Eating very little since parasite treatments

Hey Guys, my name is Lauren and I'm new to the forums..

My 8 month old bearded dragon Beardie has always been a little smaller than some beardies I've seen..I thought it was normal, since she ate well and wasnt lethargic at all untill recently, I purchased a 5 month old from The Dragon Hut and she is SO much bigger than my 8 month old, a lot fatter, more of an aggressive eater, and just seems healthier in general.

I took Beardie and a fecal sample to my herp vet and he said she had a moderate amount of coccidia, and lots of pin worms and giardia.. I suspected parasites when I finally realized that something was wrong. I've finished her 30 day treatment of panacur and bactrim.. it's only been about a week since her treatment was finished but she still hasnt gained any weight.. the vet said I should notice a small increase of weight gain and increased appetite within the first week of treatment..but I've yet to see either

I was just wondering if any of you have had a similar experience and could give me some advice as what to do from here... I'll be contacting my vet for a follow up visit, but in the meantime, I'd like to try to stimulate her appetite in any way I can. I've tried crickets, mealworms, several different types of greens, squash, green beans, cantaloup, you name it, I've tried it...

I work at a petstore so I have access to a lot of commercial diets.. I bought the exoterra bearded dragon dry pellet and tried that tonight, but with no success.. she's not interested in anything I offer her.

I made sort of a paste with the dry food mixed with water and gave her some with a syringe, and she seemed to take it well, it's the only way I can get her to eat

I really dont want to resort to force feeding, since I know that stressed them out, but I don't want her to just wither away..

her tempuratures are spot on, I have her on newspaper for now, I soak them twice a week and mist them everyday.. I just don't know what to do now.. any help or advice at all would be more than appreciated.

Thanks
Lauren

After a round of meds beardies need probiotics. I have some acidolphiliz+ that I got about 1+ years ago. I got it to give to Redrock when she went through treatment for pinworm eggs. It's a liquid that I had to purchase online as no one locally has it. I couldn't even find it in petstores in Tucson. If you go to http://www.reptileuv.com you will find another one under the link on the left for "our products" It's on the top left of the home page. After you click on that there is another tab on the left side about 1/2 way down that's called "probiotics & supplements" click on that and under that you wil find the list of what they have for sale. The stuff I'm talking about is called nutribac df. If you click on that there is a whole page of information on that product and what it does for beardies that have gone through a process of medication and all it does for beardies and other reptiles.

Thank you so much, I've just ordered the nutribac so hopefully it will get here soon so I can start the treatment..

I wonder why my vet didnt recommend a probiotic?

one more question on the dosage, would you recommend dusting her crickets and greens or making a slurry since she's not eating too well? and how long should she be treated with this?

thank you so much again for all of your help, I'm praying that this will work.

Hey guys..sorry to bump this thread again I'm just very concerned about my girl

like I said in my previous post, I ordered the nutribac and am waiting for it to come in the mail, in the meantime I've been reading up on what I should do since she's eating little to nothing on her own..
I tried offering her a slurry I made from the crushed commercial beardie diet, but she wasnt very interested in it so I got some gerber chicken and squash baby food tonight.. I mixed the two together and gave it to her, she managed to take 1cc of it, so I was pleased.. I wanted to know if this is okay to give her? I've read it in several threads on the forum, just making sure this is going to be a healthy alternative until she's treated with the probiotic and has her appetite back.

I just hope that the probiotic does the trick, I've been so worried about her these last few months and I don't want to lose her..

-she is in a 40 breeder, has a 10.0 reptisun uvb that is changed every 3-4 months, basking is usually at 103-105, when she does eat I dust her feeders with rep cal 7x a week and flukers multivitamin 1-2 x a week, she is no more than 10-12 inches away from the light sources, there is always fresh water available even though she never drinks from it, I mist her twice a day and give her lukewarm baths several times a week.. I offer collard, mustard,and turnip greens everyday..occasional fruits and veggies and lately I've tried to add the commercial diet to the mix. Her enclosure is and has been sanitized regularly (especially since she tested positive for parasites), and she is currently on newspaper..

I feel as if I've tried everything possible with the exception of a few different feeder insects, I think my husbandry is more than acceptable and I've tried very hard to maintain her, however she is MUCH smaller and thinner than she should be at this age.. especially compared to the dragon I bought who is several months younger and has definately outgrown her by a significant amount.

here are some pictures of her when I first got her, as you can see she was a little on the thin side and has never had much of anything on her arms, legs, and tail:




here are some recent pictures taken a month ago right before her treatment, she's gotten longer and heavier since I got her, but as far as her hip bones showing, and being thin, nothing much has changed:




could she be thin because of something else other than the parasites she was treated for? I feel horrible that I didnt find a forum or take her to a herp vet sooner, I thought her size was normal until i got my second dragon. I just pray that this probiotic works.