Coccidia

[Bernie]

Hi

Does this parasite exist in different forms or types?

The reason I ask is because my vet has told me that coccidia has been detected in my chameleon, however this was found by taking a skin sample and observing it under the microscope.

I am somewhat confused by this as faecal examinations pick this up usually as far as I know, it's not skin samples. My animal was last faecal tested in September 2012 which came back negative. I mentioned this to my vet to which he said this wouldn't have detected the coccidia regardless.

Please can somebody advise here?
I have asked the vet to explain however he got very technical, not only that, he is foreign so it can be difficult to fully process it all when he explains.

Many thanks

 

[SSimsswiSS]

Hi

My animal was last faecal tested in September 2012 which came back negative.

Maybe have a faecal test done to confirm. Best to have one done every 6 months. To stay on top on any internal issues.

 

[Bernie]

Unfortunately it's too late, we lost him yesterday afternoon.

Our boy was being treated for infection however never responded to the antibiotics we tried. The vet only discovered coccidia earlier this week so he began treating him for this. It seems this pushed him too far as he was already unwell.

Absolutely distraught.

I am just keen to find out why this wasn't detected or even suspected earlier.

 

[GabeCastro]

Sorry for your loss man...

I lost my last cham with coccidia & pinworms. Def one of the hardest parasites to fight.

I'd recommend to do tons of research on cleaning out your cage if you decide on getting another one. I'd also recommend tossing away everything that was inside your enclosure. Coccidia is a pain in the @** to get rid of. I used 40% peroxide in liquid form and sprayed my enclosures down about 4x a day for about a week, then 2 weeks later i repeated my process. You can also pressure wash your enclosure, pour boiling water over it, etc. (you can also boil whatever can fit inside a pot that you had inside your enclosure, but personally i'd just start all over again.) Also be sure to throw away any live plants as well.

As for your question about not being detected, coccidia is very tricky. Sometimes you can do 2-3 fecals and they'll come back negative because you already killed a bunch in your guys stomach from meds, he poops them out so the parasites are dead. Little we know, they laid tons of eggs in your chams stomach. When the coccidia eggs hatch they pretty much eat all your chams nutrients and slowly kill your cham. This is what happened to my last cham. I took him in for a fecal and results came back negative 2x. Or flat out your vet wasn't really experienced in reptiles. I'd suggest you also do some research in your area and try to find a experienced herp vet who knows how to care for chameleons.

Major signs of coccidia is smelly poo, usually smells like a swamp. Cham not eating anything for a week or 2, losing weight, sleeping during the day, etc.

hope that helped!

-Gabe

 

[SSimsswiSS]

Sorry for your loss

 

[Bernie]

Thanks for the replies.

Can anyone point me in the direction of a herp or exotic vet on here so I can ask a second opinion? Thanks