Fecal Test Needed?

[annieoakley123]

i agree, after reading people's posts i knew getting a fecal test would not do any harm, while he is still looking healthy. Lucky for me, and him, he already did a nice green poop for me. He DEMOLISHED his greens yesterday, more than he ever did before!!! Im taking him in 5 hours from now, ill let you know. I will for sure need help if i have to treat him. Is reptaid the only thing you need to treat? what meds should i be weary about?

 

[Neromom39]

It gets down to around 75 or so at night.

I'm just curiuos what your temps are before you turn your lights on in the morning. We live in the the South Bay area in CA (a few blocks from the beach) and right now it is still getting down to 50-55 degrees at night. However our vivs are retaining the heat from the day before and they aren't dropping any lower than 68-69 degrees. So it's actually warmer inside the vivs than it is inside my house :shock: Some mornings I'm tempted to crawl inside with the babies it gets so cold. I'm sure you do, but for the sake of arguement, do you have a thermometer on the cool side at all times to record the temps. You may not need the CHE and this may be the problem.

 

[momtothreeboys]

I don't know if it is too late or not but usually they say to bring the fecal in within two hours of them going. Good luck , let us know how he does!

Jennifer

 

[herpfreak]

that is pretty cool but I do almost wonder if that could be part of the issue?? My house gets down to about 62-63 at night as well but I don't have any night time heating for the viv. It is normal and arguably healthy for the cooler nighttime temps. I am sure that some more informed BD experts here can tell us why exactly that cool down is needed.

Really? Interesting, I didn't know that. Now I'm going to turn off the CHE at night too.

 

[annieoakley123]

I never saw what temps would be like. I do know when i moved him into the big tank and i only had a 50 watt red light for night it got pretty cold in there mid 60s i think. Hmmm. I think ill just move he CHE to the other side and see what it is like in the morning. Leaving soon!

 

[annieoakley123]

Well, i took him in. Had the exam. vet said he looked great. came back in after the fecal test...LOADED WITH PARASITES!!! NOOOOOOOO!!! Coccida and pin worms. DAMN! So now he is on panacure for the worms and albon for the coccida. well, i can only hope he gets better, and im glad i caught it before something really bad happened. I bought him some wax worms on my way home....hopes he eats them this time around. Any information or tips on how to keep these parasites at bay is much appreciated.

 

[momtothreeboys]

Wow. My bearded dragon had both as well. Some people on here recommended getting acidophiliz from reptilesupply.com to help replace the good bacteria after the antibiotics kill both the good and bad. You have to refrigerate it after you open it. It helps to keep them warm too while giving them the treatment. This website helped me a lot http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/parasitecare/. Hope this helps. Keep us updated.

Jennifer

 

[herpfreak]

That stinks! Sorry, I have no advice about parasites. I'm so glad you took a fecal in. Good luck! I hope he gets better soon!!

 

[annieoakley123]

That medication you told me about, do i use it after treatment is done? I will have him on meds for a month and then take another fecal sample.

 

[momtothreeboys]

I only had to have him on the coccidia meds for four days and the pinworm meds for one day and then two weeks off and then one more day. I haven't heard of meds for one month. Maybe someone else on here will know more. But I know that you can give him the acidophiliz while giving him the antibiotics. In that article I think it tells exactly how to do it. I gave my guy the acidophiliz after the four days of meds for two days b/c it didn't come in the mail until after I finished the antibiotics. Hopefully one of the moderators will come on and give you more advice. I am just learning as well. Good luck!

Jennifer

 

[annieoakley123]

I have him on meds everyday for a week to treat both, then i continue meds for coccida for 21 days every 48 hours. Ill try and order that stuff! Im just worried that the meds may decrease his appetite, i dont want his growth to be delayed anymore than it has. The place i got him looked good, but the more i learned the more it looked bad :-( he has one sad sibling left with a nipped tail (he was the one who probably nipped it). And he is soooo tiny and dark colored.

 

[xJaZx]

Aw thats too bad. My guys both had had coccidia and pinworms. The medications didn't seem to effect (negatively) my female, but REALLY wore out my male. I would definitely try to put him on a pro biotic to help his system out while he is undergoing treatment.

 

[Neromom39]

Both of my dragons had pinworms and coccidia and were on a 7 day treatment of Trimethoprim for both parasites. I asked if I needed a probiotoc for them and was told to keep an eye on their eating habits. Neither one of my dragons slowed down when it came to eating. The first treatment cleared up Sweetie-Boo for both, but Nero still had the coccidia. Another 7 day treatment. No change in his appetite. After that treatment he still has the coccidia, so now they have him on a 30 day stint of the meds. I questioned why he would still have them after two treatments because our husbandry is ideal... Nero poops in his bath, never in his viv and we do not house our dragons together. I was told that coccidia is the hardest thing to conquer. The thing that baffles me is that he shows no signs of infestation. No stress marks, eats normal and is gaining weight (he gained 120 grams in 2 months). My suggestions are simple, if he goes poo in his viv and you have sand, remove it and replace it with paper towels. It was during the initial treatment phase that we completely revamped both of our vivs with tile. Although the paper towel thing is SOOOOOO much easier when it comes time to clean. I know that crickets may have something to do with it as well but I haven't been able to link that with our battle because we stopped buying ours from the petstore and started ordering them after Sweetie-Boo was cured and Nero still has them.

You are not alone during what I have dubbed the "Coccidia Wars" at our house. But we will not be defeated Hang in there.

 

[annieoakley123]

I am thinking about getting my crickets from online. I know that both petstores where i get them (one where i bought snuggles and the other is just not a clean place) look like they cant be helping the situation. Right now i have him on non adheisive linr but he now poops on his basking log which is a pain to clean. Im going to get a rock or something smooth i can clean when he poops on it. I am very good at always picking one up when i see it. He has been having stress marks here and there but none that are DARK. Ill try and order that probiotic stuff asap. I dont want my little guy to stay little! hehe.
here is a pic taken yesterday before the vet

and another that was a few days ago

 

[Neromom39]

I know that the poop thing is a pain sometimes. Only one of our three is "potty trained" so to speak and Sweetie-Boo is half-way there. Somedays she goes in the bath, other days she just doesn't wait :roll: Is the log treated? I was told by the technician at our vet that if the logs are treated then the chances of the bugs getting into the wood is minimal. Of course cleaning should occur as you normally would, but using things that are not heat treated or made specifically for reptiles increase the likelhood that they will be harder to get rid of.