Beardies have pinworms..:(

[ShannyBeard]

Just a note, Shannon,... ShannyBeard... is the Education Director of Reptile Rescuers of the United States. She knows a thing or two about dragons

And Amanda is the VP...

Amanda gave some really well thought out advice, and I'm glad she went over the supplements with you, since so many people don't realize how important they are. :?

 

[beardielove10]

Just a note, Shannon,... ShannyBeard... is the Education Director of Reptile Rescuers of the United States. She knows a thing or two about dragons

Wonderful! So glad she helped me then
thank you What about the canned fluker gourmet moist river shrimp or crickets or snails or grasshoppers? Are any of those okay for protein or just as a treat? I'm guessing just a treat. I am thinking of buying phoenix worms for my guys. It sounds like they are the best protein staple. What size would you recommend for both my guys? 13 month and 6 month old. Both my beardies are on the smaller side. I heard silkworms aren't that great because they make silk while you have them and make it hard to keep them. Plus i don't know if my little 6 month old is quite big enough for them yet. What size silkworms for both my beardies?

 

[beardielove10]

Just a note, Shannon,... ShannyBeard... is the Education Director of Reptile Rescuers of the United States. She knows a thing or two about dragons

That's awesome. Thank you Shannon!

How are Tomato Hornworms for beardies? A vet tech suggested those for a good protein staple.

 

[beardielove10]

Hello,

I took my beardies to the vet yesterday and it turns out they have pinworms . Makes mom sad. Anyway, the vet told me they most likely got them from crickets. The vet told me that crickets should only be fed once a month for a "treat." Because they can get stuck in their GI tract and cause impaction with the wings and antennas and long legs. Also because they carry pinworms. She told me that my beardies look like they need more protein and told me to just use meal worms. I have seen shell casings of the meal worms in their stool...is that normal? My beardies eat and poop every day and the vet said that's not normal either. So, she prescribed my beardies with Fenbendazole. Should I buy a probiotic after I do the first five days..wait two weeks..then do the last five days to replace the good bacteria?

You need to find another veterinarian immediately. I would run from this vet as quickly as humanly possible. This entire paragraph is extremely worrisome. A cricket could get stuck in the GI tract of a bearded dragon if you are feeding crickets that are too large - larger than the space between their eyes, but appropriately sized crickets will not.

Mealworms have very little nutritional value and are difficult to digest, and they are not recommended for bearded dragons. Your vet scares me. Most of my bearded dragons eat and poop every day. This is normal. I have 14 healthy dragons, all eating and pooping constantly. Again, your vet scares me.

Fenbendazole is a good medication for pinworms. Can you please tell me the strength of the Fenbendazole that was recommended, and the dosage that was prescribed, and how much your dragons weigh in grams. I would worry if your vet has already made some mistakes in what she has told you, she may not have the dosage of the medication corrrect, so it would be good to double-check her.

What is a good source of protein? If the vet says basically no crickets and just worms..is that really the best? I thought meal worms weren;t that good for them..and crickets were the best. But if I give them crickets they will get pinworms? AHHH! I am so confused. All the research I have done on nutrition basically went down the drain after this vet visit. I have a 13 month old and a 6 month old.

Mealworms are horrible, please do not feed them to bearded dragons. If your dragons are over 16" in length, you can feed superworms. They are higher in fat than other feeders, so you will need to limit how many you feed. You can also feed silkworms, which are over 60% protein and a very high quality feeder. If you can get butterworms, they are naturally high in calcium and healthy for your dragons. You can feed waxworms as a treat, since they are like beardie candy bars. Another good staple is dubia roaches, which have a higher meat-to-shell ratio than crickets. If you get crickets from a good source that has healthy bugs, then you shouldn't be picking up pinworms. Then again, I don't feed crickets very much except to the babies.

BTW- I did go to a vet that specializes in exotics.

Hard to believe.... :shock:

Also, what veggies are good for them to eat other than greens? The vet told me frozen veggies like corn, peas, green beans, and carrots. I read on beautiful dragons nutrition chart that none of those are good. It basically said all veggies should only be fed occasionally because they aren't that good for them. What is occasionally then..once a week? What is good for them then if veggies aren't that great??

I am so sorry but I can't even believe your vet is telling you this crap. This vet is just horrid. Frozen veggies do not contain Thiamine and your dragon will get a B vitamin deficiency if you only feed frozen. What is wrong with your vet?? Your bearded dragon needs veggies offered every single day of his life. You can feed turnip greens, collard greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens. Whichever of these your dragons like should be a daily staple fed first thing in the morning.

