Anything we can do to protect from worms and parasites?

[NickandAutumn]

We recently got a bearded dragon baby and have been doing quite abit of research to learn as much as we can. We have heard a few people talk about worms and parasites and I was wondering if there is anything we can do to preotect our little guy against getting anything?

We keep his tank clean and he gets a bath a 1-2 times a week. He eats crickets as his main protein source for right now, and a fresh 'salad' everyday.

 

[Permutation]

I would avoid getting Crickets from petsmart if possible. They recycle the crickets there, any un eaten food from their reptiles goes back in the sell bin, which spreads disease. Our younger male got pinworms from their Crickets when he was younger.

Other than that, keeping things clean and as long as you don't have any other infected reptiles you should be ok. And keeping stress down. Beardies always have a low amount of parasites in their gut which does no harm to them, but stress can increase those and cause problems.

Probitics are great as well, they come in powder form that can be sprinkled on salads or a liquid form, probiotics will encourage good gut bacteria

This is where we order ours from http://www.bug-de-lite.com/

 

[Taterbug]

Raising your own bugs and practicing good hygiene with them and your enclosures will go along way. Keeping temps and other husbandry stuff on point will help your dragon stay healthy with a good immune system - which in turn keeps things in check.

One of the downsides about feeding live prey is that it's not always free from things and regular fecal screenings are still a good idea.

 

[NickandAutumn]

Thank you both for the response! I'm worried because petsmart is the only place around me that has live bugs and I've been feeding my young dragon that I also got from petsmart their crickets. I actually hate them and have been looking for alternatives for our beardie and a post on here suggested www.symtonbsf.com and they have a reptile grade soldier grub. Is that a good option? I really want to stop feeding the crickets now to avoid making his sick in anyway.

 

[Permutation]

like mentioned above by taterbug I think most live feeders have the potential to carry parasites, so not just crickets. Avoiding petsmart will lower the risk.

I would definitely source an online place to get your feeders from, or raise your own, Im sure there are lots of people on here that could give you some advice in that area as well. I don't have any experience in raising my own so I cant offer any help, but there is a section on this site for that kind of discussion.

I know there are alot of good places online for feeders (again check the feeding or feeders board on here for some tips), and the black soilder fly larva is a great feeder, only downsize is they are quite small.
Try looking into silkworms, they are great! I also know you can order silkworm eggs and hatch them at home, so some research on that route may also be another idea

Also I would reccomend getting a fecal done on your baby to rule out any existing parasites.

 

[Permutation]

here is one link for online feeders I see on here a lot.

http://www.mulberryfarms.com/

 

[Reptilelady]

I would avoid getting Crickets from petsmart if possible. They recycle the crickets there, any un eaten food from their reptiles goes back in the sell bin, which spreads disease. Our younger male got pinworms from their Crickets when he was younger.

Other than that, keeping things clean and as long as you don't have any other infected reptiles you should be ok. And keeping stress down. Beardies always have a low amount of parasites in their gut which does no harm to them, but stress can increase those and cause problems.

Probitics are great as well, they come in powder form that can be sprinkled on salads or a liquid form, probiotics will encourage good gut bacteria

This is where we order ours from http://www.bug-de-lite.com/

OMG you serious!? Petshart does this? :shock: It's a good thing i stopped buying crickets from there. My goodness. I mean crickets are annoying and i hate them. They jump, die off quickly and smell :x Only get crickets if i run out of dubias and BSFL waiting in between orders, etc.
You can get organic dairy free soy yogurt if your in a hurry and need to get something quick.

 

[Permutation]

Yeah its unfortunate, we avoid petsmart for live feeders now and only go to them for emergency light bulbs and stuff like that. We got some emergency crickets from them when our guy was younger and then he got sick and stopped eating. Had the fecal done and there were pinworms. None of our guys eat crickets anymore, we rotate with Silkworms, hornworms, BSL, and Superworms. We also get ours from a trusted place and have a great local reptile shop not far from us.
Regardless parasites will always be a risk, thats why regular fecals are a must in this house.

And the soy yogurt is a great emergency probiotic, used it during my guys treatment for parasites while he was on his antibiotics. Probitoics help immensely during treatment, and are great for regular use as well.

 

[Reptilelady]

Wow thats unfortunate! Plus they are a rip off, wanting $.14 cents per cricket plus a chance to have parasites/worms. No thank you. I get my crickets from a mom and pop shop not a corporate company. Most of them do not even know when i asked them at one time "Can you breed crickets?" They had the most puzzling face and said "Not sure but you can just purchase your crickets here" :lol: I am not a fan of those petstores either. Gave me wrong/poor advice. Never trust those. Also one time i went there they had a bunch of bearded dragons in small enclosure with poop everywhere and crickets running around. Gross! :?

Just out of curiosity but how long did your beardie not feel well like how long was on crickets and then got sick? And was beardie poops redish/orange color?

 

[Permutation]

I agree I feel like those big chain pet stores do more harm than good.
Thats why I try to tell anyone looking for advice and correct information to hit the forums or talk to the reptile rescues.

I had about 2-3 days worth of petsmart crickets for him, and I started noticing his appetite slowing down after a month or so, I thought maybe brumation at first but that didn't make sense to me as he was only about 8 months old, and his appetite was almost non exsistent.
As for the reddish orange colour I didn't see any of that, what i did notice though that his poop smelled horrible, it would clear the whole room. So super smelly poop can be a sign, cause none of my Dragons poop smell that awful now lol.

We did not wait long when we saw his behaviour change and booked him into the vet asap.

After that we had to dump all of our crickets, which at that point we had about 500 because we order in bulk from our regular place and mixed them in with the petsmart crickets without knowing about the parasites at the time.

EIther way we werent up set about that. Crickets are fairly inexpensive in bulk.
also fecals and treatment for parasites are also fairly affordable, Beardies being on the smaller size don't require a huge ammount of medication. Which is nice.

 

[Gormagon]

This is why I went to dubias six months ago, they are less likely to carry parasites and, so far so good. I never want to have to pur Peaches through that hell again. It took two months to get her to eat right after the treatments. I give her probiotics in her salad (liquid form) once every six weeks to make sure all is well.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Avoid buying PETSHOP insects (of any description).
Only buy from reputable insect breeders.
Wash all veg and greens given to your insects (for gutloading) and beardies (for salad).

Cross your fingers.

 

[NickandAutumn]

Thank you ALL very much for the responses. I took all your responses to heart and ordered two different kinds of feeders from two different online breeders. I'm going to find one that I like I never go back to petsmart again and support their corporate nonsense. I already knew that they aren't a good company that actually cares for the animals that they supply and care for but all your stories made me really see that they are ****. I'm worried for my little guy he's been raised on petsmart crickets when he was there and then thats what I've been feeding him ? I'm definitely going to get him a vet check and get his feces checked out once he's on the new feeders. I'm forced to feed him the lest few crickets I have until my orders come in so I'm crossing my fingers for sure.

Luckily my local petsmart doesn't seem like one of the more bad ones. Most of the enployeees did give me accurate information and the tanks were clean that all the animals were in. Plus I went back today and looked at the crickets and the place they were being held in was clean and had no odor. So I'm just hoping that they are a cleaner store just for the sake of all the crickets my beardie has been eating...

Again thank you all so much for the help.

 

[Permutation]

you're welcome

Getting a fecal done will ease the mind. Good luck with your new feeders!