I think my beardie has parasites and I'm taking him to the vet today. What is the likelyhood that he will survive? I'm not sure how common parasites are but I'm very worried. Is there a high survival rate for beardies who have parasites and go to the vet for treatment?
Hi there....how old is your beardie, what size and how is he acting + eating ? Most reasonably healthy beardies get through treatment pretty well. But first of all you need to take in a fecal test to determine IF he has them and what type he has. There are different meds. depending on what type of parasite he has. It also depends on the count....if it's a low count [ less than 3+ ] then he might not need any treatment. A vet may prescribe Albon or Ponazuril for a beardie with coccidia. Ask for Ponazuril [ also called Toltrazuril ] instead of Albon because it's much less harsh and can work with much fewer doses. For pinworms [ which are very common ] it's a med. called Panacur....it's very safe + well tolerated.
Other posters may offer their perspective and experiences with their beardie's treatment.
He is 11 months old. He is eating chicken baby food but wants nothing to do with collard greens. He is acting a bit sluggish. He is 18 inches long from nose to end of tail.
He looks a very healthy weight, muscular arms + tail. Will he not eat live food so that you give him baby food ? It's actually a good way to get extra hydration in him, just add extra water to the baby food once in a while. But he should be eating regular food ideally.
Be sure that your vet has experience with lizards and ask for a write up of whatever he is diagnosed with [ if anything ] and what + how much meds. he is on. One of the mods. here [ Drache613 ] can can read blood tests as well as determine how much meds. should be given if needed.
Also, can you post the exact brand + type of lights you use. what his temps. are and post a pic of his set up ?
I didn't have live food on me (except wax worms but I don't want to have to have him go through an impaction at the same time as this haha) and I knew I had some chicken baby food on hand which I hoped would help haha he has a 100W mercury vapor bulb and the brand is zoo med power sun. His temps are usually around 80-85 on the cool side and 100-105 on the warm side.
Your set up is nice....I'm not sure that the 100 watt Powersun will give off enough UVB to reach his basking areas. Some of those bulbs seem to work fine, but others may be weak. If you could test it that would be great, but just in case he needs more UVB you could get a Reptisun 10.0 tube and mount it in the tank about 10" from his basking spot. Or if you could lower it some without making the tank much warmer. I don't know if that's part of his problem [ weak or not enough UVB ], but see what his fecal test shows. Hopefully he'll be feeling better soon.