EllenD":cct3dpir said:I agree that at 6 months old your dragon is extremely small, either due to the parasites and meds causing lack of appetite and absorbtion of nutrition, or something else is going on and you absolutely do need to see an experienced reptile vet.
If that much albon hasn't helped the coccidia at all, I would not give anymore, because it's obviously effecting her appetite negatively (you should be giving probiotics as well to try and normalize her gastrointestinal flora). Toltrazuril usually takes care of coccidia very quickly and easily. I would not mess around with flagyl, as it is a very harsh drug and shouldn't be necessary to treat coccidia. But honestly, I don't think you should do anything else until having blood work and a gram stain done by an experienced vet.
I'm not saying it's not possible to successfully diagnose parasites/worms/coccidia on your own (I have a master's degree in Animal Health Science and worked at the Animal Diagnostic Lab at Penn State), it's simple microbiology. However, you haven't done a gram stain (floats and wet mounts are not the most efficient testing methods, especially microscopy if you're not trained in microbiology). But honestly my concern is that your dragon is extremely small for her age, I mean extremely small, at 3 months old my newer boy is larger than your 6 month old. So my point is that something else is very likely going on beyond coccidia, or she isn't tolerating the meds you're using or the particular coccidia she has or the load is too much for the Albon or Panacur. Either way she's stunted and has been continuously sick since coming from the breeder, so I think at this point it's time to pay for a visit to an experienced reptile vet, have them run a fecal with a gram stain, and I'd also have a full blood panel done based on her failure to thrive. Something else is likely going on that you cannot see at home, and if the breeder was sketchy to begin with, I would also encourage an Adenovirus test just to be safe.
hill202":3sor191k said:EllenD":3sor191k said:I agree that at 6 months old your dragon is extremely small, either due to the parasites and meds causing lack of appetite and absorbtion of nutrition, or something else is going on and you absolutely do need to see an experienced reptile vet.
If that much albon hasn't helped the coccidia at all, I would not give anymore, because it's obviously effecting her appetite negatively (you should be giving probiotics as well to try and normalize her gastrointestinal flora). Toltrazuril usually takes care of coccidia very quickly and easily. I would not mess around with flagyl, as it is a very harsh drug and shouldn't be necessary to treat coccidia. But honestly, I don't think you should do anything else until having blood work and a gram stain done by an experienced vet.
I'm not saying it's not possible to successfully diagnose parasites/worms/coccidia on your own (I have a master's degree in Animal Health Science and worked at the Animal Diagnostic Lab at Penn State), it's simple microbiology. However, you haven't done a gram stain (floats and wet mounts are not the most efficient testing methods, especially microscopy if you're not trained in microbiology). But honestly my concern is that your dragon is extremely small for her age, I mean extremely small, at 3 months old my newer boy is larger than your 6 month old. So my point is that something else is very likely going on beyond coccidia, or she isn't tolerating the meds you're using or the particular coccidia she has or the load is too much for the Albon or Panacur. Either way she's stunted and has been continuously sick since coming from the breeder, so I think at this point it's time to pay for a visit to an experienced reptile vet, have them run a fecal with a gram stain, and I'd also have a full blood panel done based on her failure to thrive. Something else is likely going on that you cannot see at home, and if the breeder was sketchy to begin with, I would also encourage an Adenovirus test just to be safe.
So, you're saying I should not quit my day job to start testing feces...LOL
Thanks for the advice. You certainly have the credentials. My wife just made an appointment with a vet for 4:30 today.
hill202":1jxsz0gs said:I am going to refrain from bashing the breeder that she was purchased from but I think some of these background details are important.
We purchased her online, from a breeder, 2 months ago. We paid for one on the website and we were contacted saying the one we paid for was sold. The breeder insisted that the one we got was a much better dragon due to her good temperament.
When we received the dragon, she was almost 5 months old and weighed 48 grams. My research shows that was under weight.
Upon arrival she would eat a little Kale and 1 roach a day for a few days and then she stopped eating all together. Three weeks into this, we contacted the breeder for help. The breeder advised it was parasites ( no fecal had been done at this time). The breeder sent a small amount of Albon and Panacur. We started the meds but after the third day we stopped. She was looking very bad. We contacted the breeder and was advised to continue the meds.
This was the point where I started doing my own fecal testing. I contacted beautifuldragon.com and ordered some more Albon and Panacur. The new Albon looked very different from what the breeder sent. We were instructed to keep the new Albon in the fridge. The breeder had advised to not refrigerate the Albon. My point is, the breeders Albon was no good. It looked old.
This breeder also advised to use playsand from Home depot as a substrate and of course the entire internet states not to use it and I did'nt.
I made several mistakes throughout this process and I thought I had everything ready upon the dragon's arrival. I just did not anticipate receiving a sick dragon.
I guess I did want to bash a little.
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