DobbysMomma
Member
Hi all,
Thank you in advance for reading—I’m getting desperate. I have a juvenile bearded dragon that is approximately 9 months old—his name is Dobby. I got Dobby at a reptile Expo back in November after a heartbreaking experience losing a baby I adopted that ended up passing away from Atadenovirus (all new tools, tank, accessories, etc).
Dobby came to me at 3ish months in November eating and growing like a champ. He grew incredibly quickly, and was really active and thriving. Fast forward to about a month or so ago: little guy started spending most of his time in his hide, only to be coaxed out by food. Quickly, his appetite began to lessen, and then he went off food completely (even waxworms :O).
A vet trip to my fav herp vet and a fecal sample discovered high levels of parasites—coccidia, pin worms, and some sort of amoeba? He got two does of ponazuril spaced 48 hours apart (11 and 9 days ago) and is due for a follow up fecal in 3 days. All the while, he completely refuses food. At the time of the fecal, paranoid me also requested an ADV test, which came back positive
Despite nearly 4 weeks of next to no eating, Dobby only lost 10 grams (down from 268g), which the doc said is good news. Doc also said that he has more fight and energy than most beardies that succumb to active ADV, so he’s hoping that the lack of appetite is due to the parasites (which is treatable), and not active ADV (not treatable). Doc said that while he could stand to gain a bit more weight, he’s generally pretty healthy (blood tests showed normal calcium, liver, kidney, white blood cell count, no anemia). Other than the panacur, doc prescribed trips outside for UVB (which Dobby HATES), and assist-feeding with Carnivore care (which both Dobby and mommy hate). He did seem to gain some energy after the Panacur, coming out of the hide for hours at a time, but he’s still lazier than his younger self. I’m currently assist-feeding daily and orally giving Acidophiliz in case the parasite treatment is informing his lack of appetite.
I guess my question is: is there anything more that I can be doing?? Does anyone have any experience with this? I feel like the assist-feeding is incredibly stressful for him, even though I try to do it gently. I think I’m beginning to notice him fearing me when I come to the cage I’m starting to feel like it may be doing more harm than good in terms of stress, but also want him to have energy to fight off whatever is going on with him, which he can’t have without food! Also feeling a bit doomed because of the ADV diagnosis, but also he’s so much healthier than my tiny little guy that passed to ADV last year. Any advice? Tips? Miracle cures? (A girl can dream ?).
Oh! And set-up!: 40 gallon (36x18x18) with Repticarpet (recently switched out with paper towel to help with sanitation). Banking temp-105, cool side-85, hot side not directly under spot lamp-92 to 98. Temps taken with infrared gun. Exo-Terra Intense Basking Spot Lamp (100W) for basking, Zoo Med ReptiSun 10.0 UVB T5 HO Lamp and bulb (2 months old) for UVB.
Thank you in advance for reading—I’m getting desperate. I have a juvenile bearded dragon that is approximately 9 months old—his name is Dobby. I got Dobby at a reptile Expo back in November after a heartbreaking experience losing a baby I adopted that ended up passing away from Atadenovirus (all new tools, tank, accessories, etc).
Dobby came to me at 3ish months in November eating and growing like a champ. He grew incredibly quickly, and was really active and thriving. Fast forward to about a month or so ago: little guy started spending most of his time in his hide, only to be coaxed out by food. Quickly, his appetite began to lessen, and then he went off food completely (even waxworms :O).
A vet trip to my fav herp vet and a fecal sample discovered high levels of parasites—coccidia, pin worms, and some sort of amoeba? He got two does of ponazuril spaced 48 hours apart (11 and 9 days ago) and is due for a follow up fecal in 3 days. All the while, he completely refuses food. At the time of the fecal, paranoid me also requested an ADV test, which came back positive
Despite nearly 4 weeks of next to no eating, Dobby only lost 10 grams (down from 268g), which the doc said is good news. Doc also said that he has more fight and energy than most beardies that succumb to active ADV, so he’s hoping that the lack of appetite is due to the parasites (which is treatable), and not active ADV (not treatable). Doc said that while he could stand to gain a bit more weight, he’s generally pretty healthy (blood tests showed normal calcium, liver, kidney, white blood cell count, no anemia). Other than the panacur, doc prescribed trips outside for UVB (which Dobby HATES), and assist-feeding with Carnivore care (which both Dobby and mommy hate). He did seem to gain some energy after the Panacur, coming out of the hide for hours at a time, but he’s still lazier than his younger self. I’m currently assist-feeding daily and orally giving Acidophiliz in case the parasite treatment is informing his lack of appetite.
I guess my question is: is there anything more that I can be doing?? Does anyone have any experience with this? I feel like the assist-feeding is incredibly stressful for him, even though I try to do it gently. I think I’m beginning to notice him fearing me when I come to the cage I’m starting to feel like it may be doing more harm than good in terms of stress, but also want him to have energy to fight off whatever is going on with him, which he can’t have without food! Also feeling a bit doomed because of the ADV diagnosis, but also he’s so much healthier than my tiny little guy that passed to ADV last year. Any advice? Tips? Miracle cures? (A girl can dream ?).
Oh! And set-up!: 40 gallon (36x18x18) with Repticarpet (recently switched out with paper towel to help with sanitation). Banking temp-105, cool side-85, hot side not directly under spot lamp-92 to 98. Temps taken with infrared gun. Exo-Terra Intense Basking Spot Lamp (100W) for basking, Zoo Med ReptiSun 10.0 UVB T5 HO Lamp and bulb (2 months old) for UVB.