Worming Dragon

Hi, I have some question about alternative worming methods for dragons and want to know if any have tried some out for themselves. I have an 8-year-old bearded dragon that I've had for 7 years now, due to poor care from his previous owner we have a lot of digestion issues and such, well recently I suspected some kind of parasite and I had a vet appointment set up but I just had to go to the ER and suddenly I don't have the funds to take him to a vet to confirm which kind of parasite. I hate to treat him with something that can harm him if it's the wrong medicine, without a confirmation of what type of parasite. So my question is have any of you had experience with these other 'alternative' wormers.

Reptaid Supplement
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Reptaid.html

Diatomaceous Earth (I have on hand, food grade)
http://www.inlandbeardeddragons.com/wp/?page_id=88
This is something I thought of but besides this site, I dont see much talk about it.

Nature Zone - Reptile Worm Guard Powder
http://reptilerapture.net/nature-zone-worm-guard-2oz.html

Liquid Panacur (I have on hand)
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Panacurliquid.html
I have read good thing about pancur, and this is kinda my number one option, but I've read some things saying it can be harsh on their system too.

You might want to PM Drache613. I think they'd be the one to go to for this kind of thing.

Hello,

Are you relatively sure it is a worm type of issue, what are his symptoms? Has he lost weight
or have a reduced appetite but is not bromating?
Panacur is very mild so as long as you dose it properly, most of the time there aren't any type
of side effects. Do you plan on giving probiotics for him also?
The Reptaid has been shown to be effective against worms & parasites, but, isn't a medication.
If you have that on hand, you could give that a try first.
I haven't used the Diatomaceous earth of the Worm guard powder.
If you decide to go the Panacur route, I can help you with dosing.

Tracie

His symptoms are runny poop, loss of weight, he's not digesting his food properly (I have triple checked his temps, they're all normal), after he goes to the bathroom he looks almost anorexic and when he eats he looks bloated. His appetite is still very healthy though and he's super active at the moment, but the main thing that makes me think he has a parasite is the smell has turned horrendous, I can't clean his cage without gagging. So far it's only been 2 of his most recent bowel movements that have been like that. I got some BSFL from a new breeder that I haven't tried and after that is when this issue started, my guess is they were contaminated of some sort. If I do Panacur I'd definitely add Acidophiliz+ to the medicine list, I just don't have this on hand so I'll have to order it and wait.

Hello,

Well, it does sound like he is having some worm or parasite trouble.
The panacur will only get worms like pinworms, but if he has coccidian or flagelletes, etc
it will really help those out any. It is always good to have a probiotic on hand.
What type of lighting & heating does he have?
Has he been able to eat much at all?
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

Okay well after a lot of research, and reading through threads on here I've decided to go with reptaid just because it seems like it's not harsh at all and has had a lot of good reviews, my goal if I'm not able to eliminate the problem is to fight it without damaging him, especially if I use Panacur and it ends up being coccidian, then use albon, that's to much risk without confirmation from a vet. I want to do something before the situation gets too out of hand until I can take him to the vets.

With that said, reptaid isn't the cheapest of the bunch but it's cheaper than the $150 the vet will charge me plus gas money. With using reptaid do I need to buy a probiotic, I would be buying Bene-Bac Bird and Reptile formula, I definitely agree I should have already had a probiotic on hand but is it necassary to have with reptaid or is it something that I would be able to wait and get?

Drache613":6f6sxozw said:

Hello,

Well, it does sound like he is having some worm or parasite trouble.
The panacur will only get worms like pinworms, but if he has coccidian or flagelletes, etc
it will really help those out any. It is always good to have a probiotic on hand.
What type of lighting & heating does he have?
Has he been able to eat much at all?
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

Click to expand...

He still has a huge appetite, devours all his veggies. This week is turnip greens and yellow squash. I also have Rephasy Veggie Burgers on hand, that I try to mix into his veggies but he isn't a big fan of it. He's very active during the day but has been going to bed alot earlier. I have a 10.0 reptisun light, then his basking light is just 125W bulb his highest basking point is 110-112F the lowest is about 75-80F depending on temps in house. His cool side usually stays around 70.

Thank you for your replies, it's helping alot while I try to figure out what I can and should do.

Okay, so I just wanted to create an update on how my beardie is doing using the reptaid product. I started the reptaid on February 3rd, the first 6 days were good my beardie remained active and eating well acting himself, the first thing I noticed was he wasn't going to the bathroom and the second was dehydration even though I was bathing him once a day for 15 to 30 minutes each, he also lost interest in basking. He didn't go to the bathroom until finally February 9th and he by that time he started acting sluggish in the mornings he just looked... old, he looked tired and his face looked dry, well after breakfast, he was perky and enjoying himself. On February 10th I gave him Bene-Bac for Birds & Reptile gel, it didn't seem to have an effect on him at all and on February 11th in the morning he looked tired again and remained inactive, I thought of cutting the reptaid off but decided to do the full 10 days. On February 12th I gave him his last dose of reptaid at 7:30am and then at 3pm I syringe fed him some repta-boost, which he hadn’t been interested in his food unless I hand fed him, but after the repta-boost, he got a bath and that really livened him up, he didn’t eat but he immediately went to basking. Today he ate his entire bowl of greens, and is acting normal except he goes in his hide to sleep periodically, he’s only basked for about 5 minutes but he’s moving around and being mostly himself today and his appetite is definitely back and his hydration looks really good. His feces don’t smell horrendous so I think whatever parasite is down, probably not gone but it is down. I have a vet’s appointment at the end of this month, it’s a new vet I haven’t ever used and he said he’s pretty basic in any herpetology but he knows how to do fecal so that’s what I need.
Anyway review on reptaid, it seems like it’s worked but I’m not going to say it’s super safe either, just as traditional medicines for parasites take a toll this seemed to have some negative effects on my beardie, it’s either because the loss of parasites was too quick or the medicine is just harsher than advertised.
Bene-bac I think helped after a few days, which is doing its job and the repta-boost was the most effective for fast-acting boost.