Possibly Ill Beardie (Need Advice)

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Ok, so my bearded dragon is approximately 3 months old and has been in my care for the past 3 weeks. As of about 4 days ago his appetite has gone down, he wasn't much of a big eater to begin with but he had become uninterested in the crickets I was giving him. He'd watch them walk around and keep his eyes on them but he didn't want to chase after them to eat them. He also was not pooping normally for 2 days, I figured maybe it was his greens as they were starting to go bad so I replaced them. But on Thursday I got home from class and saw blood in his stool. I immediately took him to the vet but did not have a fresh stool sample to have them examine. The vet gave me a liquid coating to help ease his intensities and colon if they were aggravated.

I force fed him 2 small wax worms and 6 dubia last night and he was able to keep them down. This morning he had a small poo with no blood in it but it was way to small to sample for a fecal test. Now after his bath I prepared him a little salad with a few wax worms and he hasn't touched it. A few minutes later her threw up and I saw some remnants of the Dubias. I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions until I can get a solid stool sample to take to the vet.

I bathe him on a daily basis for about 10-15 to keep his hydration up. And after he threw up he did take in some water. He also currently weighs 18 ounces.

His terrarium has a basking spot of up to 118 degrees at the highest perch point and the cool side of the tank is at 84 degrees with humidity at 21%. I have both a reptisun 10.0 UVB tubular bulb and a 150 watt basking bulb.

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XGeekChickx

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Original Poster
destiny1998":3jpb2hwc said:
Hi. He's very colorful :D How are you taking the temps? Is the uvb a t5 or a t8?
I have one digital thermometer with a probe on the hot side of the tank and a thermohygrometer on the cooler side of the tank along with a small thermal heat gun thermometer. The UVB bulb is a t8.
 

destiny1998

Extreme Poster
Photo Comp Winner
Thanks for answering. You definitely want to mount your uvb light inside as the mesh blocks lots of the uvb. I'd also lower the temps. 118 is too hot even tho he can go to different basking spots. The hottest it should be is 110 and the cool side should not be hotter than 78.
 

XGeekChickx

Member
Original Poster
destiny1998":38rftlr7 said:
Thanks for answering. You definitely want to mount your uvb light inside as the mesh blocks lots of the uvb. I'd also lower the temps. 118 is too hot even tho he can go to different basking spots. The hottest it should be is 110 and the cool side should not be hotter than 78.
Those are easy fixes, he pooped earlier and it was more substance than it had been over the past few days. I'm going to store it just in case but I'm hoping he gives me another decent sized one to take to my vet on Monday.
 

Emilymoore499

New member
My bearded dragon opens her mouth and leaves it open for about 30 seconds and will sometimes push her thoat out for maybe a min. Her set up is about 100° and her cool spot is about 80° and at night its all around 80° . she has daily routines and she seems fine im just worried . / i am new at this site i dont really know how it works or how to do it so sorry if i made this in the wrong section .
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

How is your dragon doing this evening?
I hope you are able to get a fecal sample just to check for worms or parasites. Hopefully that
wont be the problem. Are his insects smaller than the space between the eyes?
Once you get the Reptisun 10 tube mounted inside, it can be at a 6-8 inch distance from him,
to give full exposure. I agree, try to get the basking temperatures down to a range of 95-110,
max. The 118 is too high & could cause heat issues.
Since he has thrown up, be sure to offer water with a plastic dropper to keep him hydrated.
Does he drink when you give him a bath?

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie


**Emilymoore499- it would be easier to help you if you started your own thread so as not to
interfere with the OP's topic at hand here. Thanks.**
 

XGeekChickx

Member
Original Poster
Drache613":3fxicqpo said:
Hello,

How is your dragon doing this evening?
I hope you are able to get a fecal sample just to check for worms or parasites. Hopefully that
wont be the problem. Are his insects smaller than the space between the eyes?
Once you get the Reptisun 10 tube mounted inside, it can be at a 6-8 inch distance from him,
to give full exposure. I agree, try to get the basking temperatures down to a range of 95-110,
max. The 118 is too high & could cause heat issues.
Since he has thrown up, be sure to offer water with a plastic dropper to keep him hydrated.
Does he drink when you give him a bath?

