How common is crypto in the hobby

[makaveli]

I was just wondering is crypto pretty wide spread, or is it just a few cases here and there? and what are my chances of purchasing a "sick" leo vs a healthy one? and If I purchase leo's in a petstore what should I look for in a leo to judge if it is sick or has crypto, besides skinny tail. and I noticed at a few pet store they keep all their babies togather about 7 I once saw 20+ in one tank in a petco store, Some had skinny tails the others had fat tails? I guess it is just a gamble when you buy leo's from the petstores and online, etc.

[Dani33]

How is your baby doing? Keep us updated, I hope that he is ok!

[Dani33]

Sorry, I don't know about the crypto. Maybe there is some info online. Maybe try doing a search.

[eyespy]

Approximately 1 in 25 leos sold in US petshops, by US Fish and Wildlife Services estimates. How high the infection rates are in Canada is anybody's guess.

Most of the affected individuals USFWS have traced to the source come from mass-breeding operations in Central America or came into close contact with those animals. Cryptosporidua are extremely common in that part of the world, and the primary source of "traveler's diarrhea". Unfortunately, most of the major distributors and pet store chains continue to buy ranched geckos rom them despite vets, activitists, and USFWS trying to convince them to buy from local breeders instead. Money talks and the going rate is $0.80 USD per gecko when bought in lots of 100 or more.

[KelliH]

Eyespy-

Where are you getting your info from? Virtually all the large pet chains in the US purchase their leopard geckos from three breeders in the US:
Mark Bell
Ron Tremper
Gourmet Rodent

Most of the smaller shops get their leos from brokers, who get THEIR geckos from the three breeders listed above.

USFWS does NOT monitor diseases as far as I know. MAYBE you are thinking of the USDA APHIS Office (a branch of the Dept of Agriculture)? All United States Fish and Wildlife cares about are the legality of the animals and the numbers being brought in the country.

Just wanted to clear this up!

Thanks-
Kelli

[Alicewave]

Unfortunately, it seems to be pretty common. I dont' know any specific statistics but EYespy's statement sounds about accurate to me. Just because the leos may come from those breeders doens't mean petstore take precautions to prevent infection. They are kept in large groups at petstores with no quarantine period. So if you've got 1 leo with Crypto, chances are their whole stock will contract it. Doesn't matter how good the breeder is, it only takes one. Usually it's through that Broker they one will contract it in the first place.

[makaveli]

Is there a contagious stage in crypto? or can it be passed at any time? And is there any chance that if two leo's were kept togather and one had crypto, that the other one would not be infected if seperated in time?

[Neo]

crypto can be spread through water, fecals and other contact.. even humans can get it from herps and vice versa. it's highly contagious.

[eyespy]

I'm a licensed wildlife rehabber with FWS and get my info from them. Dept. of Ag does not monitor the health of most pet trade reptiles and other "wildlife" at all, that is under FWS jurisdiction, although monitoring health is very low on their priority list as they just don't have the budget for it. They also don't have any direct oversight powers on pet stores but can step in on a case by case basis when we've definitively proven that crypto is a problem in each individual store.

I've been working with USFWS since 1992 to try and accumulate the statistics we need to get US Customs to block shipments of diseased animals from known problem sources but it's very hard to do as reptiles fall through the bureaucratic cracks. As you said, health protections are generally Agriculture's concern but the only reptiles they monitor are turtles and tortoises since the big salmonella problems in the I970s. There are no existing laws to monitor crypto and there has not yet been a documented case of a human being catching Cryptosporidium serpentis, the reptilian strain. Until a human being does contract the reptile "brand" of crypto it's very unlikely APHIS will do anything to help. Their major focus is on the prevention of zoonotic diseases and reptiles are not considered risky for spreading crypto to humans.