I heard back from the vet about my BP, Monty's, stool sample: He has cestodes (tapeworms)!! She wants me to bring him in on Monday.
I'm assuming he got them from the live mice. I've been trying to get him converted to F/T, but with his other problems, I've had to compromise to get his weight up.
Do any of you have experience with this? Are they easy to treat? I imagine he could continue to have this problem as long as he eats live or F/K mice. Do you keep de-worming meds at home?
As soon as Talyn gives me one, I'll send her samples in for analysis as well. She's always eaten F/T Rats for me, but I know she was fed live and F/K before I got her.
Is this just a coincidence with the mites or is there a connection?... just bad luck???

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Andrea

Tape worms are one of the easier parasites to treat but it will involve yucky meds that neither you or Monty will like much. They are very likely from the rodents but I doubt it has anything to do with the mites. Don't worry you'll both feel better soon

__________________
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"A BOA CONSTRICTOR IS A Boa constrictor!"

Yeah, tapeworms aren't too hard to treat. You'd be surprised the number of PEOPLE out there that are carrying them and don't even know it.

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"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

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Zane Neher.

The great and strong man is one who bears within his character many contradictions.
Crocodilian care.

What????
They always come back!?

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Some think they can. Some wish they could. Some do.

Thanks for the information everyone. "They always come back"... eek!!
Do you keep de-worming meds around and treat every so often? Or do you wait till you have a confirmed sample?
I imagine he'll keep getting them from live mice till I can convert him to F/T but after that, I wouldn't expect him to get worms anymore... or will he?

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Andrea

Your vet should give you treatment that should clear up the worms,. I believe some people de-worm their reps every so often, but we don't - I would de-worm if and when they need it.

I think it's just bad luck unfortunately, and not a great reflection on where you bought him from, but good luck and I'm sure within a few months you'll look back when Monty is clear of mites and worms, and a perfectly healthy happy snake, and laugh at all the hard work!

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

Bitis, I hope you're right about laughing about all this someday!!

It's not really so bad: just a bit of a slap in the face since I raved to Martin about what easy-to-care-for pets snakes are!! Since the mite outbreak, I've spent between 3-5 hours an evening: bathing the snakes, changing containers, sterilizing the containers, giving meds, and then cleaning up the bathroom afterwards... not to mention all of the other time spent on "nuking" the house and terrariums with insecticides!

I think we've got the mite situation out of the way... fingers crossed... still keeping a VERY watchful eye out!
Monty's still in quarantine till I get this worm-thing cleared up. Then, hopefully, things might get back to "normal".

Talyn's in the blue again. Just starting to clear, so I hope she'll shed soon and in one piece. The daily baths against the mites will hopefully help this shed.

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Andrea

Andrea relatively speaking snakes are easy to care for. Just tell him that you would go through exactly the same thing with a dog or cat. Dogs, and cats, get fleas and ticks and bring them home (where they will feed on you as well! ). They have to be treated for internal parasites. They also require yearly vaccinations. You have to feed them every day. And what goes in daily must come out daily! They have to be spayed or neutered or you will soon be up to your ears in mammal pets! They have to be bathed and groomed or they will smell. Snakes don't pee on the carpet, leave hair all over the place, scratch up your furniture, chew your shoes, or leave muddy pawprints all over everything!
The neighbors won't complain about the snake barking in the middle of the night.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Thanks, Merlin: of course you're absolutely right and that's why we have snakes and no other pets. Martin hasn't given me hard time about it -- just a bit of teasing.
Both of our snakes are wonderful and we want them to be healthy again and have the best of everything. At times, that will mean just a bit more TLC.

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Andrea