Help! CRYPTO???

colleen0904

colleen0904

New member
I am really worried about my geckos, especially the hatchling. He/she still hasn't eaten anything, and today it makes a week since we brought him/her home. Not only that, but today I looked in the humid hide and found some runny, loose looking poop. I figured it may be crypto, which I have read a little about but don't know much about, so I started looking on google for answers. I googled crypto and found this image: (not my gecko)
http://www.k-state.edu/parasitology/625tutorials/FIGgecko02.jpg

my hatchling has a little kink at the end of the tail, just like the one in the picture. Does this have anything to do with crypto?
Also, I have two blizzards. They have transparent stomachs and I never noticed before, but the larger blizzard's stomach looks weird. Like, I can see all the intestines and everything. There are white blobs and dark red blobs. hat should their underside look like? Is this a parasite? Someone (not sure who) also regurgitated three crickets betweem last night and this morning. I am worried. What do you guys think?
 
colleen0904

colleen0904

New member
The blizzards have been eating for the most part, but they are also regurgitating. The larger blizzard ate a bunch of small crickets today but I have a feeling they will not all stay down. The larger blizzard also has a dark spot on his stomach.
The hatchling has a HUGELY noticeable dark spot on his stomach, is not eating, has a tiny kink at the end of his tail, and has diarreah.

sickgecko.jpg
This is the hatchling. It looks like his gall bladder burst or something.

sickgecko2.jpg
This is an above view of the hatchling, where you can see how thin he is, and the kink at the tip of his tail. He did not have the kink when I bought him.

sickblizzard.jpg

This is the larger of the two blizzards. I never noticed his stomach looking like that until just a few nights ago.


I think I am going to lose these guys. It looks like crypto to me. I hope at least that my adult leo, Suri, will be okay... :(


pab25, I read that article.
 
Allee Toler

Allee Toler

Member
Nooooooooooooo!! Poor little baby!!!

It looks like crypto. All the signs add up. =[ Best thing to do would be to take him to the vet and see if it is. If it is, put him down. =[[[[
 
Allee Toler

Allee Toler

Member
I don't know if it's contagious. I don't know much about it. But from what I've seen online, and the pictures, it looks just like it.

I rescued a hatchling from Petco last summer. She was literally 2 1/2 inches long, and 1 centimeter wide at the hip. It was too weak to even jump out of my hands when I fed it.

A week later it passed away. I was sad, but I knew it was better off with me than a pet store. I gave it all waxworms. Lol. And she gobbled them up happily from my hand. The vet gave her a few days to live, but I got her to almost 10 days. Atleast she was happy eating the food she normally couldn't.
 
colleen0904

colleen0904

New member
From what I have read, it is very contagious, and there is no cure for it. I have read that if you catch it early enough, you can sometimes rid them of the symptoms but it is likely they will always be carriers, so the most humane thing to do is to put them down. I really don't think it is early enough for these guys. I thought they were just stressed from being in a new home. I feel terrible for not knowing about crypto, and for buying them from stupid PSP, who is going to hear from me tomorrow by the way...
 
Allee Toler

Allee Toler

Member
Isn't there a 15 day warranty on their live animals? I got my money back after the sick one passed. I never named her. =[ I figured I'd get too attached.
 
colleen0904

colleen0904

New member
No, Pet SuppliesPlus has only a 7 day "warrantee". So of course, today was the last day for the hatchling. The two blizzards were purchased about a week and a half ago, so no "warantee" there either...
I am exhausted. I am going to go to sleep now and if they are still alive in the morning I will call a vet to see what can be done (if anything). Most likely they will be put down.
 
ColdBlooded

ColdBlooded

New member
As you read, crypto is highly contagious. If proper quarantine procedures were practiced then your others may not have it (unless they already did). I would take them to the vet and get a full fecal done for crypto specifically - it might not be crypto, it could be another parasite or something else wrong...but taking them to the vet is the only way to know for sure.
 
colleen0904

colleen0904

New member
I just have to figure out how to get the $140 in office fees that the vet wants, just to see them. That's not counting fecals or anything else. I am looking for a cheaper vet, but there's very few around here that see reptiles.
 
