I wanted to post this information here on our webpage as a warning to other reptile owners. I have had personal experience with this disease, and it
seems that many herp keepers are unaware of its existence. Please feel free to forward this post to other forums or individuals, provided you link it
back to here. I am not by any means an expert in this parasite, but I wanted to share what info I have obtained, in hopes that others could benefit from
it!
Cryptosporidium serpentis, or Crypt, is often called "Creeping Death" by experienced reptile people, due to its propensity to infect reptiles without
producing any clinical symptoms for years and years. Infected animals may show symptoms immediately upon contracting the parasite (especially very
young or very old specimens) or the symptoms may take years to manifest themselves. During this time, the reptile may change owners or be sent out
on breeding loans and the entire time, it is shedding spores wherever it goes! Some reptiles seem to be carriers in that they test positive for the
disease but throughout their life never show symptoms.
Crypt is a deadly parasite that is passed through direct reptile-to-reptile contact (breeding, sharing cages, etc) or direct or indirect contact with infected
fecal material or regurgitates (dirty cages, sharing feed boxes or other cage cleaning supplies, not washing hands between different herps) and there
is no current cure. While all reptiles are susceptible to Crypt, it seems far more prevalent in snakes. I have also read a number of articles about Crypt
outbreaks in Leopard Geckos sold through chain stores. While there is no cure for crypt, my vet informed me that IF caught early, there are things that
can be done to arrest the development of the Cryptosporidium parasite, but the animal will need to exist forever in quarantine.
While there are several varieties of Cryptosporidium, C. serpentis appears to affect only reptiles and has never been diagnosed in humans. It is
important to note that very often, the clinical symptoms of this disease DO NOT manifest themselves during the normal period of quarantine, especially
for animals purchased as adults. Symptoms include weight loss, regurgitation, thickening of the intestinal walls (visible in post-mortems), dehydration
and general "anorexic" conditions. Death is nearly always inevitable once symptoms are shown.
Suggestions made by experienced herpetoculturalists include making sure that all reptiles are housed seperately (especially snakes), choosing only
reputable breeders for your herps, buying only CB herps (this parasite is quite common in wild collected herps!), maintaining stringent sanitation
processes between handling sessions, having seperate tools, utensils, and feeding tubs for each reptile you own, and regular disinfection and
sanitation of breeding, feeding, and housing equipment. It should be noted that the only disinfectant known to have a significant impact on Crypt is
straight household ammonia.
Now, for my personal experience with Crypt. I began researching to aquire a CB Corn Snake hatchling in the spring of 2006, in anticipation of getting
my first ever snake in August. I spoke with a number of breeders, and visited websites and talked to previous customers. I finally settled on a breeder
who had gorgeous snakes, and my hatchling anery corn arrived in early August! I was delighted with my tiny baby snake! I named her Cate, and began
to care for her like any newby would.
Cate flat out refused her first three meals. I finally got her to take a tiny live pinky in late August, and I was so happy! Three days after feeding,
however, I was extremely dismayed to find a partly digested pinky regurged in her tank. I posted on CS.com forum, and they soothed me, saying it
happens and to check my heat pad and temps, and not to handle her (I wasn't)! I did so, and continued undaunted. 14 days later, I offered Cate her
second live pink, which she constricted and consumed promptly. I breathed a sigh of relief.
Three days later, yet another regurge! At this point, I was upset and worried, because I had recieved notice from my breeder than an animal she had
held at her facility for a friend earlier that summer had tested positive for Crypt. My breeder urged me to wait a bit longer and try again, insisting that
Cate had left the facility early enough to be safe from Crypt. So I valiantly tried not to panic, and fed her again with the smallest live pink I could buy 2
weeks later. She ate straight away and promptly regurged 3 days later. At this point, I made a vet appointment, but the earliest I could get in would be
the following Tuesday (this was a Thursday). I watched Cate's progress anxiously, and on Friday, noticed her skin was folded and dull (typical for a
dehydrated animal). On Monday, upon my return to school, I found her lifeless body under the log, where she had spent most of her time since I had
had her.
I took her body to the vet and he did a necropsy and confirmed the swelling of the intestines typical of crypt infestation. I forwarded this info to my
breeder, who was in the process of testing all 100 or so of her snakes and finding multiple positives in her adult breeders. She was forced to euthanize
a large number of adult snakes who tested positive for Crypt. My vet and breeder instructed me to destroy all porous materials in Cate's tank (about
$40 of grapevine and log shelters) and to let her cage soak in pure ammonia. After scrubbing and rinsing the tank, I was to let it sit in full sunlight in
hopes that this would destroy any leftover cysts. I did all of these things.
A few weeks later, I attended the 2006 MARS show and purchased a beautiful hypo. Okeetee cornsnake hatchling. I put him into a new 10 gallon, and
the 20L I had for Cate sat unused for months until I gave it to a friend for keeping gerbils. I very much wanted to put Hokie into it, but was terrified that I
messed up somehow and he could catch Crypt from it. Hokie is now a gorgeous 4 year old corn, and I've learned quite a lot in the intervening years
about crypt and how it spreads.
I truly hope that this information helps to make people aware of the danger this disease poses to captive reptiles. I also hope that reading articles like
this causes us all take a look at our husbandry practices and make an effort to keep our animals as isolated as possible, and to be cautious in who we
purchase from and how we quarantine new stock. With regards to Crypt, there is no evidence that reasonable quarantine periods are successful in
preventing infection, as some animals can carry the parasite without displaying symptoms of infection. The best we can all hope to do is to be as
informed as we can be as to the dangers of this parasite.
seems that many herp keepers are unaware of its existence. Please feel free to forward this post to other forums or individuals, provided you link it
back to here. I am not by any means an expert in this parasite, but I wanted to share what info I have obtained, in hopes that others could benefit from
it!
