Isospora present, no symptoms

[beardedlarry]

Since I cannot find any information on the meaning of the fecal exam, I will begin Ponazuril today. I am using a Quat disinfectant that is supposed to kill Coccidia for all surfaces. I will also steam for extra care. One question is how do you clean the dragon itself during treatment. Bathing in disinfectant doesn't sound good, so any thoughts on this to prevent reinfection.

 

[DaisyDragon123]

I'm not a big fan of self treating with meds unless under the care of a vet. How will you know when to stop treatment? You will have to get fecal tests done to see if levels are dropping. I say either give your vet a chance to explain or contact another vet to see if your dragon needs treatment or if new vet concurs with present vet. I think only steam and ammonia kill cocidea oocysts. Heat may kill but I don't know temp or time in heat required.

 

[beardedlarry]

I'm not a big fan of self treating with meds unless under the care of a vet. How will you know when to stop treatment? You will have to get fecal tests done to see if levels are dropping. I say either give your vet a chance to explain or contact another vet to see if your dragon needs treatment or if new vet concurs with present vet. I think only steam and ammonia kill cocidea oocysts. Heat may kill but I don't know temp or time in heat required.

Sorry for the confusion. The vet prescribed .01 ml in two doses, 48 hours apart. Frankly, I don't do anything the vet Says without doing my own research so I sat on the meds for a few days. But this time I couldn't find what I was looking for, so I am medicating. The Quat disinfectant is the same as the one sold on beardeddragon.co as coccicidal.

The active ingredients in this concentrate are Didecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride 5.07% and n-Alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride (50% C14, 40% C12, 10% C16) 3.38%. EPA Reg No is 10324-155 and is listed on the epa website here http://www.epa.gov/oppad001/list_h_mrsa_vre.pdf

 

[DaisyDragon123]

I misunderstood you. I thought that the vet didn't give you any meds for it. Apparently he just wants to get the numbers down a little and let dragon do the rest. I still think quaternary cleaners do not kill oocysts. From my understanding, could be wrong, quaternary disinfectants may kill cocidea but not the coccidia oocysts. Could be wrong. I use f10.

 

[beardedlarry]

Administered first dose of Ponazuril yesterday. Tomorrow second and last dose. Ate about 20 Phoenix worms this morning. Seems a little slow on feet, but not too bad.

 

[beardedlarry]

Third day, LJ is laying low on belly but seems okay moving when he needs to. He will not jump across the tank to a dish of phoenix worms like he normally does, but will eat some of them when the dish is placed directly under his chin. Would love to hear any thoughts on this. We have been diligent with cleanliness of tank, and are using temporary furnishings with paper towels. Today will be his second/last dose.

 

[DaisyDragon123]

Where did you get LJ from? He's very pretty. There is a care article on here that discusses supportive treatment while medically treating for parasites. It suggests raising nighttime temperature during treatment and a little while afterwards. When I was treating Daisy I uses a CHE at night during and a week after treatment. I gave her bene bac probiotics every evening around 6 pm. I didn't have to use cardboard boxes because she poos outside her cage in her bath. Daisy turns 7 months at the end of December so LJ is not too far behind her in age. Around 4.5 months her appetite dropped off. She still does not eat as well as when she was 3 months old. As they get older their appetite can taper off. As long as there is not an accompanying weightless and fecal smear is okay, I wouldn't be too worried. It looks like you've had LJ for about 3 weeks. He still could be stressed from the move. His environment has been changed again by switching permanent accessories to cardboard ones. This along with the meds may be causing a drop in appetite. You may want to try mixing up his insect feeders. Dragons usually enjoy hornworm and sillnworms. Might want to try some roaches. A different food may spark a renewed interest in eating.

 

[beardedlarry]

Where did you get LJ from? He's very pretty. There is a care article on here that discusses supportive treatment while medically treating for parasites. It suggests raising nighttime temperature during treatment and a little while afterwards. When I was treating Daisy I uses a CHE at night during and a week after treatment. I gave her bene bac probiotics every evening around 6 pm. I didn't have to use cardboard boxes because she poos outside her cage in her bath. Daisy turns 7 months at the end of December so LJ is not too far behind her in age. Around 4.5 months her appetite dropped off. She still does not eat as well as when she was 3 months old. As they get older their appetite can taper off. As long as there is not an accompanying weightless and fecal smear is okay, I wouldn't be too worried. It looks like you've had LJ for about 3 weeks. He still could be stressed from the move. His environment has been changed again by switching permanent accessories to cardboard ones. This along with the meds may be causing a drop in appetite. You may want to try mixing up his insect feeders. Dragons usually enjoy hornworm and sillnworms. Might want to try some roaches. A different food may spark a renewed interest in eating.

Hi again. LJ is a SandFire bred lizard that we bought locally. Today was a good day for him. He ate three small rounds of Phoenix worms, and even had some salad sauced with benebac. He seems to like the benebac gel. Maybe it's like putting sugar on cereal. He was alert and enjoyed several zones in the tank throughout the day. He was rubbernecking when he heard my wife in the hallway; she is his favorite, I'm afraid. Is that normal for a Beardie to bond with specific members of the family?
I will take in another fecal tomorrow or the next day, I suppose. Hoping for a good report.

 

[DaisyDragon123]

I don't think he is bonding with your wife more. Maybe she has a gentler touch, warmer hands or is holding LJ during a more receptive time of day. As far as rubbernecking, their attention is attracted by movement and perhaps color. Some seem to be more observant than others. Each person has their own distinct walking pattern and accompanying arm movements. He is probably just picing up differences in movement between the to of you. Don't worry, he likes you just fine. Try holding him early morning or late evening when dragons are calmer.

 

[beardedlarry]

LJ having mustard, dandelion, phoenix worms, and benebac salad. I'm a little worried that the ponazuril didn't work because his poop smells pretty bad. Taking a fecal in today if lab is open.

 

[DaisyDragon123]

Let us know what the fecal shows. I gave Daisy baby food squash the day before her post-treatment follow up fecal and it had a clear the room smell. When I took the fecal in I told the vet tech to be prepared when she opened the bottle it was in. She came back later and told me that I wasn't kidding when I said it smelled really bad, but the fecal was normal. So maybe LJ are too much of something.

 

[beardedlarry]

Let us know what the fecal shows. I gave Daisy baby food squash the day before her post-treatment follow up fecal and it had a clear the room smell. When I took the fecal in I told the vet tech to be prepared when she opened the bottle it was in. She came back later and told me that I wasn't kidding when I said it smelled really bad, but the fecal was normal. So maybe LJ are too much of something.

Good to know. I hope so. Maybe the probiotic? Anyway, I took the sample in yesterday, but have not heard back yet.

 

[beardedlarry]

Labs came back with isospera 3-10 (few) per high power field. They were at >30 (many) before treatment. The vet who called said not to do anything more since the animal is doing fine, and that this is a somewhat normal occurrence. I would have liked to eradicate the bugs, but I guess we will live with this for now. I wonder if a third dose of ponazuril would have cleared it. Thanks for all the posts.

 

[DaisyDragon123]

Glad to hear the levels are in a normal range. I have kept Daisy on her probiotic but decreased the dose to two times a week.It's good to hear that LJ will not have to continue with medication.

 

[DaisyDragon123]

Glad to hear the levels are in a normal range. I have kept Daisy on her probiotic but decreased the dose to two times a week.It's good to hear that LJ will not have to continue with medication.