Crypto in my collection, please advise

[bcr229]

Unfortunately I know way too much about crypto. Thankfully the snake I dealt with never left QT before being diagnosed so I only lost the one.

Crypto is highly contagious, incurable, and incredibly durable; most antiseptics don't kill it, though since the oocysts are fairly large physical removal through washing with soap and water does work. Ammonia kills it, as does highly-concentrated hydrogen peroxide.

Unfortunately fecal tests for the oocysts can show a false negative so it may take 3-4 tests to detect it. It is easily detected in a necropsy.

Transmission is fecal-oral and it's rampant at pet shops that co-hab lizards; an infected lizard will poop, another will step in it and then run through the water bowl or a feeder insect like a cricket will step in the poop and then get eaten, and boom they've all got it.

Going forward here is what I would do in your situation:

Close your collection: nothing new comes in and nothing goes out for a year.

Hopefully your critters are all living alone, not in colonies. If you are cohabbing then the animals must be separated ASAP.

Keep the enclosures scrupulously clean. I would put everything on paper instead of natural substrate, and when the critter makes a mess, all of the paper comes out, the enclosure is disinfected, fresh paper goes in, etc. Wear disposable gloves when cleaning messes, and change them before moving on to the next enclosure.

Food and water bowls should be run through the dishwasher on the hottest possible cycle, not hand washed.

Get everything tested. Yes you can get false negatives but you don't get false positives.