lungworm in Beardies

[LinusTheOrange]

I just saw a episode of Dr K's exotic ER that featured a Beardie with Lungworms. Just how common is this, and is there a dewormer that gets rid of them?

The beardie in question had such a terrible infestation that the worms were literally crawling out of the lungs and up into the mouth. Unfortunately the beardie didn't make it. The owners had gotten the beardie as an adult, only 6 months ago, and had no idea she was sick until it was to late, poor beardie.

 

[kingofnobbys]

that's a new one to me....

 

[CooperDragon]

That's quite a sad and horrifying story =(. I also haven't heard of this either so it's not likely to be common.

 

[AHBD]

I have never heard of a beardie with lungworm either. It seems that they are more common in amphibians and there are cases where dogs get them as well. They can be contracted when an animal eats snails or slugs. The dragon may have been foraging outside or even intentionally fed a slug and then developed the infection. Or was outside eating grass in a damp area where tiny baby slugs/snails were present ?

 

[LinusTheOrange]

The owners didn't say. The only information that they gave was that they only had the beardie 6 months, and that it was a children's pet. The beardie was an adult.

In the episode, Dr K said that she had seen it in snakes, but not often in beardies. She asked the owners if they had snakes as well, and they said no.

 

[kingofnobbys]

see
https://books.google.com.au/books?id=cSDgBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA469&lpg=PA469&dq=lungworm+in+reptiles&source=bl&ots=lhAJZU4ZE4&sig=mmwiI1wgFSUT5CNex6eOnYovKN8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiOlJTz3IjUAhXFNJQKHUYKAUUQ6AEIPTAF#v=onepage&q=lungworm%20in%20reptiles&f=false

https://books.google.com.au/books?id=w1PxBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA213&lpg=PA213&dq=lungworm+in+reptiles&source=bl&ots=SjeJo8pwAH&sig=u9M4YiYsGnxMIFE8A_OVKW7gqkw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZr8zn3YjUAhWGn5QKHbhOBP4Q6AEIPzAG#v=onepage&q=lungworm%20in%20reptiles&f=false

Maybe some slugs got amongst some feeder insects ie gents, mealworms, superworms, BSF maggots and contaminated the media or unwashed greens were fed to the insects to gutload them they are in or the actual insects which were fed to the lizard or unwashed greens were given to the lizard which had slugs amongst them or just the slug trails on the leaves ?
Might not be the practice in the USA to wash all salad greens that aren't going to be blanched or cooked somehow to avoid this kind of problem.