Deworming as a standard?

Kaizen said:
Ok. Before you loose your mind, I have some advice. Coccidia is a direct life cycle parasite with a fecal/oral mode of infection. I know Coccidia is a keeper’s nightmare, but that isn’t because it’s necessarily so pathogenic. It is basically always present in wild chameleons. The difference is that wild chameleons are pooping on the ground 20 feet below, and the chances of it eating a bug that has walked on it’s poop is very low. So the rate of reinfection is very low. In captivity it becomes a problem because they’re pooping in a small area where feeders are way more likely to come in contact with feces. Also, Coccidia oocysts are extremely stable, so they can hang around for a long time, and their outer shell makes it hard for many cleaners to kill.

All that being said, your two primary goals are
1) sanitation:
- clean up all poop ASAP.
- complete cage sanitation at least twice a week is great, but it can be labour intensive. That sucks, but it helps
2) BREAK THE LIFE CYCLE!!!!
- don’t let feeders loose in the enclosure
- cup feed, or else tong feed
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This is SUPER helpful, thank you! I DEFINITELY plan on continuing to cup feed, especially since I can monitor how much he eats that way.

I'll look for an in-depth guide for cage sanitation. Do you (or anyone else) happen to have any good guides for what a full cage sanitation looks like?
 
CalamityCrow said:
This is SUPER helpful, thank you! I DEFINITELY plan on continuing to cup feed, especially since I can monitor how much he eats that way.

I'll look for an in-depth guide for cage sanitation. Do you (or anyone else) happen to have any good guides for what a full cage sanitation looks like?
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So, best products:

1) Accelerated Hydrogen Peroxide
2) Steam

I’m tied up tonite, but I’ve had great success eliminating Coccidia in one round of ponazuril. I’ll hop on tomorrow, and If I forget, just tag me.
 
Kaizen said:
Is he eating ?
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Steam and accelerated hydrogen peroxide. Got it. Would something like this be sufficient? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LY3JI7T/ref=sw_img_1?smid=A3V0TGU62IMMRI&psc=1

I assume you either spray it, or dampen maybe a paper towel to wipe things down? How do you apply steam? Maybe they make small steam cleaners I could buy.

As far as eating, I believe he is. He's pooping (which looks moist with white urates) which indicates he's eating. I only got his feeder cup a couple days ago and he seems to be amicable to using it. All the crickets I put in the cup have been either consumed, or escaped (and the few times I've moved things around in the cage, I haven't unearthed more than a couple crickets). I'm not a fan of the crickets running off and keeping me from seeing what he's eaten, so I have some small BSF larvae and 1/4" dubias to feed him tomorrow. Those should be less able to escape and I'll be able to see better what he's consuming. Fingers crossed he's interested in those!

Definitely curious about this ponazuril if what the vet is giving me doesn't work. :)
 
CalamityCrow said:
Steam and accelerated hydrogen peroxide. Got it. Would something like this be sufficient? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LY3JI7T/ref=sw_img_1?smid=A3V0TGU62IMMRI&psc=1

I assume you either spray it, or dampen maybe a paper towel to wipe things down? How do you apply steam? Maybe they make small steam cleaners I could buy.

As far as eating, I believe he is. He's pooping (which looks moist with white urates) which indicates he's eating. I only got his feeder cup a couple days ago and he seems to be amicable to using it. All the crickets I put in the cup have been either consumed, or escaped (and the few times I've moved things around in the cage, I haven't unearthed more than a couple crickets). I'm not a fan of the crickets running off and keeping me from seeing what he's eaten, so I have some small BSF larvae and 1/4" dubias to feed him tomorrow. Those should be less able to escape and I'll be able to see better what he's consuming. Fingers crossed he's interested in those!

Definitely curious about this ponazuril if what the vet is giving me doesn't work. :)
Click to expand...
What did you get from the vet? Is it a sulpha?

Yes that ahp product is right. A mini hand held steamer in the 1200 watt range or higher is good.
 
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Kaizen said:
I’m familiar with both medications. I’m not a vet, so I don’t feel comfortable weighing in on medication choices, but I’ll tag @ferretinmyshoes , who will hopefully be able to share her thoughts on albon vs something from the ponazuril family.
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I do prefer ponazuril for coccidia. Albon tends to work well for coccidia in dogs but not as well in reptiles. The downside is that ponazuril usually had to be specially ordered from a compounding pharmacy to get the right size dose for a little reptile. Albon can sometimes decrease appetite and not make them feel good either. You could either stop the albon and request ponazuril now, or try the albon first and then recheck the fecal a few weeks after medications are done. And if coccidia is still present I’d change to ponazuril. You’ve gotten excellent advice about cage sanitation which is very important to prevent reinfection with this parasite.
 
