding, as in the ad. If it was a yeast infection then she has had it for a long time to look like this. I am pi$$ed that this animal suffered in any way. No animal deserves it.

I think she should pay the vet bill but I am not going to get into a pi$$ing contest with her over it. It was $9 for the fecal and my vet doesn't know about dosing reptiles so I won't be going back. I will be looking for a different vet for the Leos. I am going to use Marcia's advice with the Panacur and dose them all. I need experience doing this anyways. I also want to get a good microscope and start doing my own fecal tests monthly. I think it would be fascinating. Not working with poop, but the slide work. I am a geek at heart. Thanks for all the replies!

robin d. said:

since this person sent you the sick gecko(s)... dont you think it is her responsibility to pay the vet bills? whatever you chose i would post on the BOI about this seller, this is not the kind of people we need in the herp business. because it will continue to get done to tohers opver and over..

Click to expand...

of cource the seller should take the responsibility for the cost to treat the sick lizards, but not the one that was adopted, i say if the others test positive the seller needs to pay for the treatment 100%.

hope everything turns out ok, just remember if you send these geckos back most likely they will go untreated and just sold off to the next person.

is the gecko feeding and drinking on her own?

panacur and yeast infections

Is the 'free' gecko the only one you had tested for parasites? Since the breeder advised you that this one had a problem before you got it, then I would not expect the breeder to be responsible for your vet bills. Parasites like hookworms can come from many sources... like feeders. I'm not taking sides here, nor will I jump on the bandwagon to crucify another breeder. I am just being the 'devil's advocate' because something like this could happen to ANY breeder... including me!

Candida, or yeast infections in leopard geckos are usually caused by use of antibiotics which kills the beneficial intestinal flora as well. Benebac, or yogurt with live cultures can also help, but personally I don't like to use it because of the lactic acid, and it's just too messy. The best way to treat this is by getting a jar of Acidophilis/Bacillius/Bifitus tablets from the supplement department at just about any food/drug/discount store, and dissolving a couple in about 10ml of water. Administer about .01-.02ml orally once (you will need to shake up the solution just before using it) and then again if necessary in 2-3 days. Crank up the belly heat, too.

As far as your vet goes, I'd lose him/her and find another one. I don't like using Saeguard because it is in paste-form used for 1,000 lb. horses, and too hard to dose properly for a 50 gram gecko. Panacur is a relatively safe medication, though... which makes me wonder why the vet wouldn't just sell you enough to treat your reptiles. (I would treat all of the ones you got from the same source). The correct dose for Panacur is 25-50mg/kg of body weight administered weekly until a negative fecal is obtained. Here is how to dose medications to reptiles:

(dose x weight)
concentration

First, determine the weight of the gecko and convert that to kilograms using this formula:
1 kilogram (kg) = 1,000 grams
So, for example, if a gecko weighs 50 grams, that is the same as 0.05 kilograms.

Now, let’s say you have a drug with a concentration of 100mg/ml, and the prescribed dose is 50ml per kilogram of weight, (50ml/kg). Using the formulas from above, it comes out to be:
50ml (dose) x 0.05kg (weight) = 2.5 divided by 100 (concentration)
This means the proper dose of this medication for a 50 gram gecko is 0.025ml.

The patternless is neither drinking nor feeding on her own. I am giving her ensure at this point.

I am on the fence with this one. I was informed of a problem with the Patternless, thus her being free, but had I known it was hookworm and not a yeast infection I would not have purchased any of them, simply out of concern that if one has it, they all may. Plus, I want to protect my own gecko gang. I have not gotten a fecal out of the UG or the Giants yet. They also have not eaten or drank. (Beginning to concern me) I understand hookworm can easily be transferred from prey to critter or critter to critter so I can see that this can happen to anyone. But the Patternless is around 20grams....She is the same length as my breeder girlies....and had been a breeder so I figure she should be around 45-50. She is very sick. She is my biggest concern right now, getting her well again!

Shannan Donivan

are you even sure what you got where true tremper giants? im not to much of an expect but i know if a lizard isnt feed or drinking a full dose of wormer might push her over that edge. im sure someone could shed more light on that.

Safe-Guard (Fenbendazole) and Over dosage, is it possible???

Knowing how Safe-Guard works (aka Panacur & Fenbendazole), by causing the adult nematodes to become sterile, is it truely possible to over dose a leopard gecko with this medication? I've imported animals and worked for WC animals for years, used Safe-Guard each time and I've never had a problem. Talked to my vet about this for some length and we have come to the conclusion that you can not over dosage reptiles with this medication. Although I do remember reading something about Fea Vipers being affected (was at the Dallas or Fort Worth zoo, early ninties), but personally I think it might have been something else. Just thought I would break this discussion into a new post. With all that being said, let me hear your thoughts concerning the subject.

Dang it, now how did that happen? Ok, do not respond to the Safe-guard question on here, I am making a new post just for it.

ShannanD25,

I assume you have seen my site for the equipment and books I have used to get started. I got my panacur in suspension form 100mg/ml 15cc worth for 10 bucks and just cut in in half with water. Which gives you .5mg per .01ml failry easy dosing since it's such a small amount, almost fits in a single mealie.