Coccidia ?
- Thread starter coastal_chameleon
- Start date
Hashtag ChamLife
Avid Member
I really can't rule either way, but I will give you some things to add so someone can answer more accurately...
What magnification are you at? How often do you see them? Can you discern any colors? Can you add a description of what you see in writing?
I've asked a few folk about things I've seen and these are the more common questions I get in return.
Best of luck
coastal_chameleon
Avid Member
I seen this using x40 with the 25x eye piece . I didn't notice any color . I only seen those two after reviewing the whole slide . I tried to get a closer magnification but that's as much as mine would allow
coastal_chameleon
Avid Member
what I saw was two cells next to each other that looked kind of like eggs . this what done on a female that's about 7 months and is healthy as a horse !I seen this using x40 with the 25x eye piece . I didn't notice any color . I only seen those two after reviewing the whole slide . I tried to get a closer magnification but that's as much as mine would allow
Hashtag ChamLife
Avid Member
40x is as far as you can go. Coccidia is pretty distinctive. If you only found 2 on the whole slide, I'd say you're fine. Just check again in a few weeks and see if a few has turned into more.I seen this using x40 with the 25x eye piece . I didn't notice any color . I only seen those two after reviewing the whole slide . I tried to get a closer magnification but that's as much as mine would allow
A lot of plant matter and animal parts will throw you off. It's definitely not easy. The more you do, the more comparisons and the more you get "pointers", the easier it gets.
coastal_chameleon
Avid Member
thank you so much for replying !!!!!! thank you thank you thank you !
Hashtag ChamLife
Avid Member
Lol, sure. I'm no vet, so take it with a grain of salt... but I know coccidia isn't exactly a big deal unless you like lose count examining a slide. Most WC chams carry some amount of parasites and live a normal life. The difference is the CB chams don't have quite the same immune system.
Just keep an eye on it. I do floats maybe once every 2-6 weeks on my crew. I have a WC though and I have strict protocols... I just like to keep an eye out!
Green Cham Mum
New Member
I am a retired vet tech. Recently just got my first cham so learning! I am familiar with coccidia though. Your slides are a bit hard to see but cocci has a defined visable ring around the outside and irregular circle within that. I think your slide is just showing bubbles. It's possible I am wrong but it is true what everyone is saying about the amount, keep an eye on things. A few showing should not be the end of the world.
Kaizen
Chameleon Enthusiast
Just to add to this:
I don’t know whether the immune systems of cbs is much different from that of wcs. The issue with captives, as I understand it, is that direct life-cycle parasites (DLPs, for short) have the potential for exponential proliferation in captive environments. In the wild, a Cham may poop out ova/oocysts or whatever, and that poop lands 20 feet down on the Forrest floor. Those infective ova (et. al) are unlikely to make it back to that very same chameleon’s mouth. (Yes I know about favourite pooping spots and, eg meller’s). In captivity, a single poop is way more likely to be trod upon by a stray feeder, and then be eaten by the Cham, and reinfect. DLPs don’t cause huge problems in wild populations because the chances of re-infection are drastically reduced. With DLPs in captivity—where the odds of fecal-oral contact reinfection are much higher—these same DLPs can reach life threatening levels. To put it simply, chams in the wild are far less likely to come into contact with infected faeces than captive chams. I nature, a DLP wouldn’t normally kill its host, as that would mean its own death too. And, as well adapted as they are, these very same parasites haven’t evolved to realize, “oh shoot, we’re in a cage now, better slow down egg production.” (Or so I’ve been told). Indeed, even those parasites that might be considered commensal in nature have a nasty habit of becoming pathogenic in captivity...or so I hear. Again, not a scientist, parasitologist, vet tech or vet.
jamest0o0
Chameleon Enthusiast
coastal_chameleon
Avid Member
Kaizen
Chameleon Enthusiast
Further to my last,
looks like pinworms to me, but how many eggs are you seeing per slide?Yikes
coastal_chameleon
Avid Member
I counted about 15 total ,in groups of 3 and some scattered
Kaizen
Chameleon Enthusiast
Ok, so the panacur fender-bender, and sterilize the cage. I’ve been trying to pin (no pun intended) down the lifecycle of the pinworm to give it the the knock out punch, but since pinworms are at least genus-specific, it’s hard to find info on chameleon pinworms. With DLSs, I find the idea of using their life cycles against them appealing. We do it with fish all the time.
