Parasites?

I’m concerned my best friend might have some parasites.. here’s a list of symptoms I can remember.
Not as active
Dark dots on the top of his head (sometimes)
Colour of body changed from a bright orange and beige to a dark brown and rusty orange (almost all of the time for the past two months)
Not pooping as often, diarrhea once in a while, and an orange coloured poop once after I gave him carrots once.
His uvb bulb went out for about two weeks because I was waiting for a paycheque, but I gave him vitamin D3 and electrolytes in his water for the one being.

Other than that he’s eating fine, 20-25 super worms a day and lots of spinach broccoli and water a few times a day through a dropper because he doesn’t like to drink from a bowl. About 12 calcium covered worms a week.

I love my little guy so much, and I couldn’t stand to lose him at the young age of 2.. please help me out

Hi there, can you post pics of him + his set up ? Here's how :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them
There's no way to tel if he has parasites other than a fecal exam. I do want to mention that 20-25 superworms is way too much food. At his age he should be getting no more than 5-7 large insects of any kind daily along with a good salad that can include any or all of these [ mostly greens ] collard, dandelion, turnip, mustard, endive, arugula, kale [ kale is fine , it was incorrect info passed around that it is not good for reptiles, but spinach IS bad ] squash, sweet peppers, green beans, peas.

AHBD":395244oz said:

Hi there, can you post pics of him + his set up ? Here's how :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them
There's no way to tel if he has parasites other than a fecal exam. I do want to mention that 20-25 superworms is way too much food. At his age he should be getting no more than 5-7 large insects of any kind daily along with a good salad that can include any or all of these [ mostly greens ] collard, dandelion, turnip, mustard, endive, arugula, kale [ kale is fine , it was incorrect info passed around that it is not good for reptiles, but spinach IS bad ] squash, sweet peppers, green beans, peas.

Click to expand...

I had no idea, I’ve been misinformed by a local pet store on how much to feed him. (Stupid money hungry ****) I also didn’t know spinach is bad for them.. I’ll try to follow your instructions and post some pictures later today or tomorrow. Thanks for the reply I’ve learned so much already

You're welcome.

Oh my, far too many Superworms...they are extremely high in fat and actually should not be one of his "staple feeder insects" at all, but only a supplement.

At 8 months old he should be having at least 2 live insect feeding sessions every day, each session lasting 10-15 minutes, where he is allowed to eat as many live "staple" insects as he wants to...However, that does not include Superworms at all. Appropriate live staple insects for Beardies include Crickets, Roaches (dubias and other species), Silkworms, and Phoenix Worms/BSFL. So he may very well eat 20 large BSFL, crickets, dubias, etc. in a 10 minute feeding session, that's fine, but never use Superworms in the same way that you use the staple insects I listed above. It's not only about the high fat content (though that's serious problem if it continues long term, as they can cause Fatty Liver Disease over time if they are fed like that), but also about the hard shells that Superworms have. They aren't quite as hard as the mealworm shells are, but if they are eaten in those large quantities at one time they can certainly cause gastrointestinal issues and impactions.

As an example, my 7 month old male gets 3 live insect feeding sessions every day (I'm getting ready to scale him back to 2 live insect feeding sessions every day at 8 months old) plus he gets a fresh salad of greens and veggies every day after his first live insect feeding session in the morning. I use size large BSFL as my main live staple feeder insect, and then I supplement with medium superworms. So in the morning he will usually eat between 15-20 large BSFL, then I put in his fresh salad (which he at best nibbles at throughout the day). Then he gets his second live insect feeding session around 3-4 in the afternoon, where he'll usually eat another 15-20 large BSFL. Then he gets his third live insect feeding session around 7-8 at night, and I will typically give him 1-2 medium Superworms first, then I'll start offering him the BSFL, and usually at most he'll eat between 5-10, and that's a lot. Then his lights stay on for 2 hours and go out at 10.

In contrast, my female just turned a year old about 2 weeks ago, and she very suddenly started devouring ALL of her greens and veggies daily, so I just went to 1 live insect feeding session daily and then 2 fresh salads. So first thing in the morning she gets her live insect feeding session, where I give her 1 size Large Superworm, then I give her unlimited large BSFL for 10 minutes, and she typically eats between 15-20 of them. Then I put her fresh salad in. Around 3-4 her salad is gone, and I put another one in, which she'll devour as well, and then around 7-8 I'll give her another large Superworm. That's it. No more than 2 large Superworms a day. She'd probably eat 10-20 of them if I let her, you have to realize they are like Big Macs to them. I know many people who insist on ONLY feeding Superworms as their live staple insect, that's all their dragons get as far as live insects go, and it's just not good. Too much fat. So it's not so much the quantity of live insects you give them, I'm a true believer in unlimited amounts of HEALTHY live staple insects in 10 minute periods, but no Superworms, wax worms, butterworms, hornworms, and never any mealworms...