Entamoeba cysts/Metronidazole

[AmberA]

I had a fecal done this week for my beardie Velma as she has been lethargic, hiding quite a bit, and slightly off her food, and it showed a moderate level of Entamoeba cysts. My vet prescribed Metronidazole, suspension 50 mg/ml, dosed at 1ml, every other day for ten days. I am unsure of the depth of this vet's experience or knowledge with reptiles and I am far more familiar with medication dosing amounts for our domestic animals as opposed to reptiles. I am wondering if anybody can at least let me know if this dosage sounds remotely appropriate for a small beardie, she weighs 390.2 grams at 2 years old. I just picked up this med today and have not administered it as of yet, as I am so concerned with overdosing her accidentally.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I can definitely help out with dosing, if you need. At her weight, her dose should only be .4ml
which is a dose of 50mg/kg. I don't think that dose should really be any higher. Especially with
just a moderate level it isn't warranted to be any higher dose.
Are you planning on giving any probiotics for her while she is on the medication? While it is a
relatively mild medication, a lot of times it can still cause an intestinal imbalance.

Tracie

 

[AmberA]

Thanks for the reply! This is exactly what I thought, the dose given by the vet seemed very high to me. I have been attempting to do a large amount of research and did start medicating her at .5 ml, but will bring that down to .4. She is doing ok, but is not eating her salads per usual, just a bite or two here and there, and also just wants to hide, with some black bearding every so often, but I assume it's due to her stomach not feeling well, despite adding probiotics. She already gets Bene-Bac plus on a regular basis, so i will continue that, and I also have plain soy yogurt with beneficial bacteria added that I have given her in between the meds.
Any other tips for me? Although I think she is handling it ok, I am quite concerned about her and just want to be sure I'm doing what's correct.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That's great you reduced the amount given, it will be much safer.
I hope she starts feeling better. The use of benebac & non dairy soy yogurt is fine, so you
can continue to use them to try & get her appetite improved.
You can give some baby food slurries if needed to help with nutritional intake. Is her weight
holding steady right now?
Let us know how she is doing.

Tracie

 

[AmberA]

Her weight is exactly the same, she is a small dragon and actually just slightly overweight, so I'm not concerned about that at this point. She does continue to eat a couple bites of salad some days, and does not refuse her bugs at all, which is what she really loves. I also like to give her pureed plain pumpkin and squash as a treat, which she licks up.
I did notice yesterday she had a slight tremor under her arm, near the armpit. This was after I medicated her, which does stress her a bit, although she is quite good for it. It did stop after a minute or two. Would this be related in any way to the med or to stress? I know that tremors can be a sign of poor supplementation or over supplementing, but she is on a strict schedule of calcium and vitamins, the same as she has been since I've had her, about a year and a half, so that would surprise me.

Thankyou again for all the help!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Sometimes stress can cause tremors or muscle twitches but it should go away quickly after
that. I'm glad that she is eating pretty well right now. It is hard to get them to eat their greens
& other vegetation I know!
Keep up the great work with her & let us know how she is progressing.

Tracie

 

[AmberA]

I have not seen any more muscle twitches since those couple times, so I'm sure you're right and it was simply stress related. She gets her last dose tomorrow and seems to be slowly improving, moving a bit around her enclosure and coming out at some point in the morning to bask. Today is her bug day and she was happy to eat them all with a bite of salad. Hopefully she will continue to get back to normal. Thank you so much for your continued help, it has helped me to calm down and not worry quite so much about her throughout this process! I really appreciate it.

 

[AmberA]

 

[AmberA]

 

[CooperDragon]

She looks pretty happy in those photos =)

 

[AmberA]

Thankyou! I think so also. She's slowly getting back to normal, so I'm happy!!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

She does look quite content there, she is very pretty!
I am glad to hear she is improving & feeling much better now. Keep us posted on her
progress.

Tracie

 

[AmberA]

Thankyou! I've always thought she was beautiful, but I may be a bit biased. =)
She continues to return to normal, now just to get her to eat her salads on a regular basis again and we will be good. I will be be getting another fecal test done in the next month so hopefully that will come back clear.

I will definitely be back with questions or concerns in the future, you have been a huge help and really eased my fears going through this with her. I really do appreciate it!

Amber and Velma