Reptile & Amphibian Forums

so i hear people talking about crypto...i know this sounds stupid but im not sure what crypto is other than a parasite disease leos can get. where does it come from, how does it pass ect? and is the crypto leos get the same thing as the parasite that people can get from contaminated water called cryptosporidium? thanks for awnsers, i havent found much about it online. you never know untill you ask right?
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0.2.1 Leopard Geckos
1.0 Butter Cornsnake
2 dogs(dachund/minpin mix & blue heeler/pitbull mix)
1 quarter horse

Crypto is what you are thinking it is. The problem with it is that it is nearly impossible to control or kill off. Bleach won't do it. If you get even one animal in a collection with crypto it can very quickly spread to the whole lot of them and the stories are quite sad. In many ways, it is better to dump all your equipment and start over after a crypto outbreak, it is that hard to completely get rid of.

It presents itself like any other parasite, so an owner may take isolation and quarantine precautions, but even washing your hands between animals ( a good standard practice) may not (and usually doesn't) prevent the spread. That's really what makes crypto so bad, there isn't a big neon warning sign that says "crypto" as far as symptoms and it is so very hard to kill once there. (That's why it got into the water system, the chlorine didn't take care of it. If I'm not mistaken, the water is now physically cell filtered for crypto in many places, but it has been a few years since I've looked at that outbreak, I might be off my rocker.)

Somebody stop me if I am wrong, but I also believe that Bearded Dragons are carriers of crypto. It can live just fine in their system and spread to other species that way.

There are treatments, but you are basically talking about treating everything in your collection if you get an outbreak. As I said before, you are almost always better off dumping all the exposed equipment and starting over. A crypto outbreak is one of the most expensive parasites you will encounter, both in terms of life and monetary costs.
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

i think what all dragons have is coccidia not crypto(i could be wrong too)but even though it is a different problem it is similar to us - the keeper. Albon might relieve the symptoms of coccidia in dragons the same as paramomycin will turn a crypto gecko around but it remains unknown wether or not either of these drugs eliminate the problems completely or just reduces them. Quarantine and good husbandry are sometimes all that can be done with ailments that are hard to diagnose even by a vet

Ah, I was doing a little more research and came across this information, I was a little off, same family of parasite, not the same parasite:

(taken from lists.gekkota.com)

Coccidia are found in almost all bearded dragon stool.
Cryptosporidium is in fact a protozoan parasite which is a type of coccidia
The cryptosporidium that affects people is not the same as affects reptiles, C. parvum infects mammals (including humans) and C. serpentis infects reptiles.
Crypto isn't found on a basic fecal float (floats find most parasites like pins, hooks, etc and coccidia.) Typically to find it, an acid fast stain is done of a fecal smear and then viewed under oil emersion. The crypto oocysts can then be seen if they are present. However, even with an animal that is crypto positive, it may not be found on a fecal smear.
As far as I know there is no definitive cure as of right now. Another issue is how hard it is to kill it. The oocysts can live for months outside of a host in the right conditions, and as far as I know the only reliable method of killing them (at home) is with straight household ammonia applied for 30 minutes or so. ((My note: I hadn't heard this before, but that would be a pain, but good news.))

((My not: The author also notes it is most commonly seen by him in leos and snakes.))
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock