Worming Reptiles

[Nero Egernia]

Apologies if this seems like a silly question but I’ve had little to no experience in worming reptiles and I’m not entirely sure on how it works. A week or so ago I noticed that my smallest monitor was trying to defecate and at some point I thought I saw a long noodle like shape. I had my suspicions that it may have been a parasitic worm, but I didn’t get to have a close inspection of it as I was watching from afar and I usually collect their faeces when the monitors have bedded down for the night so I don’t stress them. By the time I got around to removing their faeces I couldn’t find any trace of the noodle. Next time the smallest monitor defecated I saw another noodle like shape and so I retrieved his faeces immediately and low and behold there was a long, squirming worm. I separated the worm and put it on a dish while I went to go and get a camera but when I got back it had dried out and kind of disintegrated. I remember it being long and white. Perhaps over 5cm long.

I treated the monitors and the two smaller ones have passed their wastes today and they looked alright with no traces of worms. Does that mean that the wormer worked? I thought that reptile wormers paralyse the worms so that they can’t maintain grip and are expelled from the body. Also, do parasitic worms effect a reptile’s bowel movements in anyway? I recall reading somewhere that they can, as I am a little concerned as my smallest monitor has had a funny history in regards to his bowel movements ever since I first acquired him.