So lets go back a bit and explain why I am asking about testing for Crypto.
Back at the end of May, I got Elmo my Texas rat snake as my birthday gift from my parents. my brother also bought a Leopard gecko named Yoshi. I am just going to say it upfront that my brother is not the most knowledgeable when it comes to reptiles. He still knows a decent bit but is nowhere near as obsessed with them as me so isn’t constantly researching like I am. Well my brother decided that he soooooo much smarter than me and everyone who knows anything about reptiles and that he didn’t have to quarantine because all he has is a ball python. Well what a surprise it was when his gecko ended up rapidly losing weight and had Crypo. Yoshi ended up passing away and while I was very upset, I didn’t realize what I had done.
Now that you are hopefully hooked let me explain what I did. I did as much as I could to help during the time but I didn’t truly know what crypo was at the time and thought that it only affected leopard geckos. Well, later I found out a little too late that no, it can affect lots species of geckos and is suspected to be able to infect most lizards as well. And you guessed it, I would take care of my crested gecko and blue tongue after helping with Yoshi. Yoshi did end up passing back at the end of June.
I really need to know how and where to test for Crypto as I am terrified that one of them may have it.
I am ashamed of how I handled the situation but I need to know what to do. I know you can’t eliminate it once it turns symptomatic but if one of their tests does come back positive, is there a way to get rid of it before it turns symptomatic?
Thank you so much. I was looking but all I could find were avian crypto tests even though I looked up ‘reptile crypto test’.
I am very sad that Yoshi didn’t make it but at this point, I am just scared of all my other lizards. Crypto and the other similar things are the most terrifying things to me
I agree with @armiyana. It would be a good idea to have your lizards tested by a qualified reptile vet to ease your fears.
And don’t be borrowing trouble Logan! And DON’T BEAT YOURSELF UP! You did the best you knew how at the time. Luke @armiyana Christina said, Yoshi may not have even had Crypto! Chin up buddy!
Was Yoshi ever actually tested for Crypto? If not, then I wouldn’t panic just yet. There are any number of other things that could have caused Yoshi to crash the way he did. I wouldn’t necessarily jump to assuming the worst just yet, though it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have your other animals tested just to be sure.
And try not to beat yourself up. You did the best you could with the information you had at the time, which is all any if us can ever do. I remember when I first got my blood python, I was so careful about quarantining her from my sand boa. Different rooms on different floors, changed my shirt and did a surgical scrub up to my armpits after handling the new snake, never shared water bowls or cage decor, I even stored their bags of substrate separately…but for some reason, it didn’t even occur to me that I should have separate pairs of feeding tongs for each snake. I was using the same tongs for both of them, and didn’t even realise my mistake until I read a post on here about the importance of having separate tongs for animals in quarantine. I felt so, so stupid. (So stupid, in fact, that I haven’t mentioned it publicly until now, heh.) Fortunately, the new snake made it through quarantine without any issues and was healthy, so I got lucky, but I still felt like an idiot.
Point being, none of us are perfect, and most of us have made mistakes at some point, despite having the best of intentions. Try not to be too hard on yourself. We’re all only human.
No he wasn’t ever tested but there was so much evidence that points to it. The way he lost weight so quickly even though he was eating so much, was active, and near the end started regurgitating his food. It also isn’t too unreasonable to think that as it is suspected that almost 50% of leopard geckos carry crypto. He also didn’t appear to be kept in the most ideal conditions before he was purchased.
I was asking as all the local vets way over charge any testing. I will go if needed but if I can send something in for a cheaper price.
The key word here is carry, many are entirely asymptomatic. I also doubt that number, I keep seeing it when doing a search for prevalence, but I’m not finding any specific studies. The word “suspected” is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. The reality is, a lot of illnesses have symptoms that overlap with crypto, so going off that alone is not going to give you any kind of likelihood of crypto versus something more common like parasites, infection, etc.
Just because pet owners don’t understand the costs involved doesn’t mean a vet is necessarily overcharging. If a test is run in-house, the machines aren’t cheap, and they have to cover maintenance, supplies, paying staff to collect & run samples, etc. If you want to do things on a budget I’d try VetDNA.
That said, you don’t actually know what killed Yoshi, and crypto isn’t the only ailment that is transmissible between reptiles if you’re not practicing proper quarantine procedures. I’d really suggest actually seeing a vet and having your animals examined alongside doing crypto and general parasite testing.
I’m already tallying up for the ultrasound and bloodwork for my dog on monday…expecting a 900$ visit.
Labs can be very pricey. not just paying staff to collect samples, but even the collection containers and such. Though I did see someone send a fecal sample in a weed dispensary jar once and a urine sample in a gelato container (we all immediately said the glucose on that sample would be high from residual food)
I agree, VetDNA is probably the best bet, but you may need to contact support and ask since all of the paperwork for crypto does still say avian it looks like. The vet will require an exam and such regardless in order to prescribe the medicine for your animals as well.
If 50% of leopard geckos were actively suffering from Crypto, I would have never had kept them. Most of the literature that I’ve seen still touting how badly affected leos are also tends to be from a long time ago when it was more prevalent. It’s something that really needs a new study done for modern reptile keeping.
This is so true! And to add to that, reptile vets have to go through extensive expensive schooling to become dog and cat vets not to mention exotic vets so in most cases their fees are in line.
. Thanks!