Parasites and showers

[TheMentor]

i just have 2 questions because the chameleon i may get was previously dealing with parasites and is now on a small hungerstrike

i wanted to know if anyone knows of what good places there are to reasearch parasites and caring for an animal with parasites if it does come back.

secondly, i was wondering about what temperature to shower a chameleon at, between 75-85 degress was a guess but i'd really like a definite answer

 

[adam1v]

You can put them in a shower almost as hot as it gets, providing you bounce the spray off a wall, by the time it gets to them, its just over luke warm, its less of a shock on them and they will tend to go into a 'sleepy / relaxed state' when theyre in the shower.

My mellers are quite funny, ive bathed one of them in the sink yesterday, she was scrabbling to get out until i dropped water droplets on her head to simulate a rainful and she switched off like a lightbulb and had a 2 minute snooze. She didnt go black and wasnt stressed as far as i could tell.

How long have you have your cham? Have you tried other foods? Depending on what it was currently being fed on, the cham may just be being fussy for a short period of time.

 

[TheMentor]

You can put them in a shower almost as hot as it gets, providing you bounce the spray off a wall, by the time it gets to them, its just over luke warm, its less of a shock on them and they will tend to go into a 'sleepy / relaxed state' when theyre in the shower.

My mellers are quite funny, ive bathed one of them in the sink yesterday, she was scrabbling to get out until i dropped water droplets on her head to simulate a rainful and she switched off like a lightbulb and had a 2 minute snooze. She didnt go black and wasnt stressed as far as i could tell.

How long have you have your cham? Have you tried other foods? Depending on what it was currently being fed on, the cham may just be being fussy for a short period of time.

well the chameleon is not mine yet, hes a 2yr old, nosy be/ambilobe morph. hes just recently getting better from what im told. i may try for super worms and crickets with calcium w/ d3 the week that i get him to steady off his calcium for awhile and remove that from the equation.

 

[dodolah]

i have to be a bit disagree on the temp of the shower.
I would only put the temp as hot as what you can handle if you yourself are in the shower.

I find that depending on the heater that people have, the hottest shower setting can get pretty hot.
What you need to avoid is showering your chameleon with icy cold water.

 

[TheMentor]

right, of course. wouldnt want to have him on ice lol

HOWEVER
my question on the parasites still stands. if you can help, please say so, thanks.

 

[dodolah]

as far as parasites goes, If I were you, I would quarantine the guy for at least a month (I usually do it for 3 months).
Separate him in his own room before you introduce him in to the "reptile" room (if you have other reptile pets).

pay attention to his dehydration status.
It's not a bad idea to continually do a fecal check to the vet.

Do you happen to know what parasites he used to have?

I highly suggest that you don't use Any of his "old" enclosure including the furnitures from his old keeper and go ahead buy a new one.
If you do plan to use the old cage, scrub it well with a bleach solution (10%).
Let it for 30 minutes and rinse well with water until the trace of fume is gone.

for extra caution I would let it sun dry for at least a day.
Then, just hope for the best that you have get rid all of the parasite eggs.

 

[Chameleonboy]

if he doesent drink in the shower after 10 min should i still keep him in there?

or give him another 10 and then take him out

 

[TheMentor]

as far as parasites goes, If I were you, I would quarantine the guy for at least a month (I usually do it for 3 months).
Separate him in his own room before you introduce him in to the "reptile" room (if you have other reptile pets).

pay attention to his dehydration status.
It's not a bad idea to continually do a fecal check to the vet.

Do you happen to know what parasites he used to have?

I highly suggest that you don't use Any of his "old" enclosure including the furnitures from his old keeper and go ahead buy a new one.
If you do plan to use the old cage, scrub it well with a bleach solution (10%).
Let it for 30 minutes and rinse well with water until the trace of fume is gone.

for extra caution I would let it sun dry for at least a day.
Then, just hope for the best that you have get rid all of the parasite eggs.

allright, so.. i dont know exactly what kind of parasites, i really know very little about the disease itself except for what i learned of them in biology class awhile back which actually has proven helpful in my resaearching lately. i have a full new setup but i am also buying the old cage as well, i'm really only buying that to ease the stress of the move on the animal himself.

i wouldn't say i'm a complete master of chameleon-care but i learn very quickly and have had chameleons before. i've already got the 10% bleach ready for when i recieve the cage, im not sure that sun dry will be an option, i'll use my sisters blow dryer on a cold setting and that should work because i know bacterium grow easily in warmer temperatures.

another question now -
are parasites easily gotten rid of? i'm sure i can fix it in good time. i have no other reptiles but are there any more specifcations for the room that i put him in?
the chameleon is a 2 year old nosy be/amilobe morph, close to breeder quality, hes a great looking specimen and is slowly regaining its appetite so i'm hoping the move from her house to my house won't stress him out to much.

 

[dodolah]

if he doesent drink in the shower after 10 min should i still keep him in there?

or give him another 10 and then take him out

is there a reason why you put him in the shower?
Is he dehydrated?

 

[dodolah]

see my answer below

i have a full new setup but i am also buying the old cage as well, i'm really only buying that to ease the stress of the move on the animal himself.

I say go ahead and put a new setup for him. He will be stressed regardless unless if you can keep the way the old keeper arrange its furniture inside of the cage.


