Question about parasites

Might be a weird question, but I was reading a thread in the shipping forum and one user said something along of the lines of a LTC ball python that has never been treated for parasites will have parasites. Well, I have never treated my ball pythons for parasites for the year that I have had them, but I also haven't seen any tell-tell signs of infection such as regurgitation, strange feces, lethargism, etc. So, what I am getting at is- is this true and do I need to treat my pythons? And if so, what is the best medicine?

LTC means Long Term Captive, which means that this animal came from the wild, and has been in captivity for a set period of time (depends on who you ask is the threshhold that makes one be WC vs LTC)

In any case, it never hurts to take a fecal sample into your vet and have them test them for you that way, especially if they are CH, WC or LTC. Even CB could have parasites if the breeder doesn't follow routine hygeine and has animals in their collection that have parasites.

A fecal test doesn't cost a lot for the peace of mind it will give you, and if your animal tests positive for internal parasites, the treatment is also reasonable as well.

Basically, when your snake poops, if you can't get it to the vet that same day, baggy it, put it in the fridge, and drop it off the next morning.

Hope this helps!

I'll agree that any untreated BP of wild origin (CH, WC, LTC) is likely to have some form of parasites - though they might never reach a level that causes problems.

CB animals can have internal parasites, however the "routine hygeine" comment is misleading (at best)...while there have certainly been examples of that type, internal parasites can also be traced to live or p/k prey.

Years ago I used to pick up tape worms in captive bred ball pythons. I kept treating (expensive Droncit) and they kept coming back. I never really noticed any symptoms I just thought it would be good to have my vet check. My vet told me as far as tape worms they almost have to come from the feeders and not other snakes. I do think there are some nasties that can be spread between snakes but several others that come from feeders. That rodent supplier is now out of business but I heard from another that about that time a problem was identified with a rodent feed supplier (also no longer selling rodent feed). I'm not sure I buy that as why would commercial rodent food have tape worm eggs even if it wasn't heat treated and would more suspect the feeding of scrap but at any rate my more recent fecal exams haven't found anything. But, point is, it's good to get checks even on captive hatched. And now I’m starting to finally raise my own rodents even though I have apparently found a couple of clean commercial rodent suppliers.

Originally Posted by hhmoore

CB animals can have internal parasites, however the "routine hygeine" comment is misleading (at best)...while there have certainly been examples of that type, internal parasites can also be traced to live or p/k prey.

I'm sorry, what part of my post was misleading (at best)?

Originally Posted by rabernet

I'm sorry, what part of my post was misleading (at best)?

I felt it was slightly misleading insofar as you can keep a cbb animal in immaculate conditions, but feed it live or p/k prey, and they can still get parasites. To state hygiene as a cause, but not mention the risk of p/k or live prey could cause some confusion. So, due to an omission, it was slightly misleading, albiet not intentionally.

I hear you, and I didn't mention it, because I have not personally experienced my modest collection of about 50 ball ever getting internal parasites from their live prey over the past three years. Had I experienced it, I might have mentioned it. My random fecal samples throughout the year all come back negative.

I'll revise it to say, that ONE way a CBB animal can get internal parasites is transmission from one animal to another via an unsanitary vector.

Originally Posted by rabernet

I hear you, and I didn't mention it, because I have not personally experienced my modest collection of about 50 ball ever getting internal parasites from their live prey over the past three years. Had I experienced it, I might have mentioned it. My random fecal samples throughout the year all come back negative.

I'll revise it to say, that ONE way a CBB animal can get internal parasites is transmission from one animal to another via an unsanitary vector.

I have been feeding live prey since about 1980 and I have not had a single case of internal parasites in all that time. Nor external parasites for what its worth.

....but just the sound of an external vector scares the hell out of me.

Thanks all for your replies. They are appreciated! I guess I didn't understand the term LTC correctly because as far as I know my two are CB.. I thought it just meant if you had them for a while (sort of a nooB with lingo). We have tested out a few vets in our area (which are few and far between for reptiles) and the communication between the vet(and/or their staff) has been horrible. We had a burmese that had a respritory infection as soon as we got it and we immediately took it to one of the vets we had been told was "wonderful" with exotics- needless to say she charged us $200 for a culture and never called us with the results and her staff told us to "stop harassing" them after we started calling THEM for the results... our snake ended up dying. But back to the topic, I have read a few articles on the parasites that the food can carry and it terrifies me. But, I need to search for another vet and take some fecal samples in just for piece of mind.

Originally Posted by shrap

I have been feeding live prey since about 1980 and I have not had a single case of internal parasites in all that time.

The joys of a good source...

I do know of people that have feeder related problems, and was one of them many years ago.