ferretinmyshoes said:
I do prefer ponazuril for coccidia. Albon tends to work well for coccidia in dogs but not as well in reptiles. The downside is that ponazuril usually had to be specially ordered from a compounding pharmacy to get the right size dose for a little reptile. Albon can sometimes decrease appetite and not make them feel good either. You could either stop the albon and request ponazuril now, or try the albon first and then recheck the fecal a few weeks after medications are done. And if coccidia is still present I’d change to ponazuril. You’ve gotten excellent advice about cage sanitation which is very important to prevent reinfection with this parasite.
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Thank you! I am a bit concerned about him eating, but he seems interested in food (it's hard to watch him 24/7...or,i guess 12/7 lol!) so I hope it's not getting at him too bad. He's still very active and exploratory at least.

I have an appointment on the 10th to recheck things so between some solid cleaning and the meds I hope for a clear fecal. And not having to dose the poor guy on the daily. Neither of us like it 😣

Buuuut if it's still there, I'll request ponazuril. :)
 
ferretinmyshoes said:
I do prefer ponazuril for coccidia. Albon tends to work well for coccidia in dogs but not as well in reptiles. The downside is that ponazuril usually had to be specially ordered from a compounding pharmacy to get the right size dose for a little reptile. Albon can sometimes decrease appetite and not make them feel good either. You could either stop the albon and request ponazuril now, or try the albon first and then recheck the fecal a few weeks after medications are done. And if coccidia is still present I’d change to ponazuril. You’ve gotten excellent advice about cage sanitation which is very important to prevent reinfection with this parasite.
Click to expand...
Thanks, @ferretinmyshoes !
 
Well, I have to say I'm pretty happy with this update! I've been able to dose my little guy (his name is Renegade Shepard) easier and easier every day. RenShep's drinking well (I saw him do that this evening) AND he's eating almost all the bugs in his feeder/shooting gallery! He LOVES BSF larvae and is eating a good number of dubias as well. I'd say he's eaten 15-16 bugs per day, leaving about 4-5 in his cup by 5pm. Admittedly they're dubias but I can't really blame him. They're not as wiggly as the larvae. He's wandering the cage pretty regularly and I saw him basking the last two days as well. Thankfully, I've also seen less screen-crawling too.

I've added sweet potato, carrot, and collard greens to my gut-loading list, and have some repashy bug burger in the mail to augment.

I also changed the soil on my plants, rinsed them, and got a better one for the bottom of the cage, since the rubber tree I had I learned could be toxic. I also sanitized all of his vines and got new ones as well. Those will be going in as soon as I get the real sticks I found cleaned and installed. They'll be better than the tape-wrapped dowel rods I currently have. Work exploded on me so I haven't had time to do that just yet, but I hope to do so in the next few days.

I did a deep sanitization of the cage and am getting rid of poops as I find them (it's shockingly hard to spot them!). I see zero signs of an RI and really am over the moon with how much he's eating.

Sincerely, thank y'all on this thread for the pointers. My fingers are crossed for a clean fecal test next week and I'm cautiously saying that despite the stress of medicine every morning, my little guy is starting to settle in well.
 
So I am very happy to announce that after 15 treatments for yeast and coccidia, a second cage deep clean (before putting him back in after today's vet visit), and a lot of mental stress later...

The vet gave Renegade Shepard an absolutely clean bill of health! No more coccidia or yeast. Completely clear fecals. He also went from 4g to 8g! His poops are nice and hydrated and they were impressed with how active and strong he was. Apparently he was standing on one leg reaching for things during their checkup.

The vet's words were, "Damn, you must be doing something right."

I attribute most of that to this forum. Thank you thank you thank you for all your help and advice!

Here's a picture of RenShep being moved from his travel box to his cage for the evening, still in his pajamas and very annoyed I woke him up. 😂
 

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CalamityCrow said:
So I am very happy to announce that after 15 treatments for yeast and coccidia, a second cage deep clean (before putting him back in after today's vet visit), and a lot of mental stress later...

The vet gave Renegade Shepard an absolutely clean bill of health! No more coccidia or yeast. Completely clear fecals. He also went from 4g to 8g! His poops are nice and hydrated and they were impressed with how active and strong he was. Apparently he was standing on one leg reaching for things during their checkup.

The vet's words were, "Damn, you must be doing something right."

I attribute most of that to this forum. Thank you thank you thank you for all your help and advice!

Here's a picture of RenShep being moved from his travel box to his cage for the evening, still in his pajamas and very annoyed I woke him up. 😂
Click to expand...
Congrats... I would consider another fecal in a few weeks though to ensure that it is completely gone. Could be that this fecal just did not have oocysts due to the meds.
 
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