pinworms

[Nagel]

About a month ago or so, I noticed that my Garg had pinworms... (sponge like feces with tiny white worms in it)I took her to a friend who treated her with "panacure" & it seemed to go away... a couple weeks later she had them again. At first people told me that crickets do not carry them, then someone told me that it is possible to get them through store bought crickets. I have since stopped going to the place that I suspected to have the bad ones, & I dumped the old ones outside & cleaned out the cage that I keep them in with dish soap, bleach, & boiled water. I've been keeping a closer eye on them, cleaning up the their poo & the dead ones. I have temporarily stopped giving my Garg the crickets & just pangea... I have given another dose of panacure, & she has not gone poo yet. Can any of you suggest a reputable online retailer that will sell me healthy crickets, until I can breed my own? Also, is panacure a good way to treat this problem? I also heard of another product that breeders swear by called "Reptaid", is this a good product? I'm afraid of exorbitant vet bills, which is why I'm trying to deal with this on my own. I read on another old gecko forum that geckos only have pinworms if you see their eggs in the feces, but how does one know what that looks like??? I also have a Tokay & was concerned that he would have the same problem, since his food source is the same,yet his poo looks just fine. http://geckoforums.net/f128-feeding-feeders/80447.htm

 

[acpart]

The pinworms could have come from the crickets, but the reappearance could also be due to reinfection from the garg enclosure. Did you completely clean and disinfect (with 10% bleach/water solution) the enclosure? Are you sure it was pinworms and not fruit fly maggots? You may want to consider a single vet visit with a fecal sample to confirm pinworms. I have been buying crickets from a number of sources for many geckos for years and have never had a pinworm problem. Good luck.

Aliza