He refuses to open his mouth!

This thread is funny in a way, just reading all of our struggles with the problem. I have found that connecting medication with food can cause them to have a negative association with the food or the hand that feeds. Unfortunately, with our first dragon it broke the hand-feeding trust and even 8 months later the dragon will scrutinize any food we try to hand him. I wish we would have just pried his mouth open, to be honest.

These days we are patient and keep trying, keep trying to get them to open their mouths and take the medicine. Even if it takes a while, we have the time, and we are patient with them until they accept it.

When I got Sam and he had Cocciadia, I would trick him by holding a wax worm (was all the little bugger would eat then) and when he opened his mouth to grab it out of my hand, I snuck the syringe in there. I am afraid Sam has had a relapse. It has been almost 3 years since his last bout with it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed since I have another bearide thats aggressive and really doesnt like to be handled.

lilblack94gt":1jklrtqz said:

When I got Sam and he had Cocciadia, I would trick him by holding a wax worm (was all the little bugger would eat then) and when he opened his mouth to grab it out of my hand, I snuck the syringe in there. I am afraid Sam has had a relapse. It has been almost 3 years since his last bout with it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed since I have another bearide thats aggressive and really doesnt like to be handled.

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If they are not housed together, it's possible the aggressive beardie doesn't have coccidia. Have you been working with the other beardie to gain its trust? Captive bred and raised beardeds are not naturally aggressive to humans, so keep working with him. Can you hand feed him?

One thing about coccidia - it is perpetuated by a dirty enclosure, like when their poop is left in there. What happens is crickets will eat the poop and then the beardie will eat the cricket. :? See, coccidia in very small numbers is already naturally present in your dragon, and those small numbers don't need to be treated because it is often normal to have that. But when the coccidia counts increase to an above normal amount, then that is when it causes health problems. So if you have a dragon with the very small number in it that's normal, and you are leaving poop in the viv and his feeders such as crickets are eating the poop, the numbers will raise. Also stress will raise coccidia levels. SO watch both things closely.

If your dragons are housed together, separate them into their own vivs. They will benefit from their own space in many ways, but for you, it will be easier to keep the poop out since two poops in one viv is too many poops. LOL One poop is enough.