Cryptosporidium serpentis, or Crypt, is often called "Creeping Death" by experienced reptile people, due to its propensity to infect reptiles without
producing any clinical symptoms for years and years. Infected animals may show symptoms immediately upon contracting the parasite (especially very
young or very old specimens) or the symptoms may take years to manifest themselves. During this time, the reptile may change owners or be sent out
on breeding loans and the entire time, it is shedding spores wherever it goes! Some reptiles seem to be carriers in that they test positive for the
disease but throughout their life never show symptoms.
Crypt is a deadly parasite that is passed through direct reptile-to-reptile contact (breeding, sharing cages, etc) or direct or indirect contact with infected
fecal material or regurgitates (dirty cages, sharing feed boxes or other cage cleaning supplies, not washing hands between different herps) and there
is no current cure. While all reptiles are susceptible to Crypt, it seems far more prevalent in snakes. I have also read a number of articles about Crypt
outbreaks in Leopard Geckos sold through chain stores. While there is no cure for crypt, my vet informed me that IF caught early, there are things that
can be done to arrest the development of the Cryptosporidium parasite, but the animal will need to exist forever in quarantine.
While there are several varieties of Cryptosporidium, C. serpentis appears to affect only reptiles and has never been diagnosed in humans. It is
important to note that very often, the clinical symptoms of this disease DO NOT manifest themselves during the normal period of quarantine, especially
for animals purchased as adults. Symptoms include weight loss, regurgitation, thickening of the intestinal walls (visible in post-mortems), dehydration
and general "anorexic" conditions. Death is nearly always inevitable once symptoms are shown.
Suggestions made by experienced herpetoculturalists include making sure that all reptiles are housed seperately (especially snakes), choosing only
reputable breeders for your herps, buying only CB herps (this parasite is quite common in wild collected herps!), maintaining stringent sanitation
processes between handling sessions, having seperate tools, utensils, and feeding tubs for each reptile you own, and regular disinfection and
sanitation of breeding, feeding, and housing equipment. It should be noted that the only disinfectant known to have a significant impact on Crypt is
straight household ammonia.
Now, for my personal experience with Crypt. I began researching to aquire a CB Corn Snake hatchling in the spring of 2006, in anticipation of getting
my first ever snake in August. I spoke with a number of breeders, and visited websites and talked to previous customers. I finally settled on a breeder
who had gorgeous snakes, and my hatchling anery corn arrived in early August! I was delighted with my tiny baby snake! I named her Cate, and began
to care for her like any newby would.
Cate flat out refused her first three meals. I finally got her to take a tiny live pinky in late August, and I was so happy! Three days after feeding,
however, I was extremely dismayed to find a partly digested pinky regurged in her tank. I posted on CS.com forum, and they soothed me, saying it
happens and to check my heat pad and temps, and not to handle her (I wasn't)! I did so, and continued undaunted. 14 days later, I offered Cate her
second live pink, which she constricted and consumed promptly. I breathed a sigh of relief.
Three days later, yet another regurge! At this point, I was upset and worried, because I had recieved notice from my breeder than an animal she had
held at her facility for a friend earlier that summer had tested positive for Crypt. My breeder urged me to wait a bit longer and try again, insisting that
Cate had left the facility early enough to be safe from Crypt. So I valiantly tried not to panic, and fed her again with the smallest live pink I could buy 2
weeks later. She ate straight away and promptly regurged 3 days later. At this point, I made a vet appointment, but the earliest I could get in would be
the following Tuesday (this was a Thursday). I watched Cate's progress anxiously, and on Friday, noticed her skin was folded and dull (typical for a
dehydrated animal). On Monday, upon my return to school, I found her lifeless body under the log, where she had spent most of her time since I had
had her.
I took her body to the vet and he did a necropsy and confirmed the swelling of the intestines typical of crypt infestation. I forwarded this info to my
breeder, who was in the process of testing all 100 or so of her snakes and finding multiple positives in her adult breeders. She was forced to euthanize
a large number of adult snakes who tested positive for Crypt. My vet and breeder instructed me to destroy all porous materials in Cate's tank (about
$40 of grapevine and log shelters) and to let her cage soak in pure ammonia. After scrubbing and rinsing the tank, I was to let it sit in full sunlight in
hopes that this would destroy any leftover cysts. I did all of these things.
A few weeks later, I attended the 2006 MARS show and purchased a beautiful hypo. Okeetee cornsnake hatchling. I put him into a new 10 gallon, and
the 20L I had for Cate sat unused for months until I gave it to a friend for keeping gerbils. I very much wanted to put Hokie into it, but was terrified that I
messed up somehow and he could catch Crypt from it. Hokie is now a gorgeous 4 year old corn, and I've learned quite a lot in the intervening years
about crypt and how it spreads.
I truly hope that this information helps to make people aware of the danger this disease poses to captive reptiles. I also hope that reading articles like
this causes us all take a look at our husbandry practices and make an effort to keep our animals as isolated as possible, and to be cautious in who we
purchase from and how we quarantine new stock. With regards to Crypt, there is no evidence that reasonable quarantine periods are successful in
preventing infection, as some animals can carry the parasite without displaying symptoms of infection. The best we can all hope to do is to be as
informed as we can be as to the dangers of this parasite.
| The Danger of Cryptosporidium serpentis in Captive Reptiles |
