Hello all,
My 3-4 month old juvenile bearded dragon, Fernie, was diagnosed with pinworms and coccidia through a fecal test. He has a 3+ count of both. He was prescribed albon and panacur but the vet has not prescribed or recommended a pro-biotic to go along with it. Our vet is not a reptile vet although he does consult reptile vets and does his own research to help us. I know he's not familiar with reptile diseases or infections. I asked him about giving Fernie yogurt to help keep the good gut bacteria stay intact, but he felt that Albon wouldn't affect his appetite or gut flora and said to stay away from the yogurt unless we saw his appetite decreasing. I feel like we should have been feeding him soy yogurt from the get-go, but now, five days into Albon (we only dose him with the panacur once a week for two weeks), there is a slight decrease in appetite where live feeders are concerned...he's only eating about 10-12 a day whereas he was eating up to 15 before and he wants little to nothing to do with his veggies and he was such a good vegetable eater before! He was already under-eating before he was diagnosed and is having trouble putting on some weight. He's 30 grams. Its hard to get the vet to respond the same day if I call because they're so busy. Should we be feeding Fernie soy yogurt? Any particular flavors? And how much and when to administer it?
Thanks for your help!
Edit: On another board, I asked the same question and a member told me to use manuka honey instead of yogurt. This person said not to feed them human foods that they wouldn't find in the wild, and the yogurt can actually do more harm than good. Does anyone have an opinion on this honey?
My 3-4 month old juvenile bearded dragon, Fernie, was diagnosed with pinworms and coccidia through a fecal test. He has a 3+ count of both. He was prescribed albon and panacur but the vet has not prescribed or recommended a pro-biotic to go along with it. Our vet is not a reptile vet although he does consult reptile vets and does his own research to help us. I know he's not familiar with reptile diseases or infections. I asked him about giving Fernie yogurt to help keep the good gut bacteria stay intact, but he felt that Albon wouldn't affect his appetite or gut flora and said to stay away from the yogurt unless we saw his appetite decreasing. I feel like we should have been feeding him soy yogurt from the get-go, but now, five days into Albon (we only dose him with the panacur once a week for two weeks), there is a slight decrease in appetite where live feeders are concerned...he's only eating about 10-12 a day whereas he was eating up to 15 before and he wants little to nothing to do with his veggies and he was such a good vegetable eater before! He was already under-eating before he was diagnosed and is having trouble putting on some weight. He's 30 grams. Its hard to get the vet to respond the same day if I call because they're so busy. Should we be feeding Fernie soy yogurt? Any particular flavors? And how much and when to administer it?
Thanks for your help!
Edit: On another board, I asked the same question and a member told me to use manuka honey instead of yogurt. This person said not to feed them human foods that they wouldn't find in the wild, and the yogurt can actually do more harm than good. Does anyone have an opinion on this honey?
