Leo owners: please help

[Sequin]

OK, heres the deal
at the end of summer my leos stopped eating... My larger female started to drastically loose weight... Her eggs were all infertile.
I figured they were just stressed from moving... after a month with still no eating i went to the vet. Our vets in town know nothing on exotics so this was kinda a last resort... My three leos were now really skinny. They didnt respond to touch and rarely moved. I had to force them to drink, and once forced the male to eat. Which i later regretted because he was in so much pain after. I got a fecal float... Found they had internal parasites. Anyway, the vet gave me a dilluted form of Ivomectin .

She said it was a 50/50chance it could kill my leos because it was very strong and hadnt used it on geckos before. So i had to pick a test subject ( you have no idea how hard that was) which was my female because it looked like she'd be dead in days anyway. long story short, all wentwell and the two females started eating again... after 3 days they stopped... i regave them the medicine two weeks later... none of them ate... two weeks after that i regave, the male ate for the first time in a few months( about 20 crickets)... that leads me to now. The vet is draining my money, yet they have no idea what they are doing. I clean their cage every second day with a dilluted form of this medicine to kill any parasites in the cage. My large female has gone back to being extremely sick. I had to help her shed because she didnt have the strength and after three days she still had the skin attached. All three's feces are like water and have a bad odour. They cant control where they go bathroom anymore...

I would like to add the parasites were not caused when in my care. They have a 33 gallon cage for three of them... four hides, clean water everyday, variety of food, proper substrate, and a very clean cage. I bought the one female a year and a bit ago, and added the other two 6 months later.
Kslober is about 6 inches, Maharni is about 9, and my male Askari about 10. The last two were a breeding pair fed strictly on mice. ( which i changed over to meal worms and crickets). The temps on the warm side are about 90, and on the cool 73-75. They have an area to bask and have a vitamin dish.
The vet claims one probably had parasites when i bought them, which didnt become apparent until they were stressed(when we moved).

MY question is has anyone had a successful parasite removal with a different type of medicine i can ask my vet about. She says there is no other type of medicine i can give them...which i highly highly doubt. I found a few different names on the internet, but i wanted to hear your replies first... id rather not have to ever choose a test subject again.

Id appreciate replies or ideas as soon as possible...
Its really frusterating that no vets in this area have any idea what they are talking about.
Thanks so much
~Meagan~

 

[Beardo]

That sounds like a possible cryptosporidiosis infection. Crypto is an incurable internal parasite often found in Leopard Geckos and Bearded Dragons....it is highly contagious and almost always fatal....that may be why the medicine isn't working, and if your vet is not accustomed to working with reptiles, that may be why they can't identify what exactly is happening.

This is another reason why its a good idea to house your animals seperately. Did you quarantine your animals when you got them?

 

[Sequin]

no... i didnt even think to... I have had all these guys for a bout a year now. they just started showing parasite signs about two and half months ago.
what makes you think this sounds like a Crypto infection?
I have heard internal parasites are extremely hard to get rid of. Could this not be the case?
They were all getting better too, and right after the medicine they usually eat for a day or two...
If a Crypto infection is the case, what do i do, watch them die?
Is this parasite able to infect snakes...?
Before they were showing signs of parasites i could of been careless and held my snake or cleaned his cage after holding them...
Ah this is not what i wanted to hear.
Thanks for the comment, i will look into this.
~Meagan~

EDIT: I have read up on these parasites.
I figure my leopards have just a high of chance of having different types of parasites, seeing how they all have the same reactions... Well this is what i am hoping. I have another vet appointment tomoro... i am going to ask her about this....

 

[Beardo]

I fugure it may be Crypto because current treatment is not making any progress, and it one of the most common parasites in Leos. Sorry, but another vet appointment won't help....just try to make them comfortable.

 

[Sequin]

well im not going to write them off and just assume its crypto. Obviously this parasite is going to appear different then others so they are going to have to identify thats exactly what it is before i stop trying
~Meagan~

 

[xelda]

Meagan, what parasites were your leos diagnosed with? You have to know exactly what they were in order to know how to get rid of them.

It's very possible that your leos reinfected themselves with eggs or larvae that were still in the cage which is why they're getting sick again. Cleaning the cage with the medication isn't guaranteed to be effective because the medications work with different mechanisms than ordinary household cleaning solutions. They're also usually only effective on the adult parasites and not the environment-resistant eggs that would be in the cage.

 

[Sequin]

okay, this is the update
originally, the vet said " They have some kind of mite"
I went to a different vet, They have a type of worm she said, and overgrowth in bacteria. They are now being treated with Panacur and metronidazole... So fingers crossed...

Also, i asked them to test for Crypto.. which came back negative.

 

[Daisey_Boo222]

I'm glad it's not Crypto! I was so worried. I care about everything (even if they live half way across the world) Good luck with the other disease though!

 

[JohnxII]

Have you read "The Herpetoculture of Leopard Geckos" (2005 de Vosjoli, Tremper, Klingenberg)? In the "Recognition and Treatment of Disease" section, Roger Klingenberg, DVM, wrote:

Trichomoniasis
... In the event of inappetance, diarrhea, and lethargy combined with a finding of trichomonads, geckos are best treated with either metronidazole {Flagyl(R)} or with fenbendazole {Panacur(R)}. Metronidazole is given orally at a dose of 20mg/kg every 48 hours for 3-5 total doses. Panacur(R) given orally at 50mg/kg daily for 5 days has also been shown to exert an anti-protozoan effect.

In the case of Caccidiosis:

Treatment of coccidia consists of giving either Trimethprim/sulfa at 30mg/kg every 48 hours or sulfadimethoxine {Albon(R)} at 50mg/kg every 48 hours... it is important to note that Trimethoprim/sulfa and Albon(R) are both sulfa drugs and must be administered with caution in dehydrated individuals to avoid potential renal damge.

Unfortunately he also stated that one cannot rule out the possibility of cryptosporidiosis with just a single negative stool sampling. If you don't have access to the book and would like more info from it quickly, feel free to PM me.

May I also suggest the use of paper towel as bedding, if you aren't using it. That way you can easily change it as soon as it gets soiled. This is very important during the treatment of parasitic diseases. Hope all goes well!

 

[Sequin]

Thank you to all who are concerned
@ John..... yeap, i have them on paper towel.... and I am just going to treat them like they dont have crypto. If after a week, and still no improvement... then i guess thats what ill have to start looking into.

keep you all updated on any improvements
~Meagan~