Riverside Reptiles

Riverside Reptiles

Administrator (HMFIC)
If money is an issue, call the vet and see if they will just run the fecal without an exam. Most will. Also, as noted earlier in this thread, be sure to read the post in the pests and diseases forum about crypto. There are options other than putting them down. They may not be "cured", but they can still live a happy healthy life.
 
I

Irathe

New member
A stool sample will likely not shows signs of crypto as it is a very hard disease to diagnose without doing a necropsy(which just as it sounds is already to late). When i first started getting leos as pets I had bought 1 gecko from petco (I had 2 others at the time) that looked healthy but had crypto as I found out later. Stool samples showed no parasites in any of them but the necropsy on 2 of them showed 100% they had it. The last remaining gecko was successfuly treated with a drug they use to treat crypto in birds called "humatin"(also known as paromomycin). After the treatments (which took well over a month) she showes 0 signs of crypto gained weight rapidly and is perfectly healthy. Follow up exam with a swab (man that looks painfull too haha) showed that sher 100% did not have crypto so it does indeed have a cure now.

As for cleaning use strait ammonia or bleach let air dry in the sun 8+ hours or bake in an oven above 200f for least an hour. If there is any moisture it will survive it has to be completly dried out.
 
colleen0904

colleen0904

New member
Well, all four leos have an appointment tomorrow at the vet. It is the soonest they can be seen. I hope I can afford it, but at this point, money is the last thing on my mind. I am pretty sure the smallest gecko will need to be euthanized. :sad: He is still not eating, and from looking at his underside it looks as though he is bleeding or something. He also has diarrhea. We were going to make him as comfy as possible and just let him choose when to go, but he is still here, and I feel it is best to end the poor little guy's suffering. But we will see what the vet says.
Suri, the adult normal, still looks okay. Her stools are firm and do not smell and her underside doesn't have the dark cloud that the other three have. However, she has not eaten in over a week now. I am hoping that at the very least, she will be okay. I have grown attached to her..
Orpheus continues to gain weight and looks okay, other than the dark cloud on his underside. He is also a bit more lethargic and grouchy than usual. Athena seems to be losing weight, and we think she is the one who keeps regurgitating crickets but we are not sure. She also has a cloudy spot on her underside, and is grouchy and lethargic.
I am pretty sure it is crypto, but what is the best way to diagnose it, since fecals are usually ineffective? Can they take a sample from inside the gecko?If they euthanize the littlest gecko, I may have then necropsy him so I know for sure. If he has it, and I accidentally transferred it between terrariums to the others, I will feel terrible.

It does not look good at this point. My boyfriend and I were planning on breeding them, but that for sure will not happen if there is crypto involved. It looks like at the very least, one will be put down and we will be lucky to leave with the others :cry: Please think good thoughts for my guys. And my boyfriend and I, who are very stressed and worried about these little guys. We were really starting to get attached to them.
 
colleen0904

colleen0904

New member
I will be printing that out and bringing it with me. I am hoping that the vet knows what he is talking about, and has dealt with crypto before.
I will be going to the store tonight and buying gloves to wear while handling the sick geckos, liquid pepto bismol, en eyedropper to administer the pepto, and ammonia to soak everything in to kill the germs. I plan on soaking all cage furniture/dishes/reptile carpet in ammonia, then either letting the dishes either air dry or putting them in the oven, and throwing the reptile carpet in the dryer. In the meantime, my geckos will eat and drink out of easily replaceable gatorade caps, and be housed on paper towels as substrate so that I can change the paper towels every time they poop. I plan on wearing gloves while handling each reptile, and switching to clean gloves before handling another one. Anything else I should do to disinfect the cages, bowls, etc?
 
cat_named_noodles

cat_named_noodles

New member
I am soooo sorry to hear about the babies this morning. :( I will be keeping you guys in my thoughts and hopefully the vet can save them and Suri is not infected. I feel wretched about poor Athena (I have an Athena too!)!
Please keep posting updates. I'm sure many on this forum are concerned and have you all in mid. I hope the best for you guys. :cry:
 
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