I NEED ALL THE HELP I CAN GET. I am so confused and just need the RIGHT advice that will help my beardies be happy and HEALTHY again Maybe a good schedule for each beardie of mine weekly? The breeder I got them from when Gizmo was 8 months and Sheldon was 3 months must have not taken great care of them because he vet thought they are very small built. Am I doing something wrong???

Thanks!!!
Ps- the vet told me that I can get pinworms from them because I hold them all the time and sometimes let them take bites of my food, then rip off the part they touched and not eat it. Also because I give them a little kiss when I pick them up. She said I have a very high chance of getting other diseases from them also. How serious is this?

Keep kissing your dragons. I don't have worms and I have eaten of the same spoon as my blue tongue skink. If you would like to give the name of your vet and the city, I would send education materials in an attempt to educate her. I am shocked and saddened that this vet has people putting their trust in her, because the advice is horrible.

A few things I want to clarify just to make sure your vet didn't sabotage the rest of your husbandry. Do you have a UVB and what kind and strength do you have? Do you have a bright basking bulb that gets the basking spot to 105*F? Are you dusting feeders with calcium powder 5 days a week and a multivitamin 2 days a week?

Do get the probiotic to help with the medications. Please come back with the information on the meds prescribed so we can double-check. WOW I am in SHOCK over what you have just posted here. :shock: :?

SERIOUSLY THANK YOU SO MUCH for all of this info. You are great and I am so happy you and everyone else has helped me so much!

 

[beardielove10]

I did post a few more questions before the above post if anyone can answer those! Thanks

 

[jberntsenr]

My beardie has been battling pinworms and choccidia for awhile. Can a beardie get pin worm from crickets? My vet said she couldn't.

 

[beardielove10]

My vet said they can if the crickets aren't taken care of properly and are in a dirty environment. But who knows, she was most likely wrong about that too.

Can I get pinworms from my beardies since they have them?

Also-what size phoenix and silk worms would you guys suggest for my 6 month and 13 month old?

How are hornworms and reptiworms for beardies? Never even heard of reptiworms...

 

[BotanicalStig]

This is why I tell people, NEVER listen to your vet. The only thing they're good for is checking poop :lol:

As for feeders, try the repti or phoenix worms (black soldier fly larvae), try silkworms, and try hornworms.

These are all very nutritious and delicious. My beardie likes hornworms the best, the soldier fly maggots don't move enough and they're so TINY... Not sure why he doesn't care for the silks a whole lot... every beardie is different, though.

Large size on the soldier fly (they're going to be TINY anyway), your year old should be able to eat full sized horns/silks, the ones your 6 month take will be pretty big too... use your best judgement.

EDIT: Also, humans can not contract pinworms from a reptile, or coccidia, etc. These types of things are specie specific and whatever your reptile gets, can't do anything to the human body. The only thing you need to worry about catching from your beardie is salmonella.

 

[jberntsenr]

Are the dry glut loaded crickets ok? I my stick with the dead ones and see if that makes a difference. If crickets can carry pin worm, I think I found the source of my beardie's pin worm problem.

 

[beardielove10]

Awesome. Do you still have to dust the worms or greens when feeding these worms?

 

[beardielove10]

Are the dry glut loaded crickets ok? I my stick with the dead ones and see if that makes a difference. If crickets can carry pin worm, I think I found the source of my beardie's pin worm problem.

Yeah, if you read this whole conversation of this post, they don't even really recommend crickets as a staple. Try other things like worms they mentioned that are much healthier!

 

[beardielove10]

How many silk worms and phoenix/repti worms should I be giving my 6 month and 13 month? What size?

 

[mikewithsfi]

How many silk worms and phoenix/repti worms should I be giving my 6 month and 13 month? What size?

Feed you beardies as much as they will eat while they are still growing, and atleast twice a day. When they are full they will stop eating. I promise you they will not continue eating until they burst.

 

[beardielove10]

Okay- what size for each of my boys?

 

[ClydesGirl]

Okay- what size for each of my boys?

You should be safe getting "large" phoenix worms for both of them. Phoenix worms, even the "large" ones are very small. Hornworms are my new favorite feeder for Bert. They can get quite large, but since they are very soft and squishy, you don't have to worry about that whole "smaller than the space between their eyes" rule. Bert eats his hornworms the same way he eats his salad. If he gets a big bite, he just chews and chews until he can pull more into his mouth. It's actually quite cute.

Hornworms are expensive, but they are very hardy. They can be kept at room temperature or they can be stuck in the fridge for 24 hours at a time to slow their growth. They come in their own "habitat" (a large upside down plastic cup) with enough food in it to let them grow to full size. A full grown horn worm is the equivalent of 30-35 crickets. So even though they are pricey per worm, you only need to feed a few of them per day. Bert gets two of them at lunch time and then crickets for dinner.