Kokopelli
Resident Boa Fanatic
Ever since that unfortunate passing of one of my Boas, and the test results showing that she passed from Crypto, I did my fair share of looking into scientific documentation and speaking with a Biologist in order to understand.
The truth is... that there's ALLOT yet to learn before we'll have the truth... I have not come across any study that seriously tests how common is Crypto in the wild… it is quite possible that it is very common… and once in a great while, like Salmonella, takes its’ toll.
An estimate was given that about 50-60% of the Leopard gecko population in captivity carries this parasite. The implications are quite significant if the same can be said about snakes.
No definitive answers exist in regards to which strains of Crypto cause the disease to erupt either… Can the C.Parvum from rodents cause death to reptiles? There’s no conclusive answer here.
I do know that killing Cryptosporidium is impossible by normal means- the substances/conditions required to neutralize occysts are too powerful for a snake to live through.
So the solution seems to be ‘divide and conquer’… euthanize any infected animal… which seems reasonable, only that we have no decent way of testing for Crypto…
Fecal testing can show false positive results by showing C.Parvum which is believed to not cause health issues to Reptiles. The test itself is inaccurate and there’s a chance that the snake will not shed occysts while defecating, but still be a carrier.
I held back 3 Crypto Positive animals on which I am testing a method of treatment… the occyst count in the stool actually grew in the last test… which either means that the treatment is ineffective, or that it does exactly what it’s supposed to do… since the substance is supposed to be able to attract occysts from the digestive tract and pass along with them in the stool…
Amusingly enough, the appetite of these carriers is if anything, increased during this time, and they are growing strong. They are under strict quarantine measures naturally… but looking at them seriously makes me wonder how many snakes are out there that are carriers but asymptomatic… is it possible for the snake’s immune system to eventually rid itself of the threat? Or at the very least subdue it to a degree which it has no ill effect?
I am beginning to question what we think we know about this parasite- I’m of the opinion that it’s entirely possible that it is far more common than we believe… and if so, especially considering the rather less than perfect means we have of properly diagnosing the threat… shouldn’t we change our view of how we perceive these ailments?
Human beings too have all sorts of parasites, viruses and so forth that can end up being triggered- eradicating them from our system is not always an option… but we can definitely live with them.
I think that with captive breeding, we can’t kid ourselves to isolate these ailments… and new ones will probably pop up along the way.
I euthanized the majority of my Crypto positive animals… even though none of them showed any symptom(aside from being positive in a fecal test).
I have my “clean” group held separately of course… but I don’t know how certain can anyone be… even had I sent biopsies of every single snake(which I won’t be doing- the inherent risk of anesthetics and stress is too much), the results wouldn’t be fool-proof.
The truth is... that there's ALLOT yet to learn before we'll have the truth... I have not come across any study that seriously tests how common is Crypto in the wild… it is quite possible that it is very common… and once in a great while, like Salmonella, takes its’ toll.
An estimate was given that about 50-60% of the Leopard gecko population in captivity carries this parasite. The implications are quite significant if the same can be said about snakes.
No definitive answers exist in regards to which strains of Crypto cause the disease to erupt either… Can the C.Parvum from rodents cause death to reptiles? There’s no conclusive answer here.
I do know that killing Cryptosporidium is impossible by normal means- the substances/conditions required to neutralize occysts are too powerful for a snake to live through.
So the solution seems to be ‘divide and conquer’… euthanize any infected animal… which seems reasonable, only that we have no decent way of testing for Crypto…
Fecal testing can show false positive results by showing C.Parvum which is believed to not cause health issues to Reptiles. The test itself is inaccurate and there’s a chance that the snake will not shed occysts while defecating, but still be a carrier.
I held back 3 Crypto Positive animals on which I am testing a method of treatment… the occyst count in the stool actually grew in the last test… which either means that the treatment is ineffective, or that it does exactly what it’s supposed to do… since the substance is supposed to be able to attract occysts from the digestive tract and pass along with them in the stool…
Amusingly enough, the appetite of these carriers is if anything, increased during this time, and they are growing strong. They are under strict quarantine measures naturally… but looking at them seriously makes me wonder how many snakes are out there that are carriers but asymptomatic… is it possible for the snake’s immune system to eventually rid itself of the threat? Or at the very least subdue it to a degree which it has no ill effect?
I am beginning to question what we think we know about this parasite- I’m of the opinion that it’s entirely possible that it is far more common than we believe… and if so, especially considering the rather less than perfect means we have of properly diagnosing the threat… shouldn’t we change our view of how we perceive these ailments?
Human beings too have all sorts of parasites, viruses and so forth that can end up being triggered- eradicating them from our system is not always an option… but we can definitely live with them.
I think that with captive breeding, we can’t kid ourselves to isolate these ailments… and new ones will probably pop up along the way.
I euthanized the majority of my Crypto positive animals… even though none of them showed any symptom(aside from being positive in a fecal test).
I have my “clean” group held separately of course… but I don’t know how certain can anyone be… even had I sent biopsies of every single snake(which I won’t be doing- the inherent risk of anesthetics and stress is too much), the results wouldn’t be fool-proof.
