Infected with Giardia and Coccidia!

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My beardie has been recently diagnosed with giardia and severe coccidia. I have him on medication but would like some tips on cleaning him and his viv and preventing getting the infection myself, I'd especially like to know how long giardia can survive on surfaces.
 

discojan

Juvie Member
You might want to take all the dragon's stuff out of the cage, and keep it on paper towels for easy clean up. If you haven't already trained your buddy to poop in the bath (his bath, not yours!), you might do that as well, as it makes for easier clean up. I'm assuming you've already taken your dragon to the vet and that s/he is on meds. You might want to read the article on supportive care for parasite treatment and invest in some soy yogurt or acidophiliz to help replenish good flora in the dragon's gut.

Coccidia must be killed by high heat or steam--you may want to invest in a cheap steamer (like for clothes) to clean out the viv. I don't know about giardia. When our girls dealt with these nasties, we bathed them daily in their cat litter pans filled with warm water (not too hot). Usually they poop within 20 minutes of being in the bath. Afterwards, we would clean the bath tubs with hot water and Dr. Bronner's soap, and then pour boiling water over the tubs to kill any lingering parasites. For the most part, there was no pooping in the viv. Anytime there was, however, we 'd take whatever got pooped on out and clean it with diluted bleach solution. There is controversy as to whether or not bleach actually kills coccidia, so we would cook things on low temp after that (I.e. branches etc went in the over for an hour or so at 200).

If you come in contact with the poo, make sure you wash your hands well with hot water and soap. Coccidia is a common parasite in cats/dogs too. It is very hard to get rid of in beardies--our little girl has been fighting it since Sept :(

Good luck!
 

beardiesrock123

Member
Original Poster
Thank you for the help! All his stuff has been taken out already. The meds he'd been on for a week apparently were no help, and the vet was surprised he hasn't died yet. She's apparently more of a bird specialist than bearded dragon specialist, so I'm going to take him to a vet who's been working with beardies for their whole life. He may be okay, he's behaving fine and looks very healthy. He had diarrhea recently, that's when this started, but I read up and it could've been from the squash I introduced to him recently. His poop is pretty normal now, and he himself is 6 months old 18 1/2 inches. I'm hoping this other herp vet can help better. He hasn't shed a large amount in a while, however, and when he was younger, he usually shed 1-2x a month. I'm not exactly certain on his age so he could be a bitx older and almost done growing. I'm going to post this in the health section and ER too because the vet thought he'd be dead by now and I need some advice on the giardiasis.
 

discojan

Juvie Member
Glad you're going to get him/her to another vet. Did the first vet do a fecal float? Our little girl was infested with parasites too, and is still struggling to get rid of them. While it is true that the parasites are serious and must be treated because they can hinder growth, make your dragon uncomfortable, and reduce appetite etc, I imagine it takes a while for them to kill a beardie, especially one that is eating and pooping well. What meds was your buddy on? You might PM one of the moderators for drug recs and dosages...
 

beardiesrock123

Member
Original Poster
If you mean a normal fecal, then yes, though if a fecal float refers to something else I'm not sure. One of the medicines is called metronidazole. I think another is called tribissen, it's pink, I'm not sure though. The other I think is panacure. The prescription on the meeds has worn off, though, it was only for two weeks. My beardie apparently also has a few nemotoads and another disease, but they may be normal for bearded dragons according to the vet.

Also, he just pooped. It's healthy looking, but is covered in a light green color. Is this normal? It's very healthy looking but it's getting lighter and lighter each day (slightly).
 

discojan

Juvie Member
I forget what the names are, but there are two kinds of fecals a vet can run. One I think is a straight up--under the scope type thing and the other is something called a float. Usually it's a good idea to have both done, though it can be more expensive. Our girls were on a combindation of metrinodazol and pancur for a bunch of different things and the one with coccidia was also on SMZ and then Albon.

I'm not familiar with nematoads. There are all kinds of parasites that can live in a beardie's gut. Some are considered "normal" in low numbers--i.e. pinworms or sometimes even coccidia, but again, I'm no vet, and my degree is in the humanities, so I defer to the experts. If your vet said the stool was Infested it's important to treat. Sometimes, because reptiles are cold-blooded and the parasites can lay eggs that live on in the lizard's intestines, it may take more than one round of meds to knock out the parasites. Unfortunately the meds can be tough on the critter's system.

Are you giving your lizard acidophilus /soy yogurt for its gut? If not, try reading the caresheet on supportive care for treating infectious diseases right here on beardeddragon.org. it explains the timing of treatment. It's important to help the lizard's gut regenerate good flora/bacteria for aiding digestion. Acidophilz is readily availabe from beautifuldragons.org for less than $10 shipped.
 

beardiesrock123

Member
Original Poster
Well, I have a lot to say in this post. First of all, I got my beardie's new UVB bulb in the mail yesterday because his old one came with the zilla desert fixture and after reading information on this site I realized the only UVB bulb perfect for beardies was the reptisun 10.0. Today, his appetite was a lot better (lately he'd seemed to only want crickets, no veggies) and his colors are brighter. Hopefully the better UVB will help him fight the diseases.
EDIT: To better explain, I knew the reptisun 10.0 was the best, but thought he could use the zilla for the normal 6 months. After about five, I was looking for a new one, and after research, discovered he needed the 10.0.


Second, I got some probiotic cricket dust from the vet that I have been giving him once a day with his last meal.

Third, I got a new prescription of just panicure (trying to knock out giardia because it's the worst disease he has) and the prescription is over now, but his poop has firmed up from smelly diahrrea to pretty normal.

Last, the diluted bleach solution kills giardia according to what I've read on this site, so throughout the treatment period I cleaned his tank with the bleach solution and changed newspaper daily. Hopefully it's gone now, soon I'll send in a poop sample to the vet and find out. If not, I'll probably have to clean the tank out literally every day he's on medication. If the giardia is gone, then I can deal with his coccidia, which is high but nowhere near as bad as his levels of giardia.
 

beardiesrock123

Member
Original Poster
GREAT NEWS :DDDDD!

He's giardia free! Also, the nemotoads he had are gone too! Now all I have to do is treat him for his levels of coccidia (which are apparently not very bad) and then I'll have a healthy beardie!
 
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