I noticed after the past couple months that Ramses' appetite has decreased down to almost zero. I began to suspect pinworms and patiently waited for him to poop so I could bring a fecal sample to my vet.
In the meantime I ordered ReptaidXL. He's been on the ReptaidXL for five days with no dramatic improvements (even though it takes 20 day sper treatment).
He finally pooped and I got a positve result for pinworms My vet said they will give me a prescription med to treat the pinworms. My biggest fear with that is many people say prescription meds supress appetite and immune systems in their beardies.
So my question is: Do I continue with the ReptaidXL, or go for an actual prescription med?
You should go for the prescription medication. What is the doctor going to prescribe? I have a few beardies that we are treating for pinworms right now. My husband handles the medications, so let me know what he wants to give you and I'll come back and let you know what we are giving. I believe what we are giving is fairly gentle on them and I haven't had any of my beardies stop eating or slow down since they got their meds about a week ago or so.
Let me know the med name and the dosage and frequency he would prescribe and we can compare notes and see if they are the same thing.
The number of eggs or parasites is the number on the entire slide (not per field)
Parasite #1: Oxyurid (pinworm) eggs 1+ 1+ = 2 to 4 eggs or parasites (few) 2+ = 5 to 10 (small) 3+ = 11 to 50 (moderate) 4+ = more than 50 (many)
So it appears he only has a few pinworms. Is this even worth treating? The doctor prescribed .05ml of Strongid one day, then another dose in 2 weeks.
I've never heard of the Strongid, but the dosage is so small that you should be fine. I'd go ahead and treat since he's already showing symptoms - the ReptaidXL isn't going to do anything. I'd recommend giving him a daily dose of probiotics - you can order it online, it's called Acidophiliz and it's relatively cheap.
Then I let him back outside for a good 30mins! He ate around 7 superworms this afternoon as well. Still won't touch a juicy hornworm or veggies though...they used to be his favorite
All of my beardies change what they want to eat from time to time. A favorite feeder is often snubbed for no apparent reason, and then a week or 2 later they will happily eat it again. So weird.