Dealing with pinworms, coccidia, and one other one.

[ayeitsemmaa]

Hello everyone, I just found out that one of my dragons has pinworms and they think coccidia and another one that im forgetting at the top of my head but my other one just has coccidia.. I was wondering about what to do with the disinfecting part of this?? I don’t know exactly if i use bleach and if so how much bleach to water do i use for everything? I don’t have another housing option for them and i’m kind of really worried that the medicine prescribed isn’t going to do anything. Please help

 

[CooperDragon]

You don't want to use bleach against coccidia. It's more effective to use an ammonia solution or a good steam cleaner (heat) or a disinfectant like F10. It's also a good idea to use a disposable substrate like newspaper or butcher paper that you can just throw out if it gets soiled. Minimizing the decor in the enclosure temporarily also helps by having less to disinfect. If you clean and disinfect (or throw out) surfaces that come in contact with poop, then it should help reduce the risk of re-infection after treatment.

 

[ayeitsemmaa]

You don't want to use bleach against coccidia. It's more effective to use an ammonia solution or a good steam cleaner (heat) or a disinfectant like F10. It's also a good idea to use a disposable substrate like newspaper or butcher paper that you can just throw out if it gets soiled. Minimizing the decor in the enclosure temporarily also helps by having less to disinfect. If you clean and disinfect (or throw out) surfaces that come in contact with poop, then it should help reduce the risk of re-infection after treatment.

I’m so sorry for such a late response but do you have any recommendations for steam cleaners to use that actually disinfect?? I’ve been looking and i cannot find good ones..

 

[CooperDragon]

I would get one that has some force to it. The one I've used is made by Shark and is about the size and shape of a tea kettle. It has a hose and small nozzle that sends the steam out with a fair bit of pressure. The downside is that the nozzle is only about the diameter of a pencil, so it takes a while to run it over every surface that needs to be sanitized. I try to get the nozzle within an inch or so of the surface (so the steam is still very hot on contact) and keep it there for at least several seconds to do its thing. You may be able to find different kinds, but the key is to have one that produces steam that is still quite hot at a useful distance.