I may have missed this somewhere, but where did you get him?
As a feeder from a reptile shop. I'd gotten Panzer and Posie there a little over a year ago, and while Posie came with a URI [as did Maddox], I had no idea that his rats had worms.
Maybe they didn't a year ago, but they sure do now. He didn't get them from MY house..
I just thought about it and.. Should I contact the shop owner and tell him to stop selling these rats? I mean, I know they're feeders and he doesn't care for their health but couldn't this be a health hazard for the snakes as well?
And if Maddox had them, they all had them.
Eurgh.
Be glad you don't have my stomach.
Hahah! I AM glad. I think the grossest thing I've run into with a rat is.. That incident that ended up with me squeezing out an abcess filled with smelly green puss. Poor Rowf, I had him laying on his back in the palm of my hand. I had to constantly give him cheerios, so he wouldn't try to get away while I prodded at the little guy's belly.
If I was squeamish I would have quit rats right then and there! But I can handle insects, parasites and gross bodily fluids just fine.
The only thing I have trouble with is surgeries. You should of seen me when I had my cat spayed!
Nematodes (pinworms, roundworms)
Treat with one of the following drugs; fenbendazole, piperazine, or ivermectin.
Do you mean ask Dr.Munn for those things when I bring Maddox in, or.. Don't bring Maddox in, and try to get a hold of one of those drugs? :?
I've read of people feeding their rats ivermectin that they've bought themselves.
Here's someone asking a question about a case pretty much exactly like mine. Or I mean here's the answer to said question:
From your description, these sound like what are called rat pinworms. Your rat's age makes that even more likely because this species is most often found in young male rats. Rat pinworms are considered nonpathogenic, which means they don't usually cause symptoms. If the rat is not healthy, or has a really heavy load of these worms, they can cause constipation, fecal impaction, and rectal prolapse. The number of worms tends to decrease and then disappear as the rat gets older.
If you want to treat the rat for pinworms, you can use fenbendazole, piperazine, or ivermectin. I'll give you instructions for ivermectin, which you can buy in a farm supply or horse supply store, sold as a paste horse wormer. Some brand names areXXXXX 1, Equalvan, and Equimectrin. When you open the tube, squeeze out a little of the paste to get rid of the liquid that may collect at the end. Throw that away. You'll need to give your rat a bit of the paste, the size of half a grain of cooked rice. That doesn't seem like much, but for a young rat, it's enough. Just put the paste on a treat and feed it to him. He'll need to be treated once a week for three weeks in a row. To read the original instructions:
http://ratguide.com/meds/antiinfectives/ivermectin.php
Is this accurate or do you think I should skip along to the vet? I really have no qualms about going back to Greenwood Park [it's amost exciting!]. It's going to be lethally hot, but I can just put a frozen water bottle or two in the carrier right?
Oh, and by accurate, I mean the treatment, not that they'll 'go away' as he gets older. For all I know it's true, but I'd like to be sure there aren't any worms swimming around in my little guy.
AND, if I could make this post even LONGER and ask yet another question..
How long do I have to wait to intro him to Panzer now?
Poor thing seems lost without Posie but I don't want him to have worms too.
