Heavy parasite load found in ball python from Ed Clark

Originally Posted by KelliH

I just want to add this food for thought: I know of instances where reptiles in a zoo collection were parasite free for years and then one day tested positive for some parasite or another. This particular zoo practices the strictest of quarantines and before a new animal is even put in the same building as the main collection it is tested multiple times by qualified vets and kept in isolation for many weeks or months. It happens sometimes.

Good point Kelli.

Another point of consideration is that it's not that hard to have a false-negative test when checking stool for ova and parasites, as there is a large opportunity for error given the way that the tests are performed, and the intermittent nature of ova/parasitic shed. This is why testing should be repeated multple times, and/or by different means of testing (fecal float vs. fecal smear, etc.) if there is a strong clinical suspicion of parasitic infection.

Is it normal and/or likely when testing a fecal to miss an infestation of 3 different types of parasites?

Originally Posted by cookreptiles

I don't understand why anyone thinks I would lie or make this up? I have only presented facts but I can't control how other people respond to them. Ed sent me some photos of the snakes before he sent them to me--perhaps if one of those photos is of this girl I can post it and a photo of her now? Is that really necessary?

I started this thread 3 days after informing Ed of the issue. In my opinion that is plenty of time to "get back to me" about the origins of the snakes, especially when the problem is a serious one. I was originally going to wait longer to post, but the issue was being discussed on several other forums (where it was apparent that Ed had no intention of resolving things) so I decided that it would be best to bring it here.

"I don't understand why anyone thinks I would lie or make this up? I have only presented facts but I can't control how other people respond to them"

Facts that you caused by your lack of reptile husbandry

This is getting boring here --- I still see no point for 99% of this whine


1.When you get the new reptile its first fecal goes right to the vet or you do it yourself not hard if your a real serious herp keeper.
If you do not do this you have no right 10 months later to start trouble simple as that.

Even if that reptile carried IPV and killed all of your best reptiles you have to be the guilty one!
since you did not even have it tested when you got it DUH!


if i was him i would have no reason to "get back to me" why?
he is not liable for anything at all most of the snake slingers out there do not give year long warranties hahahah
here is a good one a extended service plan sorry not in this world.



"problem is a serious one"{ since you are to blame for the most of it.


" so I decided that it would be best to bring it here "

AS usual a waste of boi time no crime no malice and

from you no responsibility
you have let everyone here see your weakness not good.
so now you know what to do hope you get it figured out so it wont happen to you again.

learn how to identify and treat infestations many books are out there.
yes rodents carry and can be full of parasites when fed opon they go right into the snakes digestive system and some come out in the feces.
just by chance have you dissected some of you older rodent breeders
my guess is there will be tapeworms and round worms.
you know what this is a waste of my time later

Originally Posted by cookreptiles

thanks for clearing this up. this proves that there is no way this snake could have gotten tapeworms after it entered my collection.

Not at all. Please reread what I said. I made my post in order to clear up some apparent misconceptions as to the mode of transmission of parasites. All I said was that the snake got the tapeworm from an infected food item. I made no reference as to the possible source of the food item.

Originally Posted by bud mierkey

"I don't understand why anyone thinks I would lie or make this up? I have only presented facts but I can't control how other people respond to them"

Facts that you caused by your lack of reptile husbandry

This is getting boring here --- I still see no point for 99% of this whine


1.When you get the new reptile its first fecal goes right to the vet or you do it yourself not hard if your a real serious herp keeper.
If you do not do this you have no right 10 months later to start trouble simple as that.

Even if that reptile carried IPV and killed all of your best reptiles you have to be the guilty one!
since you did not even have it tested when you got it DUH!


if i was him i would have no reason to "get back to me" why?
he is not liable for anything at all most of the snake slingers out there do not give year long warranties hahahah
here is a good one a extended service plan sorry not in this world.



"problem is a serious one"{ since you are to blame for the most of it.


" so I decided that it would be best to bring it here "

AS usual a waste of boi time no crime no malice and

from you no responsibility
you have let everyone here see your weakness not good.
so now you know what to do hope you get it figured out so it wont happen to you again.

learn how to identify and treat infestations many books are out there.
yes rodents carry and can be full of parasites when fed opon they go right into the snakes digestive system and some come out in the feces.
just by chance have you dissected some of you older rodent breeders
my guess is there will be tapeworms and round worms.
you know what this is a waste of my time later

If you have such problems with everything why don't you just get the out of here. And bring your retarded, waste of space, scamming friend Bruce with you. As usual, YOUR posts are a waste of BOI time.

Anthony Allis
ExoticsExpress@aol.com

Originally Posted by Gary O

emily I take it you do feed F/T I do not want to assume but just a question.

Has Ed answered you about what he sent. I know he said in the emails before the trade that they were CBB. But here he states he does not remember. Has he said anything at all anywhere that he may have sent WC or CH?

And do not let anything get to you here. People are just asking questions and probing about. I know it can get upsetting at times. In the end most of the time it works out.

Just hope everything goes well with your snakes

I feed both live and f/t. The girls I got from Ed will eat either. As I said before, I produce my own rats and all of my rats have been treated with Ivermectin as a precaution.

Ed has not responded or contacted me in any way other than the one private message that I posted where he said he would look into it and get back to me. I didn't think that he would ever get back to me unless forced to do so by my starting a thread here.

I am not discouraged by this and I will definitely continue to keep ball pythons. I appreciate your support in the matter.

Originally Posted by cookreptiles

Is it normal and/or likely when testing a fecal to miss an infestation of 3 different types of parasites?

I'm not sure the point of your question. I made a statement about false-negative test results. In your case you had a positive test result. With this kind of testing you really can't have a false-positive unless the pathologist (or whoever is doing the read) doesn't know what they're doing, and they simply misread the slides.

So... maybe this snake contracted tapeworms, strongyloides and coccidia randomly out of nowhere...?

The tapeworms would most likely have to have been contracted by ingesting a rodent that had them. Same goes for the strongyloides, although it's possible these could be contracted by ingesting contaminated water. Coccidia has a direct life cycle and is spread in a completely different way, including coming into contact with spores in cages, cage furnishings, or even on a person's hand if they have previously come in contact with an infected animal.

Originally Posted by cookreptiles

I feed both live and f/t. The girls I got from Ed will eat either. As I said before, I produce my own rats and all of my rats have been treated with Ivermectin as a precaution.

Dosing your rats with Ivermectin does not preclude them from having parasites. Not at all. In fact, Ivermectin doesn't kill most tapeworms.

Freezing is the best way to kill most parasites, but feeding F/T exclusively isn't always practical...especially with ball pythons.

I am not discouraged by this and I will definitely continue to keep ball pythons. I appreciate your support in the matter.

Good. Just so you know, I am not at all trying to give you a hard time here. I just want to make sure that the facts about parasitic infections, and the treatment of them, isn't being overly distorted. People have a tendency to draw conclusions based on false info in these types of situations...and that's not fair to anyone involved.

I produce my own rats and all of my rats have been treated with Ivermectin as a precaution.

Ivermectin is useless when trying to erradicate tapeworms.