Im a NEW BD Mommy and he has Parasites... help!!!

[MitchMitch]

I recently purchased Bearded Dragon for my son - he is 6. Knowing full well my husband and I would have to care for it. I did all my research and we were tootin along until today. I took my sons BD - Spike - to the vet today. I thought there may have been a problem since his poop stunk. He tested positive for Coccidia and Strongyles. According to the vet - it was a high amount. He has been eating well - at least 8 - 12 small crickets a day. I also give him his greens - collard greens - parsley - green beans - peas - bean sprouts. Occassionally he gets fruit - grapes - banana - apple - raspberries. He is roughly 6 months old and was purchased at a local pet shop - and i am kicking myself now for not going thru a breader - but what is done is done. I have the medicine for him which i started today. He is in a 40gallon terrarium with a 100W basking bulb - the UV 13watt bulb - and a "sun" bulb 50watt. I also have the warming pad under the tank and a night glow bulb for night time. I have taken all of his stuff out of his tank and have soaked it in one part bleach and 10 parts water for 30min. I am going to put newspaper in tomorrow. Would soaking all of the WOOD climbing stuff in his tank in the bleach solution kill whatever parasites are on it? Or will I have to throw it out and get new stuff?
My home is a busy home - i have a 6yr old and a 4yr old that scream and yell at one another - and an 18month old here during the day. I am wondering if his location may not be part of the problem? Not sure what I really need to do to keep this lil loving creature healthy. I am hoping that he can recover from this.
Any suggestions?

 

[zebraflavencs]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
FIrst, if you bake the wood instead of using bleach, that Will kill everything. Bake at 250 for 1/2 hour to an hour.
Secondly, what exactly was the count ? 5 or better is high enough to treat, beardeds do have coccidia in their gut flora always. As a new arrival, a week or three should see the dragon more comfortable in his new surroundings.
Feeding. A 6 month old should be getting 3 meals a day. Lights on, and feed a salad from this list:
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.c ... ition.html
Green is good for daily, black for occasional treats, red,blue and yellow to be avoided.
Substrate. Newspaper is a good non particle substrate, so is paper toweling, as well as non adhesive drawer lining . I actually use ceramic tile, nice to look at, easy to clean, and once purchased ( always get a few extras so you can switch out and clean the fouled at your convenience) darker colors absorb more heat.
With all the excitement, you may wish to relocate the terrarium to a less active area, at least until he settles in.
You should also be offering baths on a daily basis. During the bath, Spike can rehydrate by sitting in water that is 'baby' warm ( 90-100*F) for about 15 minutes. Spike needs to have his vent or anal opening in the water, but the water level no higher than his shoulders. All baths should be totally supervised.
Also, calcium should be offered on his crix daily for 6 days, on the 7th a good multivitamin should be "powdered" onto the crix.
Crickets. He should be downing up to 100 crix a day. These should be lengthwise less than the distance between his (Spikes') eyes. Feed as much as he will eat in 15 minutes, 3 times a day, starting an hour after lights on, and last feeding at least 2 hours before lights off at night. The timing is so Spike can bask to a good temperature that helps digestion.
At night if your cool end does not go below 65*F you don't need to heat, and Under Tank heaters are a no no. Beardeds' can not feel heat from below.
You did say you have a UVB light , yes ? You want to avoid either a Coil or a Compact as these are linked to eye and health issues. If you are using a Mercury Vapor Bulb, Spike should be at least 12" away. If this is a Reptisun 10.0 Spike needs to get within 4-8" away for proper lighting.
Just out of curiousity, how are you measuring temps (Basking 110-120*F cool end low 80's) ? Most of us use either an acurite thermometer from walmart, it has a probe you place on the basking site, wait 45 minutes to get an accurate reading, or a temp gun (automotives). These two thermometers give accurate temps, so you can correctly gauge his enclosure.
I hope this helps, sorry this was so long.
Ask any questions, this is what we are here for.
Janie.

 

[MitchMitch]

OMG that was soooo helpful.
I will call the vet first thing in the morning and find out exact levels. We have the digital therm in the basking side - its the probe that we stuck thru the imitation rock wall. On the cooler side i just use one of the round ones and it is placed inside the tank.

I will have to check the UVB blub, but i am positive that it is a coil one. He does get his greens daily and is good at eating them all. I do dust the crickets at every cricket feeding. I was told to only give him a dozen or so small ones a day. He weighed in at 126 grams today and according to the vet is more like 6months old. I am very worried as he is my first reptile.

I like the ceramic tile idea - i guess it makes poop clean up easier. Speaking of.. he did not poop today now that i think about it. I have given him one bath since i brought him home. Just the other day as a matter of fact. You say to bath daily - i do keep a water dish in his tank. But i could bathe him daily. I have found no fecal around his anal gland at all - he seems to be very clean. And I do remove his poop as soon as i notice it in the tank. I dont like it sitting around.

I will also search out the house and look for a better location for a while and see if that helps.

Thank you for the food list too!

 

[zebraflavencs]

You are welcome ! Once Spike settles in, reduce the baths to 3-4 a week.
Yes do check out that coil ! You can change over to a MVB since your enclosure is a 40 gal. Just set it so it is 12" away ( with the reflector bell) on the basking site. This way you can have one side @ 110-120*F while a cool side is @80*f.
Janie.

