Meds

Hello I feel like my nine month bearded dragon “may” have parasites. For the past few weeks he has been hiding out in his cave not really basking appetite has gone way down but is passing stool he has not lost any weight He actually gained 30 g in the past three weeks. I did just switch him over to Dubia roaches he has been eating crickets for the past seven months he loves the dubious it just doesn’t seem very interested in eating I would not say he’s lethargic but just very lazy my question is I do have a parasite medication here he had them back in October and the vet gave me some extra but now I’m not sure the dosing since he is a lot bigger he’s about 10 months old and weighs 409 g The medication is oral pills 250 mg tablet of Metronidazole. Back in October I was giving a fourth Of a tablet with 1cc of water orally by syringe 1x a week for 3 weeks at that time he was about 175 g anybody know how I would dose this correctly. Unfortunately I cannot find an exotic vet open due to this virus otherwise I would take him

Hi there,

I definitely wouldn't self administer meds without verifying that there is a need to, EG a fecal test.

Him gaining weight is a good sign. Typically, parasite infections cause a loss of weight, because the parasites consume the nutrients that would normally be going to the dragon.

-Brandon

I would not give the med as of yet --- call the vets office see if you can drop a fecal off for testing-- then go from there -- my 9 month old has been not eating as much as well and sleeping quite a bit too --- if hes not losing weight and still eating only if a little bit I would say hes fine -- keep an eye on the weight if he starts to loose it then I would be concerned --- it has been real cool here too and cloudy --
Karrie

Hi there, first thing to do is rule out a problem with lighting + temps. What type of uvb do you have and how old is it ? Is it a coil or compact or long tube ? Can you post pis of his enclosure , including the lights ? Also, does he get oral hydration at all ? What about calcium supplements, how often and with or without D3 ? Here's how to post pics :

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