Most parasites are identified through fecal exams. Has you vet done a fecal? There are several kinds of fecals that will reveal specific parasites.

I've done about a dozen fecals on him. Mainly thanks to Dave Weldon. Four have been done by labs and vets. He's going to the vet again Sat. and I hope he poops, I'm going to give him food everyday until then so hopefully he will. Otherwise he's there for a blood panel.

My question still is since one member said it can only be transmitted by poop there should be a danger that the entire garden is contaminated right? He walks all around it as I mentioned but never every has pooped there.

Luckykarma,

That's a good question I would like answered too. But I have another question; How does a single chameleon (only one I have) that has not been around others since I've had her (Blue Eyes) get coccidia?? Unless she had it as a baby and it is just showing up?? Could her 'pray' possibly transmit it (mostly crickets and leafy veggies + an occasional bite of Pothos?

Denny

i would recommend to clean the whole area. you never know where he has been rubbing his cloaca and leaving traces of feces.

coccidia protozoans are spread through feces and infect the intestinal tract. if the area he is in is contaminated or he is stressed or weak he is more likely to still get an infection. the symptoms in no particular order or combination are blood or intestinal mucus in the feces, runny feces, weakness, or dehydration. if there is blood or mucus in the feces it is bad and you need to try to treat it right away, as in vet visit. best way to find out is a fecal.

coccida is tricky because you dont kill the actual coccidia you prevent the eggs from completing the life cycle. the life cycle is around 21 - 28 days so this is how long he needs to be on medicine to get rid of the coccidia. so this means you need to clean his habitat really well and make sure he gets his medicine every day, one day is all it takes for coccidia to reproduce. hot and dry conditions kill coccidia as well but this can be hard with chams.

supplementing with the nutribac or other probiotics may help getting the immune system back up after a heavy dose of antibiotics.

sorry for the rant, but i hope it helps. good luck it can be a real pain to get rid of from our experience.

interesting pic of effect of coccidia:

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http://www.europaorlando.com

Sometimes there are no symptoms at all. I was very surprised to find out 2 of my guys have it. The both eat up a storm, no blood in fecal, no runny fecals, they both act and look completely healthy. However, both have very small numbers which might have alot to do with it.

As far as all the trees out back, i think youre in trouble. Like they said all he has to do is rub his behind on the branches, which they ALWAYS do to kinda mark their territory and surprise! I hate to have to say it but i think he might have to be jailed for his own health. I'm going through the same thing right now. I had to throw out everything, including nice plants, put in this stupid looking plastic thing that i can use ammonia on, and scrub scrub, scrub. Let me know how things go for you. Mine just started on meds yesterday.

Debby

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Beeger Boxes / Jungle Jewels....2.1 veileds,84 eggs,1.1 blue bar,25 eggs, 2.2 Nosy Be,1.0 Nosy Be x Blue Bar 33 eggs,1 ? Melleri, 2.1 Beardie,18 tortoises

Yikes!

So how long is the jail time before the coccidia on the trees, plants, scrubs die off naturally? I know I read it can live in a hibernated state for 6 months (sounds like a b-movie). These trees etc have direct sunlight all day.

I'm not sure just how long they can live in the trees like that. How do ya feel about climbing up on them with a big scrub brush and a bucket of ammonia? LOL. Keep me informed on how he is doing. This is my first time too with this nasty bug. I was thinking of trying the same drug that Brad was using. Haven't made a decision yet though. Waiting to see how things go for him.

Debby

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Beeger Boxes / Jungle Jewels....2.1 veileds,84 eggs,1.1 blue bar,25 eggs, 2.2 Nosy Be,1.0 Nosy Be x Blue Bar 33 eggs,1 ? Melleri, 2.1 Beardie,18 tortoises

Just got back from the vet today and surprise - no coccidia. The photo Dave took of unknown organisms that could have been thought to be coccidia by the vet turned out not be it at all. I use "Da good Stuff" and I guess all the things in it crowded the slide to the point it looked like another outbreak.

If this is the case then he's been coccidia free for a month.

I had a blood panel done as well. The results will come back next week.

One thing Dr. Greek said was some animals can co-exist fine with some coccidia so Chamlover it might not be that bad. Anyway, I think Dave is onto something with the Appertex.

Howdy All,

I thought I'd share some of the photos mentioned. As Gary and I poured through reference materials and shared the images with others trying to ID these little parasite-looking floaters, we kind of came to the conclusion that at least they weren't coccidia and might not even be parasites at all, but we just weren't sure . We were 99% sure that the 2nd big one from the left was plant material. The other 3 in the photo had the strange-looking effect of a significant amount of focusable, 3-dimensional depth structure to them. Focusing into the blob inside those three was like you were slicing across a grape as you focused into its interior (Think of it as a CAT Scan .) This was very different looking than the usual parasites that we come across such as coccidia for example. I think one vet did ID it as coccidia but it just didn't fit the common coccidia that we find in chameleons and bearded dragons etc. Photos don't always show the whole picture .

Focused closer to the top of the "parasite":


Focused about mid-level in the "parasite":


Your typical coccidia that really doesn't have much depth:
(Not all coccidia have the double sporocysts. Also some are perfectly round.)

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See Ya,

Dave Weldon
Panther & Veileds

Book Collection:
"Reptile Medicine and Surgery" 2nd ed. By Mader
"Chameleons - Their Care and Breeding" By Linda J. Davison
"Chameleons - Nature's Hidden Jewels" 2nd Ed. By Petr Necas
"The Panther Chameleon: Color Variation, Natural History, Conservation and Captive Management" By Gary W. Ferguson...
"Thoughts for Food" 3rd Ed. Edited by Ardi Abate
"Understanding Reptile Parasites" By Roger J. Klingenberg D.V.M.

Thanks again to Dr. Dave Weldon CDM (Chameleon Doctor of Medicine) for his endless patience with bags of poop that would show up at his door with a nervous human attached to them. Also to his very patient wife!