# Rhabdia Nematode Infection Treatment



## Auratus4Ever (Jan 30, 2016)

I just got back the necropsy results from my turquoise and and bronze auratus that died two weeks ago. He was apparently heavily infested with nematodes from the order Rhabditida (even though his fecal sample came back negative ). His tank mate appears ok so far but I want to treat her asap so I don't loose her. I contacted my local vet but I am the only one in my area who has darts so they don't have much experience with dart dewormers (I usually have to ask for specific dewormers/medications after doing my own research on the topic in my amphibian medicine books). They are reaching out other exotic vets they know to try and help me but I wanted to ask you guys in case you have any experience with treating this kind of infection. I have used levamisole bath before when my Highland bronze auratus came in with nematodes last year with great success, however, I don't know if that treatment is good for this kind of nematode also. I checked in Wright and Whitaker's book 'Amphibian Medicine and Captive Husbandry'. They mention this kind of nematode, but do not give specific treatments. Any thoughts or experience on this would be greatly appreciated.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

There isn't any point in treating them unless your going to discard everything from the enclosure and start over. Rhabdiform nematodes have a free living life stage where they produce free living and infective offspring and as a result they are continually reinfecting the frogs. This enables the parasite to potentially build into "super" infections as the free living population grows so does the exposure to the parasitic larvae. This free living stage is why treating the frog doesn't accomplish anything unless it is accompanied by a total breakdown of the enclosure with a restart. 

I'm not sure why your vet is puzzled as to the treatment as it is the same for related taxa in more commonly seen animals the problem is what I noted above ... You will however have to work closely with your vet as you can also kill the frog by treating it if the parasite population is large enough. The death and subsequent decay of a large number of the parasites can do some real damage so this is a case where self diagnosing and treatment should not be done lightly. 

*All a negative fecal tells you is that there wasn't anything detected at that time it does not and should not be taken to mean that the frog does not have parasites. * At that point the frog's immune system may have been managing the population of the parasite in the body, the problem comes when something changes the immune status of the frog. 

Several fecal checks over a period of weeks are a much better indication of health status but still cannot be used to claim that the animal is clear of parasites. The only way to be sure that a frog does not have any parasites is to euthanize it and necropsy it. 

This is one of the reasons I caution people against using cuttings from one enclosure into a second enclosure. 

If you have other frogs you may want to get several fecal checks done on them ... 

some comments 

Ed


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## Auratus4Ever (Jan 30, 2016)

Thanks Ed,
I have already had the frogs in quarantine for a week and their old tank has already been striped. Sorry, should have said that in the post. They are currently on sphagnum moss changed weekly. Also, I did not identify the parasites myself, I am not qualified for that. I had the necropsy preformed by Dr. Drury R. Reavill at Zoo/Pathology Service in California. She is the one who identified them. The only thing I can do is help my vet find the right medications to treat. We don't have an exotic specialist in my area, hence the reason for getting the amphibian medicine book and working with a local vet willing to help. I know it isn't ideal but I work with what I have available.


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