Beardie has parasites

[Shadowablaze]

A few weeks ago my wife and I bought a baby beardie ( guessing around 4-6 weeks old) from an exotic pet store near us. After a few days we named him Gus and he has brought us an immense amount of joy. Gus would eat anywhere from 20-30 crickets a day until we switched to Dubias and BSFL. At first he would eat around 20+ Dubias a day and occasionally pick at his salad. Over the past week or so he’s been eating only a few roaches a day and maybe a BSFL or two. He’s still drinking from his salad bowl and I’m giving him baths every other day.

I wantedto make sure that he was healthy so I took him to a herp vet and they said he appeared healthy but had a high parasite count. Gus popped on the doctor’s hand and they were able to do a fecal test. He had a high count of a parasite that begins with a g(not sure of the name) and a smaller count of Coccidia. They prescribed Panazuril(.04mL twice) and Metronidazole(.01mL daily for ten days).

Gus lives in a 40 gallon tank(36inx18inx18in) with a T5 Reptisun tube that is 34in. His heating is provided from a 100 watt bulb placed over his basking rock/hammock. The hot side of the tank is usually 95 with 30% humidity (measured by probe) and his basking spot is usually right around 110(measure with temp gun). His cool side is around 80. [Click image to enlarge]

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I just want Gus to be okay and continue to grow and have the best life possible. He poops twice a day and they stink but aren’t runny and are cleaned out immediately. Gus currently is 7.5in and weighs in at 15g. He’s shed his body and tail once, but so don’t believe he’s shed his head yet. Is there anything I can do to keep him from having problems with the parasites? He still pretty active but I worry about him. I just want to know if he looks okay and the set up is good.

[CooperDragon]

His setup looks great and he appears pretty healthy. Sometimes their appetites will fluctuate and that's normal. Since the vet was able to test a fresh sample and determined high counts of specific parasites, then treatment is probably warranted. Ponazuril tends to be pretty effective against coccidia, so that should do the trick with minimal side effects. Keep offering plenty of water to drink during treatment. Another key to treatment for coccidia is to keep everything sanitized to prevent re-infection. Sometimes it's helpful to temporarily use a disposable substrate like newspaper or butcher paper and also remove hard to sanitize items from the enclosure until the coccidia treatment is complete. You will want to use steam (heat), ammonia solution, or a veterinary disinfectant such as F10 to sanitize anything that comes in contact with poop after you've cleaned it. Keeping everything properly sanitized should help prevent reinfection once the all clear is given after the next fecal test.

[Shadowablaze]

It is good to hear that his setup looks good and that he looks healthy. I changed out his reptile carpet for paper towels til he is done his medication to making the cleaning easier. For the Ponazuril he only has to take .04mL every 48 hours for two doses and the Metronidazole is .01mL every 10 days for two doses. Only .02mL total of the Metronidazole seems like almost nothing but I hope that helps. I’ve been cleaning where ever he poops with Fluker’s Super Scrub immediately and rinsing it off throughly. I’m going to have another fecal sample tested after the 10 days of medication. Gus also has started shedding on his head which I hope isn’t affecting his appetite too much.

[CooperDragon]

Hopefully those meds will clear it up. They are pretty small, so the lower dosages and fewer treatments is a good thing as long as they are effective. Shedding around their heads can get them pretty moody, bad timing for that I suppose, but he will be OK. Please keep me posted on how the treatment and the re-testing goes.

[Shadowablaze]

Gus didn’t seem to mind his second dose of Ponazuril today and his appetite was much better. He ate around 20 BSFL and the last of the Dubia’s I currently have. (More on the way) I also caught him in his salad almost immediately after I put it in this morning at which point he ate some dandelion greens. (And then pooped in it forcing me to make him another one) He more of the dandelion greens throughout the day which made me happy. He also pooped three times this morning and none of them looked abnormal so that was also good.

He has been glass surfing a for a few minutes multiple times during the day and I’m not sure if it’s because he can see his reflection in the sides of the tank I don’t have a background on or if he just wants to come out of the tank and do some exploring.

I’ll give you another update after he goes back to the vet next week as well.

[CooperDragon]

It sounds like he is still active and doing well, so that's a good sign. I'm sure he's sorry, not sorry, about the salad I'm glad he likes dandelion greens, those are really good for them.

[Shadowablaze]

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Just a quick update on Gus. I took him to the vet again today and they said he is looking healthy and he has plenty of energy. I didn’t bring a stool sample as the appointment was for 9AM and he usually poops around then. Of course he didn’t go while we were there and they weren’t able to do a fecal test. The vet said they probably don’t need to do a fecal test unless he starts acting differently.

He has grown from 14g two weeks ago to 26g today and he is eating well. He still has regular bowel movements around 3 times a day. His poop doesn’t appear to be runny. I’m currently using a T5 HO 36in that sits on the top of his screen. He basks around 8-10 inches below it but can get to within 5in. I’m just curious if I should still get a fecal test done and if I should move his UVB into the tank?

[CooperDragon]

He looks like he's doing really well, and that's impressive growth. I would have a fecal test done at your leisure, I wouldn't consider it priority unless his behavior changes a lot as the vet said. Your UVB is close enough, I'd leave it where it is for now and observe how he reacts to it.