Parasites

Ok so I have newly rescued a bearded dragon, I took him to the vet, and did a fecal exam, and was told he has lots of parasites, so much that he was given 2 kinds of medication. I am so scared, I love my bearded dragon so much, the vet did not tell me much of anything, just gave me the medication and took my money. I don't know if parasites make him tired, in pain, etc. I am also not sure if the medication is going to cause him any discomfort. I'm also worried that I was told he had alot of parasites. I hope this is not life threatening. I'm freaking out, worried about my precious little guy. He has doubled in size since I have had him for thr past 6 months, he was very malnourished when I first got him. I don't know if he got parasites since he has been in my care, or if he has had parasites for over 6 months. I have no idea how he got parasites, or how to prevent this from ever happening again. First I just hope he survives this treatment. I do clean his enclosure every single week with powerful chemical terrariums cleaning product that I bought online. I give my bearded dragon a warm bath regularly. I order all my feeders from www.rainbowmealworms.Com, I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. Please help!!???

Hello,

Did the vet not tell you what parasites your dragon had?
Which medication is he on? Some medications are incorrect & shouldn't be given to
reptiles at all.
Has his beard turned dark at all?
If you can review your tank setup with us, we can be sure that everything is all correct.
If you can post some pictures of your dragon & your setup that would be helpful.

Thanks,
Tracie

Drache613":1g9i9gj8 said:

Hello,

Did the vet not tell you what parasites your dragon had?
Which medication is he on? Some medications are incorrect & shouldn't be given to
reptiles at all.
Has his beard turned dark at all?
If you can review your tank setup with us, we can be sure that everything is all correct.
If you can post some pictures of your dragon & your setup that would be helpful.

Thanks,
Tracie

Click to expand...

The vet did not tell me what kind of parasites. I can ask about that. I'm not home now, but I can take photos later when I get home.

Does the enclosure set up impact him getting parasites?

He has a 75 gallon glass tank enclosure at home, he has plenty of hides, branches to climb, and a soft fleece hammock and I have 2 che, the repti sun 10.0 the good one that is long, and I have the smell one that is curly on the cool side, on the warm side I have an all in one bulb that has uvb uva, heat and very bright light. The temperature on the warm side is about 100 degrees farenheit, and the humidity is 40%, on the cool side it is 80 degrees farenheit, and the humidity is a bit higher about 45 to 50%. I use newspaper as substrate.

Hi there,

Yes definitely if we could find out what parasites were seen, and their counts, that would be good to know.
Also what was prescribed would be good to know.

Your setup wont impact whether or not he gets parasites, but if your husbandry isnt proper then it will make it harder for his body to naturally fight off the parasites, which can lead to counts raising too high and causing some issues.

-Brandon

Hello,

Do post some pictures when you get a chance. Your lighting sounds good, but if something
is off then it can cause some stress, yes.
If you can find out the diagnosis & the medication, that would be great.
How is he doing tonight?

Tracie

Drache613":1v5k57bz said:

Hello,

Do post some pictures when you get a chance. Your lighting sounds good, but if something
is off then it can cause some stress, yes.
If you can find out the diagnosis & the medication, that would be great.
How is he doing tonight?

Tracie

Click to expand...

Been under the weather myself, and I'm a special ed teacher in an understaffed, underfunded program. I'm tired so tired.

I forgot to take photos. He is doing ok I think. He has seemed sleepier than usual. Also he is not showing any interest I'm eating today. He weighs about 15 ounces, which is within the healthy range for bearded dragons.

Hello,

That is understandable, I hope things get better & that you recover!
How is he doing today?
He could also be slowing down some due to the season like a lot of them tend to this time
of year.
Is he losing any weight or holding stable?
When will he be finished with his medication? Be sure to keep him well hydrated while he is
on his medication too for helping out his kidneys.
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

[
Schmitty is almost done with his medication. He is starting to get his appetite back and made me happy by eating 5 dubias this morning! He ate like 7 superworms yesterday, also he is back to eating his daily greens. I also bought him something for immune support, I have been giving him liquid calcium daily, as well as liquid multivitamin every other day. I never ever see him drink unless he is in his bath, so I just make sure to give him a syringe of water if I dont see him drink that day.
He has 1 more treatment of a medication then the vet said he needs to be rechecked 2 weeks from now. The medication is called Fenbendazole (Panacur) Susp. 10% ml disputed. I forgot what the other medication was called he was on it for 21 days once per day. The Panacur he had 3 treatments of and the last one he has to take this Friday. The vet said wait 2 weeks between the panacur treatments.

Both meds were liquid and given in a syringe thingy.


quote="Drache613"]Hello,

That is understandable, I hope things get better & that you recover!
How is he doing today?
He could also be slowing down some due to the season like a lot of them tend to this time
of year.
Is he losing any weight or holding stable?
When will he be finished with his medication? Be sure to keep him well hydrated while he is
on his medication too for helping out his kidneys.
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie[/quote]

[

Also his weight is stable and he seems to still be growing because he is shedding. My boy is one tough cookie!

quote="Drache613"]Hello,

That is understandable, I hope things get better & that you recover!
How is he doing today?
He could also be slowing down some due to the season like a lot of them tend to this time
of year.
Is he losing any weight or holding stable?
When will he be finished with his medication? Be sure to keep him well hydrated while he is
on his medication too for helping out his kidneys.
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie[/quote]

Hello,

That's great he has improved so much I am so happy for him. So, he is growing
too? He must be feeling better. Feel free to post pictures of him as he progresses
just so we can see him.

Tracie

Posting photos on here is complicated but I will try to remember how. My boy is always shedding, he is such a resilient little guy. I tell him he is the Apex Predator all the time, then he devours a few dubias to make me happy or to make him happy. Lol

quote="Drache613"]Hello,

That's great he has improved so much I am so happy for him. So, he is growing
too? He must be feeling better. Feel free to post pictures of him as he progresses
just so we can see him.

Tracie[/quote]

Hi there, sounds like Schmitty is doing very well in your care. Did you ever find out what bugs he had or what meds. he was on and were the meds. given every day or every few days ? Do you remember if the vet said he had pinworms + coddidia [ those 2 are the most commonly treated ] And just a word of caution, use much less of the liquid vitamins [ and can you name the brand you're using ? ] Too much of that can be toxic. Maybe once a week, and calcium every other day. BTW, here's how to post pics :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them

I always think of shedding as equating to growing but I could be wrong. I mean his weight is pretty stable. He is very close to 16 ounces.


uote="SchmittysMom"]Posting photos on here is complicated but I will try to remember how. My boy is always shedding, he is such a resilient little guy. I tell him he is the Apex Predator all the time, then he devours a few dubias to make me happy or to make him happy. Lol

quote="Drache613"]Hello,

That's great he has improved so much I am so happy for him. So, he is growing
too? He must be feeling better. Feel free to post pictures of him as he progresses
just so we can see him.

Tracie[/quote][/quote]