Cryptosporidiosis

I haven't yet noticed any discussion on crypto, so I figured I'd start a thread for it. If you're not familiar with it, you can check out the WikiVet article for it here.

As far as I've heard, it's been steadily becoming a bigger issue in Europe and has already absolutely decimated collections and ruined breeding projects. I'd be interested to hear what the situation is elsewhere, and whether there's been any increase in crypto-positive snakes in the past few years. At this point here in Finland it is basically a constant concern when bringing home a new snake, and it's become fairly standard for breeders to have their entire collection tested, and only sell either animals that have been tested to be crypto-negative, or the offspring of crypto-negative parents.

So in short, has anyone had experiences having to deal with crypto, or have any information as to what the worldwide situation might be?

I'm aware of it and it is scary. I think everyone other than the most casual keeper is aware. I think is a concern here, but not a constant one. I'm sure more so for breeders than for your average keeper, but no one wants to lose a beloved animal to this. If we were to have an outbreak it would be significant news in the US herp community.

I have had 5 "Pet" snakes over 41 years and never had a problem. "Crypto" tends to rear its ugly head among folks who are Lax in their Cleanliness. If your snakes come from reputable sources and you adopt a routine Cleanliness program you should never have the problem.

Link to a good read and valuable info on the subject:
https://www.addl.purdue.edu/newsletters/1996/summer/snakes.shtml

Since the sterile procedures you need to follow for crypto serpentis rival those needed in an OR, its not just a matter of lax cleanliness, IMHO. I have so much respect for Karl that I hate to disagree with him. In this case, having looked at some old threads where a respected member of this community who is a competent keeper lost a number snakes to crypto in the past, I do have to disagree.

Also just having been through coccidia myself, with coccidia is about as difficult to kill as crypto in the environment, and also intermittently shed, I have a lot of empathy for those who have dealt with it. Fortunately, because coccidia is not fatal if treated, my vet did not recommend I take extreme measures. I keep my snakes very clean and constantly re-evaluate my husbandry. Crypto goes beyond mere cleanliness and normal good husbandry.

As far as I understand, there aren't many cleaning products that will kill it. I believe the recommendation is 3-5% hydrogen peroxide. Beyond that it's mostly just a matter of disposing of everything that might possibly be contaminated, since the oocysts are resistant to standard dilutions of bleach etc. :/
What scares me about it, though, is that there's really no way to tell when to even start sterilizing everything. Usually when one snake finally develops symptoms (or is tested crypto-positive), the rest of the collection has also been exposed a long time ago. I try to maintain a pretty rigorous routine of disinfecting equipment, but it does bother me that should either of my snakes ever come in contact with crypto, it may not really even matter what I do since I don't have immediate access to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2 isn't hugely available in general over here).

It's not always "Your Husbandry" that is the cause of crypto. If the person who had the snake before you had cleanliness issues, the snake could already be sick, and you may not know it for a long time. Crypto sometimes lays dormant and doesn't appear even for years.

Karl_Mcknight said:

It's not always "Your Husbandry" that is the cause of crypto. If the person who had the snake before you had cleanliness issues, the snake could already be sick, and you may not know it for a long time. Crypto sometimes lays dormant and doesn't appear even for years.

Click to expand...

I absolutely agree with that statement, Karl. I'm sorry I didn't understand what you meant. Like I said, I really respect your experience and knowledge.

As to killing it, I've looked into it a lot and found some conflicting information. Some say 3% peroxide kills it. I have believed that, but am starting to doubt. Some say 5% ammonia and I have even seen only 10% ammonia kills it (not to be confused with quaternary ammonium which is quite a different thing and a commonly used cleaner). Steam cleaning also seems to be effective. I've also read that if totally dry it only lives for three days, but I've also read it stays infectious for up to four months totally dry.

I'm thinking that it's being alive and infectious are two different things. I'm thinking peroxide kills it, but to render it non-infectious takes heat (hot enough for long enough) or strong ammonia.

Also, it seems it may be transferred from one animal to another on your hands and clothing and hand washing is not enough.

These discrepancies in the information I've found so far make my head spin. I'd love to find definitive, "once and for all" information about Crypto serpentis.

it is actually a disease that attacks Cattle and Farm animals more often than you'd care to know, but it is usually not fatal. Unfortunately with reptiles, once they get it, it is almost always fatal.

Karl_Mcknight said:

it is actually a disease that attacks Cattle and Farm animals more often than you'd care to know, but it is usually not fatal. Unfortunately with reptiles, once they get it, it is almost always fatal.

Click to expand...

I absolutely believe it! I remember the Crypto in the drinking water that affected humans a few years ago in Wisconsin, too.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Milwaukee_Cryptosporidiosis_outbreak

DollysMom said:

These discrepancies in the information I've found so far make my head spin. I'd love to find definitive, "once and for all" information about Crypto serpentis.

Click to expand...

It does seem like the only 100% certain method of getting rid of it that we currently know of, is fire. I recall reading a thread on a Finnish reptile forum in which someone mentioned having dunked all their metallic equipment in high-percentage ethanol and lit them on fire to destroy the oocysts. If crypto wasn't such serious business, I might just have a chuckle over the mental image.

Indeed, RubikAce. That's certainly taking things to a different level.

Karl_Mcknight said:

...Unfortunately with reptiles, once they get it, it is almost always fatal.

Click to expand...

Slight correction for our corn snakes: Once they become symptomatic/clinical rather than asymptomatic carriers, it is invariably fatal.

Cryptosporidium serpentis is a different species from Cryptosporidium parvum, and there is no treatment for C. serpentis.