Internal Mites in Box turtle

[kbaker]

Does anyone have any knowledge of internal mites in box turtles or even reptiles? I can't find much. There are some things on bird/mice/bees mites. And what I have found, there has not been much work done on internal mites so I there is almost nothing for suggesting treatment.

They are for sure mites - at least two types I can visually see with just my eyes and something that looks like a springtail. And they show up in the stools only, but not in every stool. The person who owns the turtle took a couple weeks to get a second sample that had 'moving things' in the stool. I thought they were crazy because there are only a few things you can see with your eyes only in stools which are worm like and they said it was not worm like.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Kristina]

Hmmm, you know I would honestly think that maybe it is bugs crawling from the substrate into the stool. I have never seen anything moving, and I have had some from pretty terrible conditions.

 

[jackrat]

I'm going to have to agee with Kyryah on this one.I do my own fecals.I've seen a lot of things,but never mites or springtails.Nothing that resembles "bugs" at all.

 

[kbaker]

Hmmm, you know I would honestly think that maybe it is bugs crawling from the substrate into the stool. I have never seen anything moving, and I have had some from pretty terrible conditions.

Right, I thought that at first, too. The stool was collected while soaking and previously, I visually checked the substrate myself. And it would be weird to have 'external' mites collect on stools.

Other than getting an official stool sample tested by a vet, the box turtle seem to be in great shape and doing just fine - visually, eating, pooping and drinking.

 

[Kristina]

Maybe PM Dr. Westin (exoticsdr) and ask him. I am thinking that is your best bet.

 

[kbaker]

Maybe PM Dr. Westin (exoticsdr) and ask him. I am thinking that is your best bet.

I emailed him and asked if he could help out and respond to this post.

 

[yagyujubei]

As far as I know, there's no such thing as "internal mites". Mites are arachnids. Not much reason to have eight legs if you reside in a tortoise's intestines. Like the others, I think that they are detrivores, probably springtails which arrived later.

 

[montana]

Just the springtails from the mulch ..

They are harmless ..

 

[kbaker]

As far as I know, there's no such thing as "internal mites". Mites are arachnids. Not much reason to have eight legs if you reside in a tortoise's intestines. Like the others, I think that they are detrivores, probably springtails which arrived later.

I did not want this to be whether internal mites exist. There is not much on them, but there are gut mites and trachia mites. And like I said before, this stool was taken during a soak, so it was not laying in the substrate.

---

[/quote]


I did not want this to be whether internal mites exist. There is not much on them, but there are gut mites and trachia mites. And like I said before, this stool was taken during a soak, so it was not laying in the substrate.

[/quote]

Update...
I questioned the person with the box turtle again and it was not collected during a soak and it's possible that it was laying in the substrate for up to 8 hours.

So with the current evidence, we were all right to think they came from the substrate. Thanks everyone!!

 

[exoticsdr]

Hey, the mites are most likely from the substrate.

I routinely find mites in fecal samples from dogs, most of these being grain mites, demodex or sarcoptes, but all are dead when we find them unless they get transfered from the rectum during defecation. There are mites that live as internal parasites (sort of) most noteable is the tracheal mite that we see in birds.

Nice to know that they are paying attention to the little things, that's where you head off bigger problems...good questions and answers from forum members.

 

[montana]

What kind of worms are most commonly found in reptiles ??[Hook ,whip ,pin, round ]

What is the treatment for them ??? Panicure???

Worms in horses and such take far less wormer than say dogs ..

What size of dose would be given to a reptile by weight ???

 

[exoticsdr]

Nematodes or roundworms of various species are far an above the most common species that I see when doing fecal examinations across the board in pet species. Panacur works great for most species and for tortoises I generally use 50mg/kg once daily for 3 days, wait 10 days and repeat. Now after all that, I would have a fecal done by a vet experienced with reptiles and try to determine IF the infestation (if present) warrants treating. Reptiles often have parasite burdens that are not a problem, especially when dealing with pinworms, that if may be best to use a little "benign neglect" rather than risking a future "super infestation" by treating when you don't need to. Doc

 

[montana]

Thank you ..

I didn`t hear you mention Whip [good ] would pyrantel pomoate be substituted for panicure in reptiles ??

 

[exoticsdr]

Understand that nematodes are roundworms which include what we commonly call roundworms in our pets, hookworms, pinworms and whipworms. I, personally, have not diagnosed whipworms in any species of reptile but have many times in cats and dogs and they are a nasty critter. They can be found in our torts though and I imagine they are just as nasty in them also, the problem is, they don't shed eggs on a consistent basis so can be present in severely pathologic numbers and be underdiagnosed......that's the Catch 22 to not treating for parasites on a regular basis. I get around that by doing a complete physical exam: poorly conditioned animal with a small parasite load is likely to be treated, while a robust animal with a larger parasite load is less likely to be treated......however, if I where to find whips, they would be treated immediately regardless of the parasite numbers.

 

[montana]

Thank you !!

 

[Saloli]

I know this is a bit of a dated forum but I have used parasite clear on snapping turtles, sliders, a diamond back, eastern boxers and a spotted turtle. I had no problems any of the times at least not with the turtles but it does kill silver side fish (not sure why). It has been used for leeches, nematodes (the big red worm), hook worm, and a type of tape worm (never found out what kind). Active ingredients: praziquantel; N-[[(N-Chlorophenyl)amino]carbon 1]-2,6-difluorobenzamide; metronidazole; acriflavine.

 

[Edna]

Does anyone have any knowledge of internal mites in box turtles or even reptiles? I can't find much. There are some things on bird/mice/bees mites. And what I have found, there has not been much work done on internal mites so I there is almost nothing for suggesting treatment.

They are for sure mites - at least two types I can visually see with just my eyes and something that looks like a springtail. And they show up in the stools only, but not in every stool. The person who owns the turtle took a couple weeks to get a second sample that had 'moving things' in the stool. I thought they were crazy because there are only a few things you can see with your eyes only in stools which are worm like and they said it was not worm like.

Any help would be appreciated.

I don't know how I missed this thread! My two new little Hermanns had pin worms, round worms, and MITES show up in their fecal samples a couple of weeks ago. My vet was curious about the mites so sent one of the fecals to the diagnostic lab in Laramie, with the result that they had to be of an environmental source. Because I had only had the little ones a couple of days at the time of the fecal, the assumption has been that the mites were the result of eating (dirt? mulch?) before I got them. We will be doing a followup fecal in two weeks and it will be interesting to see if mites still show up.