I noticed blood in my baby beardie's poop this morning :-(

[Heathwood]

Hi all,

As per the title, I am rather worried as my baby bd passed some blood this morning. No idea what this could indicate. It was bright red (i.e. fresh, rather than dark clotted blood) and was not bound in his poop. Could actually be his urine as it made his paper substrate pink.

He (or she) is booked into the vets this afternoon and I have kept the stool sample, but has anyone got any experience of this / any ideas.

He seems healthy otherwise, poops regularly so not impacted and has been eating ok. Hope the poor little guy is ok.

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Hello,

Sorry to hear your little one is worrying you. I don't have any experience with this... sorry!
There are a few things that can cause a red appearance or even blood in the stool or urates Sometimes vitamin supplements can cause some red specks. Parasites can also cause there to be blood(I believe in the stool though).

The only other thing I can think of is that maybe your beardie may have strained too much while going poo and had some bleeding.
Does your beardie seem to have a hard time pooping?
Do you bathe your beardie for hydration?
What are you feeding him and what size are his feeders?

That's good that you kept the stool to take into the vet. Hopefully the vet can test it and give you some answers.

Let us know what the vet says and how your beardie is doing.

 

[Heathwood]

Well, been to the vet and the initial diagnosis is suspected Coccidiosis. Awaiting assessment of poop sample and confirmation tomorrow.

Otherwise, Ollie is in good fettle and my set up / temps / suppliments etc got the full thumbs up.

So, I'll await the final diagnosis tomorrow and hope that I can make my baby boy better.. :-(

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

If this is what it is.... the vet will give you an antibiotic that should clear it right up.

Let us know what the final word is then on Ollie and the coccidiosis.

 

[Heathwood]

Ok, bit of an update.

Vet analysed the stool sample today and confirmed Coccidiosis as well as a lot of worm eggs evident.

I don't know whether these were present when I bought him or whether it's something that has been introduced (I've had him 4 weeks and he's about 10 weeks old).

I've got the medi's now, but he's so small that he's on tiny dosage that's really hard to control. I've scrubed his viv and boiled / scrubed everything he comes into contact with. I'll get him fresh crix tomorrow morning just in case I had a bad batch.

He's also off his food the last couple of days, although he may just be grumpy at having to go to the vets twice in 2 days. Thing in, he's so young and little (19grams) that he's got very little fat reserves so I must get him to eat something.

He's currently fast asleep on my lap with one of my socks folded over him. Seems happy.

I will get him through this. He's my best friend.

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Oh my! He is very little at just 19 grams.
What meds did they prescribe for him? Did the vet mention anything about a probiotic?

Is he off his crickets also?
If so... have you tried feeding any babyfoods to him?

 

[Heathwood]

Hi Dawn,

I've been prescribed Baycox for the Coccidiosis and Panacur (I think it's called) for the worms. I'm in the UK so not sure whether these medi names are the same worldwide.

He's been off his food (including his crickets) for a day or two so tomorrow I plan to try baby food or similar. Now that I have the little syringes I can always use these to get a little food inside him. He's also seems quite dehydrated so is having two baths a day.

The vet was very very good and quite confident that we can get this sorted. I certainly hope so.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

The blood in the stool is most likely hookworms because they irritate the intestinal lining causing miniscule tears.
Did he give you a count for the coccidia? It is normal for them to have a small amount, but at his weight, you have to be very careful medicating him.
Are you able to get any oral fluids into her daily as well? I would use a probiotic to help her gut flora & her appetite. Medications do interfere with that most of the time.
I hope she gets to feeling better soon.

Tracie

 

[Heathwood]

sorry if this is a daft question but what do you mean by a probiotic? is this something i can get from the vet or the reptile store?

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

A probiotic helps to maintain the good flora(bacteria) in the intestinal tract. Antibiotics can be pretty harsh on the system and tend to diminish the good flora, which he needs for digestion and fighting off illness.
You can just get some soy yogurt(non-dairy) to feed to your little guy.

Also when giving him baby foods... make sure they don't have any preservatives or fillers in them(such as rice). You can use chicken or turkey babyfood.

Keep us updated on how Ollie is doing.

 

[Heathwood]

Quick update.

Ollie is doing ok(ish) I think. I've managed to get his medi's into him and I'm hoping that they will do the job.

I am still concerned about his apetite though. I called the vet yesterday to ask about probiotics but to be honest they didn't seem to encourage it (I'm not sure why exactly as the vet's advice was relayed via the receptionist). They offered something called Critical Care if I was failing to get any food into him. I dont really know what Critical Care is.

I have been feeding him chicken & veg baby food this week (no preservatives or fillers). He was licking a little off my finger, but not a lot really, and he is disinclined to do even this the last couple of days. He isn't losing weight, although being just 19 grams he hasn't got much to lose! He is also reasonably lively but does sleep alot during the night (i.e. a good 14/15 hours).

It has also been necessary lately to be a bit more forceful by trying to feed him using a small syringe. Trouble is, he's learned to just clamp his jaw shut and I end up just filling his lips.

Is it the medi's thats made him loose his appetite or is it the worms / coccidia? Anyone got any suggestions on how to get more food into him? He even seeems to recognise syringes as things to be avoided now, which doesn't help. My wife works away alot and, of course, its more difficult when there is just one person trying to do the feed.

Anyway, sorry for rambling on. Just want to do everything I can to ensure my baby is ok.

 

[isabelleandpaul]

I had to force-feed a baby, even smaller than yours, mine had dropped to 8 grams. We had to open the jaw by pulling on the beard while holding the top part of the jaw (by the side of the head). Once the mouth was open, we were able to squirt some puree in.

Thing is, their jaw is strong! We had to pull hard and the baby ended up with small wounds on the lips. The vet checked the wounds and said that was no worry (in fact it healed rapidly), but it can be worrisome to see blood on your baby's mouth! Nevertheless, keep force feeding!

And yes, we needed to be two people to do that. Because my husband leaves really early for work, we "trained" our seven year old daugther to do the pulling and squirting, and she did well. Ans as you said, the dragon quickly recognises the seringe and tries to get away. After a week of "beard-pulling", the baby started to lick the puree, and got better.

I hope that answers your question about how to get food into your baby.

 

[Dagron]

If you do need to force feed your beardy and are having trouble opening its mouth through the beard pulling method you can try this. Place you thumb and a finger on either side of its head near the corners of his mouth, give a gentle squeeze and his mouth should start to open.
I use this each week just to check up and make sure everything is fine in my beardy's mouth plus it gets them used to more of an examination style handling in the even they need to be taken to the vet.
This technique works on cats and dogs as well and even humans. When I was teaching my husband I was showing him how to do it on myself.
Anyway I wish you all the best with your baby and a speedy recovery.

 

[Heathwood]

Quick update...

Well, after a good couple of weeks of my little Ollie refusing to eat anything and having to encourage him to lick baby food off my finger, he has started to eat again .

It was actually about a week ago that he ate a cricket for the first time in ages, although he only managed 2 that day and 3 the next. Now though, his appetite has gone through the roof! He has never eaten more than a dozen crix in a day but today he must have had about 30! He was a worryingly thin 17 grams a short time ago, yet today he weighs 29 grams. 50% weight increase in little over a week. Fat little fella now. hehe.

Anyway, still has one more dose of Panacur next week then I'll get a stool sample to the vet for analysis but signs are good. Thanks for all the help and support.

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

YAY That is wonderful news about Ollie. So happy to hear he is eating for you

29 grams.... WOO! HOO!

Hopefully when his next fecal rolls around it will be clear.

Keep up the good work! :wink: