Coccidia Questions

My juvenile beardie (maybe 4 months old) has been walking on the back of his hands for awhile, so we took him to the vet yesterday and was told he has coccidia. He is still eating and gaining weight normally. They gave him his first dose of medicine and sent the other 5 doses home with us. I have ordered the probiotic recommended on another post as well as the no-rinse tank cleaner that kills coccidia; however, neither of those will come in for several days. He currently has a basking rock and climbing stick bought from PetSmart. What do I need to do to clean these items as well as the tank to prevent re-infection? I have been using a diluted vinegar solutions for weekly cleaning but wasn't sure if that killed coccidia. We use newspaper for substrate, so that makes it a little easier.

Hi there...sorry that your little guy is not well ! It's good that you've ordered the probiotic + disinfectant. His walking on his wrists is not from coccidia but is related to a calcium deficiency that causes the bones to be weak and/or become deformed. What exact type + brand of light do you use ? What type of calcium supplements ? There are good and bad bulbs sold at the stores, so this is VERY important for his recovery, to have the right UVB, the proper temps [ 105 basking side, 80 on the cool side ] If it's warm where you live, taking him out in the sun can help. You can use diluted red wine vinegar, which is much stronger than white vinegar and even bleach to clean everything, then just rinse off.

Thanks for the input. I had read up on the wrist walking and also thought it was a lack of calcium. We are new beardie owners and although I had read for months before getting our guy, I ignorantly did not realize I needed to use calcium/vitamin supplements for the first 7 weeks I had him As soon as I read up on it, I ordered him RepCal Calcium+Vit D and RepCal Herptivite Multivitiam. He has been receiving these for the last 2.5 weeks, getting one feeding of dubias dusted with the Calcium 5 days a week and one feeding dusted with multivitamin 2 days a week. Do you think this schedule is sufficient??? He is still very active and healthy in every other regard. Should the deficiency get better after more time with the correct vitamins?

We have a ReptiSun 10.0 UVB bulb underneath his top screen and his basking temp is around 105.

He doesn't walk exclusively on the back of his hands, but does it off and on. He moves quickly and climbs on anything he can find, especially when we let him out for his 'recess' as we like to call it. I feel terrible that we have neglected Drago's vitamins...I've said before that I feel like I'm raising an alien baby

O.K, you've made the adjustment and the calcium should help as long as he's getting close to the UVB bulb. Good that you have his UVB inside the tank, too. If you could set him up in a plastic tote for a while that is not as tall as his tank where he could get more UVB even if he's on the floor that would help even more. It's good that he's active + eating well, he could overcome it since his wrists are still flexible....once his bones get stronger he may begin to walk normally again. Did the vet say anything about that at all ?

The vet was not actually a reptile vet. When I made the appointment, I was told I would see an exotic vet, but somebody messed up and scheduled me on a day when it was not. Very frustrating. So she called the exotic vet and got their opinion over the phone. The vet on the phone recommended testing for coccidia since it sounded almost neurological. One leg appeared weaker at the time. Anyway, after testing positive for coccidia, they just gave me the medicine and that was that. I still think the calcium is the issue, although I'm still giving the coccidia meds.

Will you explain in more detail the logistics of the plastic tote suggestion you gave to get him closer to the UVB? That sounds like a good idea, but I can't picture what you're suggesting.

Here's a link to a youtube video....you can set up something like this but include a small stick to climb on as long as the beardie can't jump out. You can put a screen cover over where your heat lamp will sit on top.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=11&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjIuO6-tI7LAhXFGD4KHX0KAe0QtwIIYjAK&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DpGagopw_dZE&usg=AFQjCNEeW6j2wA6HgGis1JYwX7ZCOXhfRA&sig2=tbCcy87-tpI3qzejzoV7rA

Thanks so much, AHBD. I really appreciate all of your input.

You're welcome....remember, the goal is to be sure that he can get within about 8" of his UVB bulb. I hope that the he keeps eating well and the meds. aren't too hard on him and that he improves soon.