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie


**Emilymoore499- it would be easier to help you if you started your own thread so as not to
interfere with the OP's topic at hand here. Thanks.**

So I got the fecal back and he has coccidia, I've already received medication for him and have started his treatment. His tank is being throughly cleaned daily as to stop the life cycle of the parasite so he does t re infect himself. I'm keeping him hydrated and he does drink in his baths. I've since adjusted the temps in his tank as well and he's a bit more active despite his ailment. All the buggies he eats are smaller than the distance between his eyes and he has no loose substrate so I wasn't worried about impaction. I will let you know once he's back to his normal self :)
 

EllenD

Gray-bearded Member
What was the coccidia count? Hopefully they aren't treating a low count, coccidia in low counts is normal and does not need to be medically treated unless the count is moderate/high...Also, I hope they put him on Toltrazuril (Ponazuril) and not Albon, not that Albon doesn't work, but it's definitely not as effective as the Toltrazuril, and Albon is much harsher on their gastrointestinal tracts (should give daily probiotics with either med), and most importantly the Albon is usually a 14-28 day treatment, where the Toltrazuril is usually only 3 days...
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

That's great he drinks from his bath. I hope he doesn't get too dehydrated on the meds. Which
medication for coccidia did they place him on?
Good, it doesn't sound like he should be impacted then, with him eating the proper sized food
& no loose substrate.
I think the temperature increase will help boost his immune system & activity level also.

Keep us posted on him.

Tracie
 

XGeekChickx

Member
Original Poster
I'm not sure how to quote multiple people at once so I apologize in advance, the medication he was put in was a sulfa drug, specifically zenequin, it was originally a pill but the vet crushed it in a mortar and pestle and I'm giving him micro amounts. I can tell you all today that just from one small dose yesterday he's much more energetic so I'm hopeful that he's on his way to a quick recovery. He's getting probiotics from bearded dragon.co as well to maintain his good gut flora.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi there, it is good that he's drinking and that he seems to be a bit better. It's odd that the vet gave him Zenequin, and not even a measured dose. I've never heard of that drug being used for coccidia. Just watch for signs of illness, vomiting, diahrea + extreme lethargy. It seems like a gamble to crush it up + have no real way to say how much he's getting. Sulfa drugs are very harsh.....how many days will he be on it ? Many vets are using the much gentler + faster acting Ponazuril or Toltrazuril for coccidia.

You might inquire about these if the Zenequin doesn't do the trick or seems to make him sick. Hopefully everything will work out for your pretty baby !
 

EllenD

Gray-bearded Member
Yeah, I've never heard of using this either, and especially an unmeasurable dose of sulfa. Sulfatrim is often used for coccidia and it unfortunately kills a lot of beardies, we just had one on here a week or so ago that died after two doses I believe. I would be questioning both the choice of drug (it may not even treat coccidia at all, he may need a secondary treatment with a proper drug anyway), and the fact that he "crushed a pill" and told you to just give a pinch or whatever, that's extremely dangerous with any drug, especially with a small beardie, and even more with a sulfa drug. Hopefully your beardie isn't allergic to sulfa, that is the first potential issue, but please watch him closely, give lots and lots and lots of water and/or Pedialyte, and if you see any sudden swelling, vomiting, coughing, wheezing, lethargy, etc. you need to get him to an emergency animal hospital immediately.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Hm, I don't really like that the medication isn't dosed though, it needs to be dosed per his
weight for safety! Where did the vet get the information for using this for coccidia?
As suggested, watch for signs of illness & lethargic behavior along with a black beard. I
hope that he will make a full recovery & let us know how he is doing.

Tracie
 

XGeekChickx

Member
Original Poster
Heads up everyone, first of all thank you so much for all your advice. I wanted to let everyone know that Francis is back to his regular self and is eating normally again. I've since switched his diet to Dubia roaches and he goes nuts over the little guys. He eats plenty of protein and still gets his salads daily. Here's to hoping this experience never happens again as I'll be more on top of my babies care
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Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

Things to do:
Buy calcium powder
Material to raise surface for basking spot
Scenery decals for back of tank

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