...Acid-Fast (silver) staining of biopsy material (ie. stomach wall), a procedure similar to diagnosing Mycobacterium infections...shedding of oocysts can be intermittant so diagnosis by fecal exam is at best unreliable, particularly without acid-fast staining...

...incubation period (interval between inoculation and onset of symptoms) can be a year or more so a standard 90-120 day quarantine would NOT be enough to protect animals exposed to infected specimen...

...disinfection of rubbermaid tubs/aquariums can be done with straight undiluted Chlorox or Ammonia...prefer exposure of surfaces for 10-15 minutes...put on latex gloves first (pharmacy: First-Aid section)...discard anything that can't be chemically sterilized...

...Spiramycin (an 'orphan' drug not commercially available but stocked by the CDC has shown anti-Crypto activity...pretty much forget about obtaining some but you never know...

...Crypto is quite rare in the BP community so that's ONE good thing...

Hope this helps...good luck...

Scott J. Michaels DVM
Serpent City

[ Hide Replies ]

• One of my Snakes has CRYPTO!!!!!!!!!!!!! - HerpGirl5587, Tue Apr 5 17:03:53 2005
• RE: One of my Snakes has CRYPTO!!!!!!!!!!!!! - lolaophidia, Tue Apr 5 18:08:18 2005
• RE: One of my Snakes has CRYPTO!!!!!!!!!!!!! - KTMARTIN, Wed Apr 6 09:10:03 2005
• Crypto is.... - serpentcity, Wed Apr 6 21:03:26 2005
• Difinitive diagnosis usually requires.... - serpentcity, Tue Apr 5 23:24:56 2005
• RE: Difinitive diagnosis usually requires.... - rwoodyer, Thu Apr 7 00:19:10 2005