Advice on treating for coccidia

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Took my bearded dragon, Draco, the vet for lack of appetite and failure to grow. He is 4-5 months old, 9" long and 22 grams. He had only gained about 5 grams in the previous two months. They started Draco on antibiotics for a respiratory infection. He told us that other than his small size he seems very healthy and approved of our husbandry. Since starting meds last Saturday he has already gained 3 grams, seems interested in eating a bit, and is full of energy.

Turned in a fecal sample yesterday and we found out that he has extremely high levels of coccidia. They said that out of 1-4 his levels were a 4. We go in tomorrow to start treatment. I'm not sure what they are prescribing yet but I did order bene-bac to give him along with his medication. They told me that I needed to disinfect his terrarium and everything that is inside. They suggested that I replace his wooden log.

I'm wondering about the live feeders I currently have. Should these be replaced as well? I've been keeping them fed and alive since he lost his appetite. But if that is how he became infected would it be best if we started all over?
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Boundangel":2ykc4rw5 said:
Took my bearded dragon, Draco, the vet for lack of appetite and failure to grow. He is 4-5 months old, 9" long and 22 grams. He had only gained about 5 grams in the previous two months. They started Draco on antibiotics for a respiratory infection. He told us that other than his small size he seems very healthy and approved of our husbandry. Since starting meds last Saturday he has already gained 3 grams, seems interested in eating a bit, and is full of energy.

Turned in a fecal sample yesterday and we found out that he has extremely high levels of coccidia. They said that out of 1-4 his levels were a 4. We go in tomorrow to start treatment. I'm not sure what they are prescribing yet but I did order bene-bac to give him along with his medication. They told me that I needed to disinfect his terrarium and everything that is inside. They suggested that I replace his wooden log.

I'm wondering about the live feeders I currently have. Should these be replaced as well? I've been keeping them fed and alive since he lost his appetite. But if that is how he became infected would it be best if we started all over?

Wow, he's TINY for his age (should be about 100g if 4 months old) , and he's been in the wars.


You can try either making a bath of F10 ( 8 ml F10sc in 1000ml water , will be more concentrated than normal use ) and soaking the log for a day in this and then letting it airdry .
If it's short enough you could put the log in the oven and cook it for a few hours at 140 degC.

is he sharing a tank with another sibling ?

Can you tell us what his feeding schedule and diet has been (details needed) ?

What are the basking temperature, the warm zone and cool zone temperatures ?

What are you using for his UV source (details ie brand , type, wattage, %UVB rating, age, distance to basking spot etc) ?

Regarding the feeders (what are they ? ) , these are unlikely to be source of the coccidia.
You could move them to a new clean keeper tub / tank (incase the coccidia was in them , it will be harboured in their fras (poo).
 

Boundangel

Member
Original Poster
kingofnobbys":3hoh5qny said:
Wow, he's TINY for his age (should be about 100g if 4 months old) , and he's been in the wars.


You can try either making a bath of F10 ( 8 ml F10sc in 1000ml water , will be more concentrated than normal use ) and soaking the log for a day in this and then letting it airdry .
If it's short enough you could put the log in the oven and cook it for a few hours at 140 degC.

is he sharing a tank with another sibling ?

Can you tell us what his feeding schedule and diet has been (details needed) ?

What are the basking temperature, the warm zone and cool zone temperatures ?

What are you using for his UV source (details ie brand , type, wattage, %UVB rating, age, distance to basking spot etc) ?

Regarding the feeders (what are they ? ) , these are unlikely to be source of the coccidia.
You could move them to a new clean keeper tub / tank (incase the coccidia was in them , it will be harboured in their fras (poo).

Thanks for your reply! He is definitely very small! This was him at the vet...

101330-6551801809.jpg

I ordered F10 from Amazon and it will be here Sunday so I will save the log so we can clean it properly.

He is our only beardie so he has no other siblings living in his tank.

Prior to being sick he was eating about 35 BSFL and dubias a day spread between 2 feedings. He was also being offered a mix of greens (mustard greens was his favorite), butternut squash, and cactus pears but rarely ate any of it. Since getting sick and refusing live food he has been eating reptaboost, carnivore care, and baby food.

His temps on the cool side are in the mid to high 70s. The ambient warm side is in the high 80s. His basking spot is between 105-111. The night time temps are dropping to 71.

He is in a 20g tank with three sides covered and we are using paper towel as substrate until we upgrade to tile. We are using a Reptisun 10.0 T5 UVB. We changed the bulb after 2.5 months thinking that maybe it was a bad bulb. This one has been in use for about 1 month. He sits between 8" and 10" away from it depending if he is hanging out on his log, hammock, or basking spot.

The feeders I'm worried about are the dubia. The BSFL were frozen and disposed of when they started turning to flies because he wasn't eating. Most of our dubia are now larger than what he was previously eating so I ordered some more small ones. I don't want to combine them until I know that the current ones are safe for him.

Also, the antibiotic he is already on for the respiratory infection is Ceftazidime, .01cc injections every three days. They are also testing for adenovirus even though his only symptom is possible failure to thrive.
 

Boundangel

Member
Original Poster
Just wanted to post an update. We are day 13 after starting treatment for a respiratory infection and 5 days after starting treatment for coccidia. We got a positive adenovirus result last week but so far he isn't showing symptoms. He has gained 13 grams and how weighs 35 grams!

101330-7032348639.jpg
 

ScottSB52

Member
Hi Boundangel,

How is your guy doing? I am currently dealing with a similar issue, but we are only on day 4 of treatment...
 

Boundangel

Member
Original Poster
ScottSB52":16djklvs said:
Hi Boundangel,

How is your guy doing? I am currently dealing with a similar issue, but we are only on day 4 of treatment...

Sorry to hear that you are dealing with a similar issue! Ours is doing much better. He has gained 29g in the last 3 1/2 weeks. We've just kept up on the meds and keeping his tank super clean (using F10). He is actually eating live food every day and pooping every few days. It's been worrisome but we are making it through.

Hope your baby is doing better!
 

ScottSB52

Member
That is great to hear! Mine (Tuco) has also made a huge improvement over these last two weeks - it's been amazing to watch.

Do you have much longer to go for his treatment? The vet I took Tuco to said that if a dragon is experiencing something stunting their growth, they can still reach a full, healthy size if they are treated young enough. Hoping for the best for Draco!
 
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