 

[USMILE143]

Wow... At first I thought I wrote this! I purchased my baby Dragon from a Pet store for my 6 yr. old son who has alot of allergies. After the purchase I had wished I got him from a breeder. If hadn't done my research it would not be good for my beardie at all. You have done alot for your beardie and as far as I can tell have been doing all you can and then wondering if it is enough. A good parent does that.

Make sure your live food seller tests for parasites. Let me know how how everything goes.

 

[MitchMitch]

I dont want to lose my new baby..... that is for sure!
I am going to call the vet today and see what the parasite levels were. I neglected to obtain that information from them. Was just in shock that my BD was ill.
I wish i had an expert that could come to my home and check out his tank - check out the lighting and make sure that is all ok. I think i may need a stronger UV / UVB light.
I am probably as stressed as my new lil guy! And as a good mom, i worry about my children not washing their hands after handling him. I know we have been careful..... and it is a rule of thumb to wash before and after....... but i still cant help but wonder.
He has pooped today.. it was removed right away as well as that part of the substrate in his tank. All of the substrate will be removed tonight, and will be replaced with paper towel. He will get a warm bath and some love. Not sure if i should remove most of the stuff from his tank.... not quite sure how to keep the parasite problem under control in his tank. IF they are on his wood lounge furniture... then how do i get that resolved? Guess i could bake it once a week?

I am so thankful for all the support that this site offers.

 

[peera]

Generally while you're treating parasites you should just remove all porous surfaces from the tank until treatment is finished.
If his count was so high I'm kind of wondering why the vet didn't give you any medication for him?
For your kids, don't worry. So long as they're washing their hands after handling, they're fine. Most parasites our dragons get won't live in our bodies. Salmonella is possible, but so slight a risk that I don't know of ANYONE who got sick from their dragon. I handle all of mine on a daily basis and my baby and I are both in perfect health.
If you have a coil UVB, it does need replaced, they're useless at best and fatal at worst. http://www.petmountain.com carries the ReptiSun 10.0 TUBE for the best price you'll find, although at the moment they're out of 24" but you can ask to be notified when they get them back in. Correct UVB is so important to their health, and I know you don't want to keep the coil bulb in there if it'll hurt him.

 

[MitchMitch]

I did get meds from the vet... Albon. He gets his medicine daily for 20days.
His Coccidia count was a +3 and the Strongyles was a +2.
He was moved tonight to my sons bedroom - where it will be nice and quiet for him... so he can rest and re/coupe. (So long as the 6yr old follows the rules!!!)
I also purchased some slate for his tank to help warm his belly to digest the food. He got a nice warm bath tonight as well.
I still need to get the new light for him though. Havent found one yet. I have the 20gallon lid that has the 3 openings for light bulbs. I dont have the hood for the tube lighting. Need to find one of those as well.
But as it stands... he is eating well. Loves his crickets and his greens.
OH... his UVB is a Repti GLO 10.0 Compact made by Exo Terra.
The hot end is 100 degrees and the cooler end is around 75-80 degrees.

 

[zebraflavencs]

Oh that's easy. Just pop on over to Walmart and get an under cabinet fixture. You will want to make sure that your tube fits, so get the bulb first, than the fixture. This fixture shouldn't cost more than 10-12$.
Janie.

 

[ErinMeetsMachine]

If you're worried about your little one opening the lid.. there are wire clamps that you can buy specifically for this and it's pretty difficult for a child to undo.. i'd almost call it childproof. I call mine cat-proof. my cat is very curious and very intelligent. After finding her INSIDE the enclosure WITH the dragon (just watching) I decided it was wiser to be sure there was no way for her to get in!

 

[msmaui]

I'm sorry to tell you this but the ReptiGLO 10 is not a good UVB light. They have been known to cause eye problems in dragons. As stated above, I would recommend that you get the ReptiSUN 10. They are supposed to be the best.

Nancy

 

[MitchMitch]

So I want the ReptiSun 10.0 UVB tube? Hopefully i will be able to find a hood for it as well. I dont want to take the coil light out yet, since i do not have any other UVB light for him.
Gosh.. i wish i had all this information when i started out!

 

[ErinMeetsMachine]

I think most people on this forum will suggest taking the coil out until you get the reptisun. There are cases of eye problems and even seizures from the coil bulbs. How long do you think it might be until you get a fixture and bulb? It really would be in the best interest of your beardie to remove the coil ASAP.

 

[MitchMitch]

I couldnt find any reptisuns in stock and really wanted to get that coil out asap. My poor guy is ill'n with parasites already - didnt want to add more stress.
i did purchase a T5 double linear strip - 30inch /its 2 18watt dessert 7%UVB fluorescent tube lamps. Its an actual fixture. It has the built in electronic ballasts (not sure what that means)
I didnt know if this was right or not... but it seemed much better than what i had!
I hooked it up when i got it home.. and he actually seems perkier!
It almost runs the entire length of the tank now. Not just a coil bulb in one spot anymore.
It has an acrylic lens covering the lights which can be removed for maximum UVA and UVB output... i have not taken that lens off tho.. should i?