BeardeddragonDino
Hatchling Member
I recently took my bearded dragon to the vet because she was having some blood in her stool. The vet looked at some residue from her vent under a microscope and did not see anything, but a full fecal was not done. Suspecting that it was something parasitic or bacterial, she was given two dewormers at the vet (one for coccidia and one for pinworms) and was also given an antibiotic to take over the next couple of days. The antibiotic, metronidazole, is supposed to be given to her every other day for 10 days. She has already had 2 doses and should be getting the next one tomorrow. Recently, however, I noticed she was doing a head tilt to the left/tripping a couple times while running. The first time I noticed it was right before the second dose of the antibiotic. It's not super noticeable, but noticeable enough to concern me- especially because I don't want it to get worse. I read that sometimes head tilts can be caused by minor dehydration or low calcium, and I also read that some dewormers can caused dehydration and suppress calcium levels... so I'm not sure whether that it associated or not. I suppose the tilt could also be a symptom of whatever was causing the blood in the stool in the first place. She is still eating her dubia roaches, but she hasn't shown much of an interest in her salad. Her activity levels seem normal other than the fact that she trips a little when she runs. I'm not sure if the medicine is helping since she hasn't used the bathroom since first taking it.
So my main question is should I continue giving her the metronidazole or if it is causing the head tilt/balance loss and should be discontinued...?
I gave her a bath tonight to see if maybe dehydration was a factor, but I don't think I will know if this helped until morning.
So is it likely that the medicine is causing this, and is there anything I can do about it?
So my main question is should I continue giving her the metronidazole or if it is causing the head tilt/balance loss and should be discontinued...?
I gave her a bath tonight to see if maybe dehydration was a factor, but I don't think I will know if this helped until morning.
So is it likely that the medicine is causing this, and is there anything I can do about it?