Jason,
Bear with me as I go through this...it's going to be a little long.... :)
Coccidia are found in almost all bearded dragon stool. In fact I don't ever remember doing a fecal float on a beardie that didn't have coccidia in it. Usually it's not treated unless the animal is compromised and the oocysts are out of hand. It is then typically treated with Albon. If I remember right coccidiosis in bearded dragons is most often caused by Isospora amphiboluri.
Cryptosporidium is an entirely different story. (Although note that cryptosporidium is in fact a protozoan parasite which is a type of coccidia...confused yet? :) The cryptosporidium that affects people is not the same as affects reptiles, C. parvum infects mammals (including humans) and C. serpentis infects reptiles.
Crypto isn't found on a basic fecal float (floats find most parasites like pins, hooks, etc and coccidia. Typically to find it, an acid fast stain is done of a fecal smear and then viewed under oil emersion. The crypto oocysts can then be seen if they are present.
However, even with an animal that is crypto positive, it may not be found on a fecal smear. I've seen animals where we couldn't find it on the smear, but after the animal died and a necropsy was done, I could find it on stained stomach impressions that I did. Our pathologist also found it in stomach/intestine samples of animals that were fecal negative.
I've seen it most commonly in leopard geckos and in snakes. The symptoms in the leopard geckos included loose stool, loss of appetite, and wasting away. Often, even if the animal was eating, it would continue to loose more and more weight. In snakes it would commonly appear as regurgitation, weight loss, and in late stages a thickening in the lining of the stomach.
As far as I know there is no definitive cure as of right now. Another issue is how hard it is to kill it. The oocysts can live for months outside of a host in the right conditions, and as far as I know the only reliable method of killing them (at home) is with straight household ammonia applied for 30 minutes or so.
Anyway, I hope I helped clear up some of your questions. If you have any further questions or if anyone sees anything wrong with what I wrote feel free to respond. Have a great day!!
Chris
