Coccidia woes...

[FlChamMom]

I am frustrated. I took my cham back for his two week checkup and he still has coccidia. I have done one round of Ponazuril, sanitized everything with peroxide and ammonia and have gotten all new feeders. Now we have round two of Ponazuril. I am worried sick about him. Does anyone have anything else I could be doing?

 

[ataraxia]

Hi, whats the regimen they have your chameleon on?

 

[FlChamMom]

Two weeks ago he had a dose of Ponazuril on Saturday then one on Monday. I gave him another dose today then am supposed to give him another this Monday. Today's float was better than the initial one, but still showed significant coccidia. His eating is still minimal, but I am keeping him hydrated and his activity level is fine.

 

[FlChamMom]

Bumping to see if anyone has advice. ..

 

[ataraxia]

You may want to have your vet give you enough for a 3 days consecutive, then a 7 day no drug wait period and then a 3 day consecutive follow up.

So you would need enough for 6 doses.

 

[FlChamMom]

What does this parasite do? I am so worried that this is doing internal damage.

 

[Lpsouth1978]

You may want to have your vet give you enough for a 3 days consecutive, then a 7 day no drug wait period and then a 3 day consecutive follow up.

So you would need enough for 6 doses.

I agree. This is basically the treatment I gave my dragon and it cleared up with one treatment. I also used Acidopholiz+ to help rebuild the good bacteria in his gut and he barely missed a step. I'm not really sure how you would go about giving it to your chameleon though. I just gave it to my dragon orally, quite easy really.

As for harming you Cham, it should not be much of an issue. A healthy lizard will naturally fight off the parasite. When it's immune system is compromised (i.e. stressed or sick) the counts get too high to naturally fight off so they need our help. Once it is treated and the source identified (i.e. stress eliminated or health restored) your guy will be fine.

Also, I know that bleach and ammonia will not kill coccidia. I don't know about peroxide. I actually bought this stuff. http://www.beardeddragon.co/index.php?route=product/product&path=73&product_id=249. It is a Coccidiocide and will eliminate all traces of it. You do not have to rinse everything off either. Simply spray it and let it sit for 2-3 minutes. Then wipe it off and let it dry.

Good luck, I hope you kick this crud in the butt quick.

 

[camimom]

I went through 3 treatments before my guy was cured.

 

[FlChamMom]

I ordered the stuff on beardeddragon.com. I was using the peroxide developer recommended on this forum but will try anything at this point.

 

[jannb]

I have used the 40 volume peroxide to clean for coccidia and it works. It you have a pressure washer you can use that to rinse. I clean once a week until they test clean and then clean one or two more weeks after they are clean. It's very important to clean the plants and replace the dirt or just get new plants. Cociddia can grow in the dirt. Both of my guys that had coccidia (one years ago and one more recently) tested clean after two treatments and then when they had fecals again about two months later they tested positive again and had to go through two more rounds of treatment. IMO coccidia is the very worst parasite. It's the hardest to get get rid of, it's highly contagious and the clean up is allot of work.

 

[Lpsouth1978]

Trying to eliminate Coccidia all together is all but impossible. It is a natural occurance and is always present. It is in you, me, dogs, cats, etc. the idea is to control it. Keep the enclosure clean and keep stressors to a minimum. A healthy animal will have low counts and will be none the worse for it.

I clean my dragons tank every week with a coccidial cleanser. I know that is not so easy in a chameleon enclosure but we have to do our best. I have never had a fecal that was entirely free of coccidia and don't ever expect to. If you are ever told there is NO coccidia present, ask what the actual count was. i promise it is NOT zero. The best we can do is ensure the counts are low and at harmless levels.

 

[jannb]

Trying to eliminate Coccidia all together is all but impossible. It is a natural occurance and is always present. It is in you, me, dogs, cats, etc. the idea is to control it. Keep the enclosure clean and keep stressors to a minimum. A healthy animal will have low counts and will be none the worse for it.

I clean my dragons tank every week with a coccidial cleanser. I know that is not so easy in a chameleon enclosure but we have to do our best. I have never had a fecal that was entirely free of coccidia and don't ever expect to. If you are ever told there is NO coccidia present, ask what the actual count was. i promise it is NOT zero. The best we can do is ensure the counts are low and at harmless levels.

I disagree with this. My daughter and I have kept chameleons since 2004 and we have had clean fecals many times. We also use some of the best reptile vets out there. It might be different for dragons but chameleons do have clean fecals.