Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So I started working at PetCo on Saturday, as a new reptile manager. I was being shown around the infermatory (where the sick, injured or over stock animals are kept) when I noticed a cage with about 10 baby leos. On the care sheet it said they had Coccidia! So I did all this research on Coccidia, and have YET to get a straight answer from anyone. Anthony says forget it, they're dead. A guy in the herp health forum is not really giving me a straight answer, the only thing I REALLY got, was that there is a KIND of Coccidia called Crypto, which is uncurable. And then the current reptile chick at my new job, knows NOTHING about leos, but says that they have all been to the vet and are medicated daily, and that the vet cleared all but three, and they are now out for sale! There is this absolutly GORGEOUS one, that I SWEAR must have gotten in the order by mistake, because from the LOOK of it, he is at least a tang, if not carrot tail. He is actually from a breeder on Kingsnake, so it makes me think that is the case. And he shed today, and OMG. Really nice. he was back with the others, and was taken out sometime between saturday and today. I really want to buy him, b/c he would make really pretty babies, and is cheap, so that is a real buy, but there is no way in hell I am buying a leo with Coccidia, if it is uncurable, and REALLY no way in hell I am BREEDING it (goes back to the whole, to breed or not to breed... question). BAH! So does anyone know 100% for sure that coccidia, or at least some forms, is curable, and it will be ok to breed this guy??????? I am totally depending on you guys to make this desision for me, b/c like I said, I am not breeding a sick animal. OK, PLEASE help!!
~Angela
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1.0.0 Normal Leopard Gecko
0.1.0 Super Hypo-Tangerine Carrot tail
0.1.1 Whites Tree Frogs
1.0.0 Huge Black Cat
0.1.0 Cocker Spaniel
0.1.0 Brittany
0.0.1 Brother

personally i would not buy the animal, i do not want to chance cocidia on any of my animals, but it also depends on what type it is. honestly it wouldnt matter to me oif the gecko was free i wouldnt nor couldnt take that chance.. here are some links

http://www.vet.uga.edu/ivcvm/2000/Terrell/Terrell.htm

http://www.anapsid.org/cryptosporidium.html
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-robin day
Geckoheads And Geeks

What I ahve gathered, is that all Cryptos are coccidians, but not all coccidians are crypos. Like, all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares, or all jack russels are dogs, but not all dogs are jack russels.
Would you never breed a leo that had worms in it's youth? Just trying to figure this all out.
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1.0.0 Normal Leopard Gecko
0.1.0 Super Hypo-Tangerine Carrot tail
0.1.1 Whites Tree Frogs
1.0.0 Huge Black Cat
0.1.0 Cocker Spaniel
0.1.0 Brittany
0.0.1 Brother

if the worms are gone than its fine to breed. worms are a very minor thing, no big deal at all if treated.
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your head will collapse, but there's nothing in it, and you'll ask yourself, "where is my mind"

if you have AIM, IM me at chichandoCONrosa

Worms are not coccodia or crypto. Worms are not only treatable, they are curable, meaning they can be completely eliminated. With coccidia, as I understand it, the parasite can be managed but never eliminated, and the infected animals will always be a carrier.

worms and coccidia are two different things, cryo and coccidia are not parasites.
would i breed an animal that had worms in its youth but is now healthy? yes
however we are not talking about internal parasites here ie worms. crypto is always fatal and their is no treatments for it. coccidia can be treated with certain antibiotics but coccidia is also hard to eleviate in the environment, coccidia can be tested for but the animal can also have it not test positive for it yes still act as a carrier. cryto can not be tested for (100%) til after it dies and a necropsy is done.
it seems like you are going to do what you want regardless of what others say
it's pretty
has had coccidia
is cheap
but the petco vet said it ok to sell
its cheap and its pretty
im getting a good deal because a kingsnake breeder bred it and they must have not known what they put in the shipping box, it must have been a mistake
i might as well grab it regardless of coccidia before anyone else does
its soo pretty did i mention it was cheap too????

why not buy a healthy gecko from a breeder?
kingsnake hosts many of their sites and many of them freiguent here

you not only pay higher prices for color morphs but you pay for the health and quality of the gecko too, that means alot more to me than a pretty gecko that some breede,r seen on ksnake , wholesaled out, (and did i mention it was cheap) that now has or had coccidia.
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-robin day
Geckoheads And Geeks

says that coccidia is treatable, but not curable. Meaning that with treatment the animal can live a healthy life, but must always be kept in isolation. That would preclude breeding.

