How long before fecal test?

[Lpsouth1978]

Hi all, I have only had Ghost for about a week now and from day 1 his poo has been pure EVIL!! My other dragons poo is nice and fairly dry, easy to clean up, and little smell. But Ghosts poo is a wet pile of vile excrement that will stink up the entire house (I am not kidding, it is so bad that the smell literally woke me up this morning). I am assuming that he has parasites and probably worms, but how long should I wait before getting a fecal done and could there be something else causing this NASTY poo? As I said I have only had him about a week.

Setup and dragon info:
9 month old Marketed Leucistic Dragon
1 week in my care
75g tank with 160w MVB approx. 13" above basking spot
24" reptisun 10.0 UVB tube mounted about half way down the tank (inside)
Basking temp = 102-112
Cool side temp = 77-85
Temps taken with infrared laser thermometer
paper towel substrate
Fed staple of Phoenix worms, Kale, Collard greens, Mustard greens, Turnip greens
Other veggies and fruits seldom as a treat only
Bathed 2-3 times a week

I think that covers everything. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Claudiusx]

I would wait about a month before taking a new dragons fecal in.

Stress can increase parasite counts. A healthy dragon when not stressed will be able to fight off and lower counts of certain parasites. So until your dragon is over the relocation stress and is happy in his new home, taking a fecal test is kinda like a false positive.

-Brandon

 

[daner923]

Since he isn't a baby and it's really that bad, you could probably take him for a fecal sooner than I would usually suggest. It won't hurt him anyways, but might supress his appetite a bit. By the way, the MVB and ReptiSun is a bit of overkill. I don't think it will hurt him, but you only really need one of the two. I would avoid kale as it binds calcium, and vary up the protein though. P-worms are good, but no dragon should only eat one source of protein.

 

[Lpsouth1978]

Since he isn't a baby and it's really that bad, you could probably take him for a fecal sooner than I would usually suggest. It won't hurt him anyways, but might supress his appetite a bit. By the way, the MVB and ReptiSun is a bit of overkill. I don't think it will hurt him, but you only really need one of the two. I would avoid kale as it binds calcium, and vary up the protein though. P-worms are good, but no dragon should only eat one source of protein.

I think I will order a mail in Fecal Kit from beardeddragon.co and have them do a test first (it is a lot cheaper than having the vet do it).

I know that having the MVB and Reptisun is overkill, but I saw it as the best way to get the UVB across the entire length of the tank.

I keep getting mixed reports on the kale, which is why I was feeding it. I do not want to bind the calcium so I can easily remove that from the menu.

I am also working on getting a more varied protein diet for them. I have been looking at getting some hornworms, and superworms, but I don't know how many I should get. I assume that the hornworms are quite a bit larger and so I will not need a lot of them, but what about the superworms? I was looking at ordering them from mullberry farms in a quantity of 1000. How many will my dragons eat at a time?

They LOVE the Phoenix worms and get VERY excited when they see them, and to my understanding they are the best for them. Not to mention they are easy!! No dusting with calcium powder and don't get out of their dish. I like them almost as much as the dragons.

 

[daner923]

Hornworms aren't a great staple as they are mostly just water. I would suggest supers as an occasional part of the diet, but they are a bit fatty for a total staple. You should definitely look into silkworms and/or dubia roaches though as staples. They are excellent!

 

[Lpsouth1978]

Hornworms aren't a great staple as they are mostly just water. I would suggest supers as an occasional part of the diet, but they are a bit fatty for a total staple. You should definitely look into silkworms and/or dubia roaches though as staples. They are excellent!

I still want to use the phoenix worms as a staple so the hornworms and superworms would just be used to supplement and give some variety. I have given both dragons crickets, but I hate crickets, they are messy, stinky, disgusting creatures. as a matter of fact I just ran out of Phoenix worms and will have no choice but to get some crickets tonight for my guys.

As for Dubia roaches, NO THANK YOU!! I want NOTHING to do with roaches in any way, they will not be entering my home, even for my boys.

 

[daner923]

Haha understood. Just be aware that one day, you may find live p-worms in their poop. Max started doing that, and I really didn't feel like puncturing each worm I fed him. He was already eating about 100 a day as it was...

 

[Lpsouth1978]

So far I have found 1 whole p-worm in my juvi's poo, but no love ones. My 9 month old seems to be really good about chewing though. He seems to enjoy them popping and crunching in his mouth. He also LOVES to hunt and chase crickets.

 

[Lpsouth1978]

Ghost's poo was much better yesterday. Hopefully this is a trend that will continue. It was actually somewhat formed and had much less smell to it. Perhaps this was just his reaction to the relocation. If is continues to get better, and stays that way, I will hold off on the fecal test for a few more weeks to let him settle a bit more.

I did, however, go onto beardeddragon.co and ordered a fecal float test kit, Baycox 5% Toltrazuril (for Coccidia), and Liquid Fenbendazole 10% (for deworming). I figured I would order the meds so that I have them on hand. Also, since Ghost is 9 months, I figure there is a pretty good chance that he may go into brumation this fall and I want to be prepared to treat him before that happens. According to the site, the meds will last a couple of years if kept properly and they are quite cheap.

I also ordered some professional Disinfectant cleaner from them that I can use to clean all of the surfaces in the tank easily. The best medicine is always prevention and preparation!

 

[Claudiusx]

Ghost's poo was much better yesterday. Hopefully this is a trend that will continue. It was actually somewhat formed and had much less smell to it. Perhaps this was just his reaction to the relocation. If is continues to get better, and stays that way, I will hold off on the fecal test for a few more weeks to let him settle a bit more.

Kiiiiiinda what I tried to tell you at first.... lol :wink:

-Brandon

 

[Lpsouth1978]

Ghost's poo was much better yesterday. Hopefully this is a trend that will continue. It was actually somewhat formed and had much less smell to it. Perhaps this was just his reaction to the relocation. If is continues to get better, and stays that way, I will hold off on the fecal test for a few more weeks to let him settle a bit more.

Kiiiiiinda what I tried to tell you at first.... lol :wink:

-Brandon

Well, chalk it up to new beardie parent syndrome. :lol: