Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can leapord gecko's catch Coccidia?

I had a baby bearded dragon that had Coccidia and I kept the baby in a 10 gal tank, it has been months (like 7-8) that the tank has been empty BUT I never scrumbed it out and the other day my husband put our shipment of crickets in the tank, so now do I need to throw all the crickets away??
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Owned by 1 bearded dragon, 2 Leapord geckos,1 iguana, 2 cats,1 dog , 2 wonderful kids and a husband

1,0,0 breaded dragon
0,2,0 leapord gecko's
0,0,0 iguana
0,2,0 cats
1,0,0 dog
1,1,0 children
1,0,0 husband

Yes, leos can catch coccidia. As cheap as crickets are, I'd just toss them out and get a new shipment.
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chickabowwow

3.2 leopard geckos (Rosie, Locke, Lisa, Caesar, Tommy)
and 3 eggs a' cookin'

I don't know much about Coccidias, since I looked up in many care sheets, but not much of them had infos about certain diseases. I need more info about these parasites. Are these parasites common? How dangerous are they?

Tim
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Extinction is forever. Endangered means we still have time.

Protect the global wildlife.

Hi Tim

Coccidia is deadly to a gecko Tim, it is like Cancer is to humans.

Xelda could tell you more about this.

TLB

Yeah, coccidia is common, particularly when buying from dealers that you don't know about their reputation. It can be deadly, but with a visit to the vet and proper sanitation, its easy to treat when caught early. Of 7 herps (only four of which were leos) that I've had that have tested positive, 5 survived. The other two were severely malnourished as a result of their ordeal and were too far along when I got my hands on them to be successfully treated.

Anyway, fecals and quarantines really pay off.

Hi

Thanks for the insight, it sounds as if they have come up with better medications since the last I knew.

TLB

Thanks for the info.

Tim
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Extinction is forever. Endangered means we still have time.

Protect the global wildlife.

I have two leos with coccidia; one is asymptomatic. Both are gaining weight and growing really nicely, but one does have occasional loose stools. That one also had hookworms, which probably weakened him to the coccidia.

There are different types of coccidia. One of them is crypto. I'm sure you've heard about that. It's the really scary one, but fortunately, I haven't run into it.

The thing with coccidia is that even if you get the patient on meds, you have to keep the cage immaculately clean, particularly anything that comes in contact with the patient's feces. Cleaning it isn't enough. Disinfecting it isn't enough either. You have to sterilize it every time after they poop, which could be once or twice a day. I use Nolvasan and let it sit for at least 30 minutes, and this is after I've scrubbed with dishwasher detergent.

This is kind of an all or nothing deal. It only takes one oocyst to reinfect your leo and restart the whole process, except this time the newer coccidia can be slightly more resistent to the medication because they grew up having it around. When ingested, the oocyst splits and multiplies VERY rapidly.

They've come up with treatments for coccidia, but none of them can actually kill the parasite. They only stop them from reproducing. It's up to the patient's immune system to get rid of the coccidia. Fortunately, since the life cycle of coccidia works by depositing oocysts with the host's feces, if you can prevent your leo from ingesting any more oocysts, then it's possible to eliminate the coccidia or at least get it in control. Medication just helps to speed up the process. Albon's the choice of treatment, but it wreaks havoc on my leo's appetite.

If you get the chance, you should pick up a copy of "Understanding Reptile Parasites" by Klingenburg. This is just as handy to keep around as The Leopard Gecko Manual. I got a copy off of half.com for just a few bucks.
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chickabowwow

3.2 leopard geckos (Rosie, Locke, Lisa, Caesar, Tommy)
and 3 eggs a' cookin'