Blood in stool but clean fecal test

Kermit24

Member
Hi, I have a 5-6 month old bearded dragon who weighs approx 250 grams. A little over a month ago, I noticed some blood in his stool and decreased appetite, so I took him to the vet and his fecal sample had a coccidia infection of 4+. After the initial 2 doses of ponazuril and a disinfection routine, 2 weeks later his fecal sample was clean. His appetite improved and the blood disappeared. However, this weekend he again began having small amounts of blood at the end of his stool, which are soft but not diarrhea. He also has a much lower appetite, maybe eating 1/3 of his usual insects and only if hand fed. There isn’t blood in every movement, but it’s in at least one per day - he also began pooping more often. A fecal test done yesterday was completely clear. The vet is going to do some research but doesn’t have an initial idea of what’s going on. Otherwise, the vet says he appears to be in good health. Does anyone know of other causes for blood in stool? I’ve mostly read about parasites and hard stools or impaction, which isn’t the case here.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Please go over the lighting in the tank-- UVB brand and bulb coil or tube? where in the tank is it? Basking temps? what are they and how are you taking them? Can you please post the next stool w/ the blood in it-- https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ click on the XIMG at the top of the message box then click on the pic
 

Kermit24

Member
Original Poster
I have a Reptisun T8 tube bulb, hung about 8 inches above his basking spot. The basking temp is about 105 degrees, which I test via a temperature gun. I calcium dust 5x a week, and dust with multivitamins the other two days. The current substrate is paper towels. I will definitely post a pic of the next stool, thank you. The vet called back and basically said they wanted to try antibiotics, even tho they don’t know the cause - I am hesitant to try antibiotics without a definitive diagnosis, as I know they have many negative side effects. The vet also recommended trying to stimulate his appetite with mealworms, which I know aren’t great for beardies. Currently I am only feeding crickets, salad, and hornworms - he has stopped eating his Phoenix worms and dubias, which he regularly ate before.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
I agree no antibiotics till you have a diagnosis- the UVB is how old? Please post a pic of the poop - are you feeding the correct size for insects?
 

Kermit24

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":5eurouto said:
I agree no antibiotics till you have a diagnosis- the UVB is how old? Please post a pic of the poop - are you feeding the correct size for insects?

The UVB is about 4 months old, purchased in mid January. I am feeding no larger than the space between his eyes for the crickets and dubias, bigger for the hornworms as I read to go by the width of the soft bodied worms, not the length. He is 16 inches, so I was told he could handle medium sized hornworms. I will post pics of his next stool tomorrow - I thought I had already taken some, but I can’t find them. Thanks again for the help. I will definitely hold off on the antibiotics.
 

Kermit24

Member
Original Poster
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Here is his poop from this morning - it is in the smaller bit of stool. Today was not as much blood as normal, but it’s never a ton, and it’s always after the main poop…usually a couple drops of bright red blood a few inches from the stool, or like this morning, about 20 minutes after his first poop, he does the tiny mucus-y poop with a blood smear. He doesn’t eat anything red. The second tiny poop thing only started when the blood started.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Ok I am gonna have AHBD take a look and see what she thinks -- how many poops has he had like this?
 

Kermit24

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":3srhy97l said:
Ok I am gonna have AHBD take a look and see what she thinks -- how many poops has he had like this?
Every day for the past 6 days. As soon as it started, his appetite decreased. I went to the vet tuesday, who gave him a dose of ponazuril (he assumed it was the coccidia again) but the fecal test came back with 0 parasites. That’s when the vet suggested antibiotics because “maybe it could be a bacterial infection.”
 

Kermit24

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":3bf3k7yi said:
Did they do blood work? How was the fecal done? Did they do a enema?
The vet said he wanted to try the antibiotics before a blood test. I brought in a fecal sample and they sent it out to a lab to test, and I got the results the next day. I think I am going to start searching for a new vet, but I’m feeling frustrated as this was advertised as an exotics vet with reptile experience, but I feel like they’re just guessing.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Ok so I was wondering if they had done a fecal and that might of caused the blood --- let AHBD take a crack at it see what she thinks is going on --- I have flagged the post --- here is a website to find another reptile vet see what comes up in your area
www.arav.org
 

Kermit24

Member
Original Poster
Claudiusx":20psblg8 said:
What are you feeding the crickets?
Can you post a picture of him and your setup?

-Brandon

I feed the crickets the same veggies I feed him - dandelion greens, collard greens, turnip greens, mustard greens, occasionally kale or yellow squash. Here are some pics of him I took earlier today. I will take pics of his set up in the AM as soon as his lights are on. Thank you for any insight you’re able to give me!

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Hello. The pictures of your beardie look great. He looks alert at least. I've been having some fecal issues with my beardie as well. It's really soft/mushy with excess fluid. Sometimes when he poops he will poop again in a few minutes. Mostly mucus the second time around. Yesterday I noticed blood. I HAVE been bring him out into the yard recently and he does try to eat some of the plants there. Mostly dandelion leaves but also some bindweed which can apparently cause gass and bloating. It's also possible that some of his bugs have grown too large.

Sorry this isnt really helpful...more of a continuation of your original post
 

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