Parasites and Bleach in Waste Drain Water

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy All,

I'll add another data point to the discussion of parasites and Chameleons. I usually pour 2-3 cups of bleach into each enclosure's 3-4 gallons of weekly leftover waste water and let it react for a few hours before I carefully pour it down the toilet. I had hoped that the bleach would kill-off (other than coccidia ) most of the various microorganisms that might to be found in used chameleon mist water. I took a drop of the chlorinated waste water from the bottom of the bucket for a peek under the microscope. Much to my surprise, I found a live embryonated strongyloide ova. What's that? Think worm-like thingy in a clear sack. I was surprised to see it still moving inside the ova . I guess I was a bit overly optimistic for that bleach being able to kill those little critters .

(Why bother with the bleach if it's going down the toilet? If I ever accidentally spill some, I'd like to think that my bathroom wouldn't become a Superfund Site .)

 

[ChromaChameleons]

Dave:

I can top that ....LOL

I dropped a strongeloydes into 100% bleach or 10% hydrochloric acid for 20 minutes and it was doing the back stroke by the time I check back. I think they are used to stomach acid and bleach is just like candy....

I was gobsmacked at the lack of result.

 

[chamlover]

So do we just lose the battle? Or is there something else you can use?

Back stroke huh? I would've liked to see that. lol

Debby

 

[ChromaChameleons]

Yup... backstroke.... seriously , I dropped a worm into straight bleach for 20 minutes and the damn thing was swimming around , totally intact .

So , I too, am perplexed as how to destroy these little nasties????

 

[spearsre]

internal parasite treatments

How often should I treat my chams for internal parasites? I assume that these parasites will come from feeder insects. Is it a good practice to treat once a year?

 

[Tygerr]

How often should I treat my chams for internal parasites? I assume that these parasites will come from feeder insects. Is it a good practice to treat once a year?

It's a better practice to regularly take fecal samples produced by your cham to the vet for analysis. You only need to treat the cham for internal parasites when they are detected in the fecal test.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

Dave:

I can top that ....LOL

I dropped a strongeloydes into 100% bleach or 10% hydrochloric acid for 20 minutes and it was doing the back stroke by the time I check back. I think they are used to stomach acid and bleach is just like candy....

I was gobsmacked at the lack of result.

Some nasties are killed by ammonia only. Have you tried ammonia? I would be interested in knowing the results.

 

[Dave Weldon]

Some nasties are killed by ammonia only. Have you tried ammonia? I would be interested in knowing the results.

Howdy Gesang,
I was usually saving ammonia for coccidia . Whenever I get a big whiff of strong ammonia, I get "nasal flashbacks" of it all day long . I may have to use it more often with these recent discoveries or at least until I get another sample under the 'scope again.

 

[kenya]

I like to take a holistic approach to maintain my pets and have recently started using human consumption grade diatomaceous earth by lightly dusting a feeder insect with it at each feeding.

Anyone else ever heard of this? I swear that I originally got the idea somewhere on this forum but haven't been able to relocate it....

 

[spearsre]

Parasite checkups

It's a better practice to regularly take fecal samples produced by your cham to the vet for analysis. You only need to treat the cham for internal parasites when they are detected in the fecal test.

Hey, thanks for reconfirming what I was thinking. I just get paranoid as I HATE internal parasites. My wife is a veterinarian and I always get horror stories from her.

 

[opihiman]

some what more expensive, would Hyrdrogen peroxide make a difference. It is supposed to kill or attack anything organic...once it reacts it is just water.

OPI

 

[ponders]

What about Nolvasan or Simple green D Pro 5? Would either of these kill the parasites or just the bacteria?

 

[Dave Weldon]

What about Nolvasan or Simple green D Pro 5? Would either of these kill the parasites or just the bacteria?

Howdy Ponders and Opihiman,

Nolvasan is good at killing lots of bacteria and virus types but not much good for parasites. I'd expect Simple Green D Pro 5 and hydrogen peroxide to fall into the same catagory. Most "over-the-counter" cleaners use things like very low concentrations of ammonia or bleach as the active microorganism killer. Many of the parasites that we are trying to kill have tough, cyst-like containers that they pop out of and until they pop out, it's tough to get to them . I haven't done a microscope survey of ammonia and some of these tough ones yet. It isn't often that I have the parasites that are wiggling inside their oocysts that I can test with ammonia.

 

[dodolah]

parasites are one of the most successful species in the planet.
About 85% of human population on earth carries at least one parasites in their body.
One of the most effective way to kill them when they are outside of the host is by contact with hot temperature. Boiling water is the best way.

Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury to boil our plants and cage.
Thus, so far we really don't have an absolutely effective way to eradicate those parasites from the environment..

 

[opihiman]

http://aem.asm.org/cgi/content/full/68/5/2576

this maybe interesting reading then....

OPI

 

[mika]

I guess my question is, how do I get it? By touching it?

And if I get it, what will it do to me?

Give me some kind of skin fungus?

 

[Dave Weldon]

http://aem.asm.org/cgi/content/full/68/5/2576

this maybe interesting reading then....

OPI

Howdy,

That was interesting reading . Thanks for the link. I think using hydrogen peroxide straight out of the bottle with no dilution has a chance to do the job. Maybe using a pump spray bottle would work. The article talks about using 6% strength which may be a bit harder to find than the usual 3% strength. I suspect that you just need to leave it on longer to be effective. It would probably not be effective to pour it into my drain water though. Now I just need to find a cheap source of gallon jugs of it .

 

[opihiman]

I like the hot water idea, but taking a little further maybe just one of those steam cleaner deals... Just 9.99 and we can hook you all up on the handy dandy OOCYST TERMINATOR 2008.1

LOL

Maybe some thing like PineSol for your sink then....Hmm...I can't find any good research article on that...I ll have to work on that one..

This has been really neat thread. Thanks Dave for all the info.

OPI

 

[dodolah]

I like the hot water idea, but taking a little further maybe just one of those steam cleaner deals... Just 9.99 and we can hook you all up on the handy dandy OOCYST TERMINATOR 2008.1

LOL

Maybe some thing like PineSol for your sink then....Hmm...I can't find any good research article on that...I ll have to work on that one..

This has been really neat thread. Thanks Dave for all the info.

OPI

I do use a steam cleaner to blast my chameleon cage (he got coccidia and nematodes).
But, i cannot tell for sure if it's effective. I haven't actually check.

 

[dodolah]

I guess my question is, how do I get it? By touching it?

And if I get it, what will it do to me?

Give me some kind of skin fungus?

off course every parasites have different effect and way to get in to your body.

But, if we are talking about coccidia, they get in to you via ingestion.
You can get infected by eating vegetables that are contaminated with human feces (improper washing and/or not cooked long enough). Or, touching soils (that have some kind of feces) and then forgot to wash your hands and bite your nails (etc).

Coccidia for reptiles is a bit different strain, so the chance your chameleon infecting you is a bit minimal.
But, if you have dogs, you or the dog can infect each other because mammals share the same type of coccidia.

What coccidia can do is give you a massive diarrhea.
If not treated, your intestine wall will get thinner and thinner until it ruptured

While other common parasites like worms usually just eat all the food that you ate leaving your body almost nothing to absorb the nutrients.
Also, they crapped everywhere in your intestine poisoning your body with toxins.