Excellent news regarding crypto treatment!

[Alicewave]

I got an email from John who had treated his Leopard Gecko with an experiemental drug to treat crypto that has been approved to treat the human form of Crypto in the United States. After treatment, physically she was doing better but she would not eat on her own for a couple months so he was not able to get a good sample to the vet to see if she was clean of crypto.

Here is the latest email from him!!!

"I've got some good news!!

She's eating again, but not crickets for some reason. She bit the leg off one and that was it. I think she's still getting used to eating and is sticking to meal worms and king/super worms. I suppose they're easier for her, maybe taste better. She started eating on April 28th and every day since then. I'm really excited!! Her poop is solid looking and I'll send a couple off for testing ASAP. I hope the results come back negative, cypto is really horrible.

I got her eating (finally) by putting her in a clear shoe box sized tupperware container and placing that in her enclosure. I put a small ceramic pot hide in the tupperware and about 10 meal worms. I put her in with them and left her for about 2 hours. When I checked the mealie count there were 6 missing! I repeated this daily and now she's up to about 10 mealies and 2 kings a day.

I really think this might have worked!!! Let me know if you need any of the meds, I want to save as many as possible.

Thanks! "

[jncoclub]

That's great to hear, but may I ask what crypto is?

[Alicewave]

It's a parasite that until possibly now, there hasn't been much successful treatment for it in reptiles. Actually this treatment for the human form was only just released in the US in February of this year. Until now, it was basically a death sentence for reptiles. I'm not sure how much other types of reptiles get it, but there seem to be a lot of Leopard Geckos that have it.

[MartinW]

Do you know what causes it? What are the symptoms?

Martin

[SnowSnake]

Thats great news!! Keep us updated Alicewave! And good luck to Johns' leo!

[Linds]

That's excellent news! :D

[Alicewave]

One of the big indicators is a dark spot on the belly. Other symptoms are lethargy, loss of apetite and rapid weight loss, just to name a few off the top of my head. I am sure there are other symptoms. It is spread through fecal contact only. The only way to kill it on surfaces is with ammonia but you'd need to be really careful to rinse ammonia off well. Bleach doesn't even kill it after soaking for 2 hours.

[Samba]

Alice,

Could you please tell me some of the symptoms of crypto? I bought a baby leopard gecko 2 months ago and now she has a dark spot on her chest. She doesn't really have an appetite, but today she ate 2 crickets (the canned variety from Flucker Farms), and appears alright. Is it normal for baby Leos to have dark spots on their chests? It look somewhat like a bruise, and has a blue-ish tint, but I don't know how she would get a bruise there. I rarely handle her. She is about 4 or 5 months old as of today. Please respond A.S.A.P. !

P.S. The breeder I got her from is very well-respected. I will contact him later today.

Thanks for any advice and help you can offer...

[Alicewave]

Sounds like it could be but sometimes in skinnier leos you can see the organs. A picture of it's underside would be really helpful. The apatite thing is also a symptom as is rapid weight loss. You might consider having a crypto test done. If it is crypto, I know John has some medication left. It's woth a shot as death is the only other alternative. :/ GOod luck, I hope it's not crypto. Make sure to wash your hands really well in between handlings and note that ammonia is the only cleaner that kills it.

[Samba]

Thanks, Alice. I am already treating my baby as if she has crypto. No word back yet from the breeder, but he's a good friend of mine. He sold me the leo pictured in my avatar yrs. ago. Anyways, I don't have a webcam anymore (Gosh darnit!) or else I'd send you a pic. Just now I went to take a look at her chest again, and it appears as a bluish tinted dot on (her) right side. It's located on the right side, about 3/4 of an inch or so past her armpit. And you're right! You can see their little organs! I'm not sure what a normal baby underside looks like (all the babies I've had have been older and with problems). She has appeared to lose some of her 'plumpness' in her tail, and contrary to when I first got her, displays absolutely no interest in mealworms. She did manage to pass those canned crickets I fed her the other day, and the feces looks normal. I'll have a fecal done as soon as I can. Thanks for the info... if you can locate a pic of a yougin's belly for me, that'd be helpful! Thanks a lot!

[Alicewave]

Remember that they wont check for crypto in a regular fecal. You have to ask for it specifically. Many vets charge a lot of money for the test, others don't. I never had it done so I can't really help you there. Good luck.

[Samba]

Thanks, Alice. I just got a surprise check in the mail right before reading this. I'm making an appointment right away! Thanks for all the help!!!!

[sunshine-x]

UPDATE - This is John, the guy who had two leos with CONFIRMED crypto.

It's over 1 year, both are still alive and well. I lost one, the baby who infected my adults. It died before I had the meds.

The medication used was Alinia, aka Nitazoxanide. I can't remember the amount at the moment, however my vet and pharmacist calculated it and that's what I went with.

Email me for more info if you need it anyone. I'm guessing this would work for other reptiles, not just leos.

Email is (damn spammers... REMOVE spaces and -'s)
j d e l i s l e @ g--mail--.com