Coccidia

[leetsauce09]

I've been searching the forums to find ways to sanitize cages and furnishings, and so far have found that bleach followed by ammonia works, but bleach by itself doesn't. Is there any other way to disinfect things? Does steaming work for coccidia? Boiling water? Kinda just throwing ideas out there because this stuff is apparently next to impossible to get rid of.
As a side note, my cham is being treated for it w/ Albon, so far with no noticeable side-effects.

 

[jannb]

Hydrogen peroxide, the kind you buy at a beauty supply store works best. The kind at the drug store is not strong enough.

How long has your cham been on Albon? After the 3rd day of treatment with Albon my cham stopped eating.

You may find the link below very helpful.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/chameleons-coccidia-ponazuril-offers-new-hope-16409/

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy,

I went through that whole sanitizing situation a year or so ago when one of my chameleons picked-up Coccidia during stud services . I was lucky to be able to monitor the whole treatment process with my microscope. I think it helped me understand the enclosure re-infection potential. If you take your plants out, wash and re-pot them, they will be ok. If you soap-up and power-rinse the enclosure and other non-live items, that will be good too. I convinced myself that I'm doing well trusting physical removal through soap-up and blast-off. I think it was after that whole episode was over that the research paper about using "industrial strength" hydrogen peroxide came to light. I use 40 volume these days when I want to do a quick sanitize of the PVC bottom after a poop wipe-up. CAUTION: 40 volume strength is a powerful oxidizer . You will have burning pain/damage with any skin contact. Wear gloves. If you get it on something that you don't want it on, flush with water right away. The good news is there is no chemical smell because the chemical reaction just creates oxygen . Spray on and let sit for 5-10-15 minutes and then simply dilute/rinse with water. It is ok to leave diluted traces behind, just not any full strength residuals.

Drug store grade: 3% = 10 Volume (not strong enough
Strong Beauty Supply grade: 12% = 40 Volume (more than strong enough!)

I found Clairoxide 40 at a local Beauty Supply Warehouse. They were happy to sell it to me for about $2.50 a quart since it was actually beyond its expiration date (>3yrs old). Even so, it burns like all heck on your skin and it sizzles on contact with any organic material on the PVC bottom.

Example of Clairoxide 40 Volume: http://www.beautybasicsupply.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=CL1CLA4032

By the way, I have had zero traces of Coccidia show-up ever since I completed his treatment. That is the other handy thing about havng my own microscope. I can do a float on any sample anytime .

 

[leetsauce09]

How long has your cham been on Albon? After the 3rd day of treatment with Albon my cham stopped eating.

I just gave her the first dose about 6 hours ago. As far as eating goes, I've had to force feed her for the past few days, so she doesn't really have a say in that matter
Any other side-effects to worry about? Or are appetite and dehydration the main things?

Thanks yet again for all the info though. I just put her in a quarantine terrarium, and that's where she'll be for the next few weeks while I clean her regular cage and have a few more fecals done.