Neil, I have treated plenty of geckos that had coccidian infestations, but these animals always seem to carry small loads of coccidia. I have tried both Albon and Septra, and these meds do help to knock the numbers down. Unfortunately, fecals will often come back positive no matter how long one treats for coccidiosis. The three negative fecal rule does not apply when trying to eradicate this protozoan. Quite frankly, I am happy when the numbers are in a low range in some species. I make sure that I give some yogurt to any geckos that I am treating with Albon to increase depleted gut fauna. I am not saying that one cannot successfully treat geckos with coccidiosis, but I do believe that this opportunistic parasite causes problems for geckos that are easily stressed (i.e. Uroplatus, Holodactylus, etc.). I would say that most captive gecko collections have the occasional coccidian outbreak. I know that I will probably get some heat for this, but I rarely treat geckos with coccidiosis anymore. I first treat the underlying problem that is stressing the animal, and this, in turn, causes the levels of coccidia to fall well within an acceptable range. I have treated some geckos for coccidiosis and fecals were negative for months post-treatment, then they test positive again. It used to drive me crazy until I began to rethink my approach to the treatment of this parasite. For example, chronically bullied geckos (usually female) sometimes tend to have higher numbers of coccidia until they are separated from the aggressor. Treatment = removing the gecko from the stressful situation. Of course, this is all theoretical, but I do feel that this has made a difference in the approach to the treatment of this protozoan. Aside from methodically cleaning and washing all of my cages on a regular basis and using common sense to prevent disease transfer (washing hands, using latex gloves, quarantining animals), I attempt to keep all of my geckos in ideal conditions to prevent the spread of coccidiosis due to stressed, immunosuppressed, and OVERTREATED geckos.
Nathan S. Hall GECKOS UNLIMITED ----- Original Message ----- From: Neil A. Meister <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2002 11:33 AM Subject: Re: [Gecko] Gecko coccidiosis/online herp vet? > Hi Russ, > > 3 days on Albon at 50mg/kg, 3 rest and 3 more on > and 6 days straight when the first routine did not work. > Both helped, but did not eliminate > coccidia in all cases. So far it looks like 3 out of > 8 geckos have been successfully treated. > > Neil > > >Hi Neil, out of curiosity what treatments have you tried? > > > >Russ > > > > > -- > Neil Meister > > Promotions Secretary > Global Gecko Association > http://www.gekkota.com > > President > Nova Scotia Herpetoculture Society > > ########################################################################### > THE GLOBAL GECKO ASSOCIATION LISTSERV > WebSite: www.gekkota.com Archive: [EMAIL PROTECTED]/ > The GGA takes no responsibility for the contents of these postings. > ########################################################################### >