So, Basicly, if you get a female AND a male from the sick tank, you can treat them both (but never cure them) Mate them, and have healthy babies from them! you can SURELY pair up geckos with the same disease while treating them (but never curing them). There's an idea for ya!
Kev
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Kev
1.1.0 Tang Leopard Geckos: Marley, Mary
1.0.0 Normal Leopard Gecko: Toad
0.1.0 Colombian Rainbow Boa: Rambo
1 Beta: Malificent
0.1.0 Tri Australian Shepard: Nelly

I would check into the transferablility of the disease to the embryo before embarking on this path. This is something that CAN happen. Check it out.

One other thing that I can think of to discourage this is that of your animals at home. Basically, you would have to have them in TOTAL isolation, in a different room. You would have to take extra special considerations in the handling of your existing stock in relation to these. A couple things I can think of off the top of my head:

Totally separate housing
Totally separate cleaning equipment
Taking care of your healthy animals first
NEVER going into the healthy animals after being with the sick ones without completely changing and showering first.

It will be a TOTAL pain for you. One slip up and you could jeapordize the health of all your other animals.

Steven
Royal Gold Reptiles

As I understand it, while animals with coccidia can be treated and stabilized, they require optimal conditions to keep them healthy. While breeding is not very hard on males, it is extremely taxing for females, even fat healthy females tend to lose weight and get more drab and the end of the season (signs of stress). I personally would not breed a female showing any signs of infection or with a known chronic infection, or that was not of good weight for breeding.

Also, I don't know if coccidia could be transfered to any offspring but as the eggs pass through the same opening as poop it seems possible. I sure wouldn't want to buy any animals from ANYONE who bred two coccidia infected animals together, and personally would never introduce an knowingly infected animal into my home, no matter how great a "deal" it was, I have my other gecko's welfare to think of. It's not worth the risk.

Hey sorry, I didn't know. It sounded like it MIGHT work when I posted it at like 5:25 am.... Sorry I was still a little groggy and half asleep (which may be the same thing). Anyhow, Sorry I gave some bad advice, but atleast we all learned more about the parasites! Thanks for your corrections.
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Kev
1.1.0 Tang Leopard Geckos: Marley, Mary
1.0.0 Normal Leopard Gecko: Toad
0.1.0 Colombian Rainbow Boa: Rambo
1 Beta: Malificent
0.1.0 Tri Australian Shepard: Nelly

Here's a straight forward answer for you. Unless you can house it separately, and take all the necessary precautions of owning an infected leo without infecting your others then DONT buy it. It will never be able to be bred, unless you want to infect it's mate, possibly kill it from the stress, and also possibly infect the offspring. Sorry to sound so harsh, but I just wanted to get my point across clearly. Hope this helped...
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Josh
My Email

I think your Pet Co should be turned in. The vet cleared some, come on. The vet should have kept them in quatanteen instead he let them return to the store with how many other reptiles for sale. Things like this spread! Now how many other reptiles in the department may have this? How many employees/management have touched these little poor things after medicating them then did not wash there hands and went and handeled some other reptile?

Just my opinion though.
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Very Proud Owner:
2.0 Yellow giants, 0.4 Pastel Jungles, 1.0 Jungle, 1.0 High Yellow, 0.1 Blizzard, 0.2 Las Vegas Albino's, 0.1 Paternless, 0.1 Albino Tangerine, 0.2 Hypo het for Albino, 0.1 het for Albino, 0.0.1 Pastel het for Tremper albino, 0.0.1 High yellow het for tremper albino, 0.0.1 het for Blizzard
Plus 5 incredable Bearded dragons and Snakes too.

Thanks for bringing that up--that PetCo SHOULD be TURNED IN immediately! It is absolutely wrong because we all know the buyer has no idea that they're bringing in a carrier of Coccidia into their home. And who knows how many herps there are infected by now?
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Got hips like Cinderella / Must be having a good shame / Talking sweet about nothing / Cookie I think you're Tame

http://www.petcocruelty.com/steps.html
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Got hips like Cinderella / Must be having a good shame / Talking sweet about nothing / Cookie I think you're Tame