General Care Discussion :: I have nematodes!

[Joddog]

Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

Doing 50% water changes and suctioning out all of them I can see. Taking out all food particles and poop I can as soon as I see it to try and starve them out.

I've been rinsing all my filter media in tap water to kill the buggers, even though that will effectively restart my filter. The chlorine will kill the nematodes, supposedly.

Is there anything else I can try?

[Joddog]

For good measure, I am also baking my mopani wood to kill off any living in it.

[Jeremiah]

I hate to worsen the issue, but some nematodes can invade your turtle's gut. In which case, cleaning out your tank may not help I your turtle keeps pooping them out.

It sounds like you're doing the right stuff, but you should remove all substrate and unnecessary decorations for a while. I would actually bleach it all, but maybe I'm just paranoid.

Finally, you may consider a vet visit to ascertain whether or not your turtle has nematodes in its body.

Also, are you sure they're nematodes and not detritus worms? Are they free swimmers?

[Joddog]

Free swimming, no substrate, only things in tank are wood, a rock, and basking area.

And we are going to the vet, hopefully tomorrow, because it seems we have tapeworms. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

[Jeremiah]

If they wiggle around a lot, they aren't dangerous. I'm sorry to hear about the tapeworms. Did you find those in the tank, or did your turtle excrete one?

Don't worry about the vet. De-worming should be cheap, and some people even do it at home. You will be mainly paying for the requisite check-up.

As a side note, this is a great reminder to everyone about the importance of preventing excess waste and washing any produce you feed your turtles!

[Joddog]

I think I got both infestations from contaminated feeder fish.

The tapeworm was next to the poop. It was about an inch long and not moving. It kind of looks like a coconut shaving. I "captured" a piece of it as well as a couple of the nematodes in a pill bottle. I'm hoping I won't need to bring in poop since I have the samples of the worms.

[steve]

Oh man, sorry to hear it. Please keep us up to date.

[Peva]

I'm hoping I won't need to bring in poop since I have the samples of the worms.

To avoid a potential second unnecessary trip, you should bring a stool sample just to be safe.

[Joddog]

Vet appointment tomorrow morning at 10:30. The are big pieces of something else in the water too...that just showed up today. I got samples of all to take in tomorrow. Hopefully it will be enough.

[steve]

Good luck! Just a quick question, where/what store did the fish come from?

[Joddog]

It's a tapeworm. Got some dewormer meds for him. Praziquantel is what it's called.

don't flog me, the fish came from Walmart. NEVER AGAIN! I'm now set up to breed my own feeder fish, so it shouldn't be an issue anymore.

[Joddog]

Anyone have hints on getting him to take these meds? Lol. It's one dose in a syringe to be taken orally.

[Jeremiah]

Keep poking him in the face with the syringe. If that doesn't work, start tapping his front legs near his head! Once he gets mad enough, he'll lunge forward--then give the medicine. You have to act quickly, though. Don't just put him back in the water, either. They like to spit medicine out, so after dosing hold him vertically (head upwards) to force swallowing.

[Joddog]

I'll try that! Thanks!

[Jeremiah]

You're welcome. Good luck!