Hi Nathan & Russ, This is certainly one way to look at it. At some point I'll have to decide that I've controlled it as best as I can and live with it. On the other hand. I've treated several Uroplatus that never had a detectable recurrence, even after years. I think that they pick up coccidia in transit through the pet trade as many new imports will be negative for a couple weeks and then oocysts start turning up. I find if it's treated early, before getting to high levels, it can be eliminated. Generally speaking I keep all wc geckos in near quarantine conditions regarding cleaning and handling (not in terms of environment where naturalistic is required).
The stress factor is certainly important, I'm worried over-treating may be worse than the parasites. Unfortunately, I find that new imports left untreated will often regurgitate and develop runny stools and seriously decline. It may be a matter of getting them over the acclimation "hump". I also found coccidia in some P.m grandis I've had for many years. I decided to treat it as I thought they weren't breeding. When I trashed the cage, I found 4 clutches of well-hidden eggs! I guess they weren't doing too bad after all. I've also wondered about treating long-term animals that may have elevated coccidia levels due to breeding stress. Maybe treating just enough to take the burden down would work. Neil M. >Hi Neil and Nathan > >My experience with coccidiosis parallels Nathan's, although my coccidia >experience is mainly with agamids. The best treatment is certainly >eliminating stress. I have tried most of the coccidia medications and had >the best results using Baycox (tultrazuril) 25 for chickens (there is also a >50 for piglets) The dose is 10mg/kg, then a second dose 14 days latter. >While treating I ensure the individual is super-hydrated. I have had good >success with that treatment and it usually will result with negative (or >greatly reduced) faecels.... although I think it is dubious that any of the >medications eliminate coccidia. If the stressing factors is not eliminated, >most treatments have poor results and/or another outbreak will occur. > > >Russ > > > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "nathan hall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Thursday, 23 May 2002 6:43 >Subject: Re: [Gecko] Gecko coccidiosis/online herp vet? > > >> 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. >> > >> >########################################################################### >> > >> >> -- Neil Meister Semaphor Design Company Inc. 6450 Young St. Suite 4, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3L 2A3 Phone: (902) 455-0133 Fax: (902) 455-0212 http://www.semaphor.ca