I've already got the 10% bleach ready for when i recieve the cage, im not sure that sun dry will be an option, i'll use my sisters blow dryer on a cold setting and that should work because i know bacterium grow easily in warmer temperatures.

Although I cannot say this with absolute certainty, people has used steam cleaner to blast their cage with boiling steam. They say it works wonder. but, idk if it actually works. I have no scientific proof.

are parasites easily gotten rid of?
I wish. It actually depends on the parasites. Getting rid the common parasites out of your chameleon system is usually easy. But preventing the reinfestation that's a whole different story. One of the most annoying parasite is COCCIDIA

 

[Chameleonboy]

no he was not dehydrated

but he alwase drinks when i put him in there no matter what lol

he is ok right ?

 

[studiocham]

shower temp

Please do not turn the water on "as hot as it gets", and then use bouncing water off the walls and steam. Steam dehydrates.

The water temp ideally is slightly above room temp. When you test the temp for comfort, test it on the inside of your wrist, not your fingers.

I shower melleri adults just to the edge of direct "rainfall", and they are free to move in or out of the water. These chameleons are large and appear to enjoy direct rainfall when kept outdoors. Bouncing spray is good for smaller specimens that may be stressed by a hard rain.

After the cham is out, I spray down the shower stall with Lysol Kitchen Cleaner (has the ammonium chlorides), and let it sit wet with Lysol for 18 minutes before rinsing. This is supposed to kill more parasite oocysts than just bleach. Supposedly.

 

[Jam]

Parasites can be very tricky and hardy little suckers. I work with some parasite eggs that can withstand 100% bleach for almost an hour and still go on to hatch. We fix fecal samples in 10% formaldehyde and store them in a refrigerator ... when we pull them out to teach the vet students with every year some of them start hatching (makes for a fun class).

My best advice would be to get him into a NEW cage with NEW fixtures and trash the old stuff. Don't use things that are porous or absorbant (such as drift wood) for now. Use stuff that can be seriously cleaned and scrubbed. Have a vet do a fecal float so you know WHAT you're dealing with and can get an idea as to how bad the infection is, and if he still needs to be treated. Until he has a few negative fecal floats in a row I would clean out his cage at least weekly but scrubbing everything down. A warm blow drying vs. cold isn't going to make a difference. Few parasites are pooped out ready to go ... they need time to develop (for the most part).

Just my advice and opinions. Jam

 

[TheMentor]

Parasites can be very tricky and hardy little suckers. I work with some parasite eggs that can withstand 100% bleach for almost an hour and still go on to hatch. We fix fecal samples in 10% formaldehyde and store them in a refrigerator ... when we pull them out to teach the vet students with every year some of them start hatching (makes for a fun class).

My best advice would be to get him into a NEW cage with NEW fixtures and trash the old stuff. Don't use things that are porous or absorbant (such as drift wood) for now. Use stuff that can be seriously cleaned and scrubbed. Have a vet do a fecal float so you know WHAT you're dealing with and can get an idea as to how bad the infection is, and if he still needs to be treated. Until he has a few negative fecal floats in a row I would clean out his cage at least weekly but scrubbing everything down. A warm blow drying vs. cold isn't going to make a difference. Few parasites are pooped out ready to go ... they need time to develop (for the most part).

Just my advice and opinions. Jam

allright, thanks a ton for the info, i may just go ahead and sit the cage in a tub of %100 bleach for an hour then and all of the fixtures into 10% but i'll still put the chameleon in a new cage, i just want the other for when im cleaning one cage and need a makeshift secondary

 

[dodolah]

not to burst your bubble, if your chameleon have coccidia.. even a 100% bleach won't do a thing to the infested cage.
but, what you can do is scrub the cage with soap. it will help loosen up the stickiness of the parasite eggs. So, you can blast the cage with water and let the parasite egg goes down the drain.

It won't kill the parasites. But, at least, it will get rid of the eggs that attached to the cage.

 

[sandrachameleon]

does steam kill parasites and their eggs?

not to burst your bubble, if your chameleon have coccidia.. even a 100% bleach won't do a thing to the infested cage.
but, what you can do is scrub the cage with soap. it will help loosen up the stickiness of the parasite eggs. So, you can blast the cage with water and let the parasite egg goes down the drain.
It won't kill the parasites. But, at least, it will get rid of the eggs that attached to the cage.

Would steam kill the eggs? I have a small steam cleaning appliance, which emits a forceful, directed, narrow stream of steam. I use that to blast away germs around the house and for my cages (rather than use chemicals). I wonder if it might be more effective than bleach, if a concentrated amount of blistering hot steam was directed slowly over every inch of a cage? I've just about finished building two more cages, but was thinking of purchasing a third one used... but the idea of the now dead previous occupant maybe leaving behind parasite eggs has concerned me! Maybe I should scrub with soap solution first, then bleach, then steam blast it!
thx
s
I'm thinking of picking up a used cages

 

[dodolah]

i know that boiling water killed coccidia.
There has been rumors going around that steam cleaner worked.
I have it at home and have used it.

I haven't read any scientific proof that it actually worked.
So, idk for sure

 

[TheMentor]

boiling water and bleach it is. i forget, what exactly is the boiling temperature of water, 112 degrees, correct?