Interesting, very very interesting. I talked to a breeder of over 300 reptiles about coccidia after reading your post, and now I'm almost convinced that we have a nation wide case of coccidia in these little guys. She said that coccidia is very contagious, and will show no symptoms for weeks or even months, or basically until the host's immune system is weaker than normal. She said that laying eggs is a very stressful activity for many reptiles and that the immune system is deprived during and after laying. This would cause coccidia to strike and eventually take the life of the host if not treated properly. That would explain why the females are dying after laying, and the males seem to be fine; the males are probably infected with coccidia, but their immune systems are in check because they haven't had anything happen to them to cause the coccidia to strike. She said that coccidia is also VERY contagious to other reptiles, and even just as contagious to humans. Triggering coccidia may take as little as a nasty cut or a heavy period, to a flu or stomach virus. There are treatments for coccidia, but they could possibly be a death sentence to such a small creature as a pygmy chameleon. It is worth a shot to see how they fare with treatment, or else we will never overcome this parasite. The breeder also told me that coccidia is transferred into the eggs, and the hatchlings will be infected with it as well, causing early death or it could be dorment until a shock to the immune system (such as laying eggs) is in effect.



I strongly suggest that if you have stools from your pygmy chams that are at most 48 hours old, take them to a vet for a coccidia screening ASAP, we need to get to the bottom of this.



As for WC animals, they probably have the parasite and may seem healthy for a while, but during quarantine and de-worming, their immune systems could go through a shift and cause the coccidia to come into play.



I'd like to hear other's experiences with coccidia, because this seems like a very reasonable cause and it will take some work to rid our CB species of it.



And thanks to Alanvines for his commendable research.



-Brock

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