Diarrhea issues...

[marleyzilla]

Hello!
My bearded dragon Marley has has problems with diarrhea lately. She is acting normal, eating as much as usual, active as much as usual, etc. A few weeks ago I noticed she was experiencing Diarrhea. I took her to the local vet and he examined her poo and said he found parasites. He gave her some meds, i thoroughly cleaned her cage with a 10% bleach solution, yet the diarrhea persisted. I took her back a week later and he said he thought she still had parasites, and gave me more medicine for her. He said to use half the syringe, and if it persisted, use the rest. I followed his instructions, and it persisted, so after about a week i used the rest. Then she got really sick and I was worried she wasn't going to make it. She stopped eating and pooing altogether, and was not active or responsive. I gave her baths with massages and no poo. I read that if you add a bit of oil to water and syringe it to her that it acts as a laxitive. After feeding her some oilwater (mized with some prune baby food) she finally went. She recovered and is back to normal now....well almost. She is very active, has a very good appetite, and has good color...but she still has diarrhea. Any ideas?Im afraid to take her back to the vet after that last scary round of antibiotics. Is there anything else that could be causing this problem?
She has UV lighting, two heat lights, and a heat pad under her tank (it gets cold in northern minnesota) I have been feeding her kale lately, I was feeding her spinach but i read somewhere that it wasn't the best for her. I had the thought that maybe if I feed her more criickets and mealworms and maybe apples and bananas it would firm things up? or is this not the right train of thought?

Also...the scales on her head seem to look flakey, like they are going to flake off individually rather then shed all as one shed. Is this normal or is this a sign of illness? It doesn't seem super unusual to me, and the area doesnt seem to be sensitive.

Thanks for your help everybody

 

[carmdac]

hey marley! try going to beautifuldragon.com and click on nutrition. awesome spreadsheet for dietary. also as far as the runs, while on antibiotics were you giving it any probiotics or acidophalis. If you had a high or prolong dosing of antibiotics you would kill off all parasites in your body and would develope the runs. not to mention the upset stomach to follow. So the dr. would usually tell you to take w/ yogurt or probiotics to help grow good parasites. I don't think that fiber is a good thing for beardies as is for us.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Sorry your baby has had that much trouble with diarrhea.
Since she is having so much trouble, do not feed any fruit at all, since sugar can aggravate the GI tract & make things worse. I would not feed mealworms as they can contribute to impactions & are too fatty. Stick with the appropriately sized crickets, or phoenix worms or both as the variety would be good for her.
Did you use probiotics during the medication & after the medication round? That can really help settle down the tummy after medication. It sounds like she got too much medication though.
What other types of foods are you feeding? You are correct spinach binds calcium absorption so it should not be fed very often. Kale should not be fed on a regular basis either, as it can bind calcium absorption also. Instead focus on mustard greens, collard greens, turnip greens, endive, escarole, etc for better choices. For now, I would not give anymore oil & water, that could be irritating her GI tract, too. Try getting some non dairy soy yogurt or acidophiliz which are probiotics, to help ease her tummy a little bit.
How often are you giving calcium?
What type & brand of UVB light are you using? Is it a fluorescent tube bulb or a compact/coil light?
What are her temperatures, & what type of thermometer do you use to measure the temperatures? A stick on type of thermometer, a digital probe or a temp gun?
What type of substrate do you use, sand, tiles, paper towels?

Tracie