Need help with sick beardie

[rhaegaldrogo]

Hi all,
I made a post recently about my beardie hiding and not eating much. Turns out he has parasites. I've been prescribed to give him septrin once a day for a week, with high protein dog food (apparently his calcium levels were down too).

Ever since I brought him back from the vet, his behaviour changed. He went from hiding all day to acting crazy for a few hours, mostly black beard, hiding, then coming out to chill. Anybody know why that might be?

Also, I'm having trouble giving him his medicine + food. He squirms and runs away a lot and is quite strong. I'm afraid to hold him down in case I accidentally hurt him. He also gets incredibly stressed. Any tips?

I'm thinking it might help to give it to him in the morning when he has less energy. Problem is, I've given him the antibiotics at the same time the last 2 days, at 7.pm. The vet never said it had to be at the same time but I assumed so. How could I transition him from evening to morning for medicine? Thank you

 

[KarrieRee]

We need Tracie or AHBD to answer your questions
Karrie

 

[AHBD]

Hi there , what parasite did the vet say he has ? Please find out if you don't know ans ask how high the counts were. Septrin is a sulfa drug which is pretty harsh, I've never heard of it used on beardies. His crazy activity now is due to fear + stress, some dragons react that way after a vet visit and forced medication. The dog food is junk, very high in fat and there are many other ways to get calcium in to a beardie. Most vets prescribe Critical Care supplement now. Vets used to prescribe the dog food 30 years ago before they had better choices. Did your boy eat any of it ? Ask for Critical Care instead, feed it via syringe. One way to get meds. in to a feisty dragon is to inject it in to a juicy superworm or hornworm. Another way is to pull the lip down on the side of the mouth and slide the syringe in. Is your beardie losing weight or is he a good size ? Can you post some pics ? Here's how :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them.
Post pics of his tank + lights as well.

 

[rhaegaldrogo]

Hi there , what parasite did the vet say he has ? Please find out if you don't know ans ask how high the counts were. Septrin is a sulfa drug which is pretty harsh, I've never heard of it used on beardies. His crazy activity now is due to fear + stress, some dragons react that way after a vet visit and forced medication. The dog food is junk, very high in fat and there are many other ways to get calcium in to a beardie. Most vets prescribe Critical Care supplement now. Vets used to prescribe the dog food 30 years ago before they had better choices. Did your boy eat any of it ? Ask for Critical Care instead, feed it via syringe. One way to get meds. in to a feisty dragon is to inject it in to a juicy superworm or hornworm. Another way is to pull the lip down on the side of the mouth and slide the syringe in. Is your beardie losing weight or is he a good size ? Can you post some pics ? Here's how :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them.
Post pics of his tank + lights as well.

Hi there
She said he has coccidia, and a high amount of them. Ah yeh, I'd assumed it was stress after the vet visit but he was acting super crazy 2 days afterwards, before I even force fed him. I didn't know it'd last so long . Is there any way to ease his stress?
Oh really? It's a digestive sensitive formula food, I only give him a small amount of it. He did eat some yes, he seemed to like it the first time. I think he still likes it now, just doesn't like having it forced on him.
What's critical care may I ask?
I think I'll try the lip one. He's more calm in the morning, could I do it then? I know he won't be warm enough to eat or anything but I want to cause him the least amount of stress as possible.
He's losing weight, he lost 8g this week. But he's a good size and quite strong. The only thing he's eating is the food I'm force feeding him. Before the vet found out he had parasites, she told me to stop feeding him superworms (which was all he was eating). I'm wondering if it's ok to try get him to eat some just while he's on the medication?

 

[AHBD]

He looks great and 8 grams loss is pretty negligible and nothing to be concerned with at all. I would feed him the superworms if he wants them and be sure to dust them with calcium powder, you don't want to take away too much of his normal routine. Critical Care is a nutritious supplemental food that vets prescribe for beardies that aren't eating.

 

[KarrieRee]

It comes in herbivore and omnivore
Karrie

 

[rhaegaldrogo]

He looks great and 8 grams loss is pretty negligible and nothing to be concerned with at all. I would feed him the superworms if he wants them and be sure to dust them with calcium powder, you don't want to take away too much of his normal routine. Critical Care is a nutritious supplemental food that vets prescribe for beardies that aren't eating.

Yes it's not that much. But I'm just being overly worried because he was gaining 15-20grams every week , apart from the last fortnight ?
Oh ok, I'll try that . Before the dog food or medication , he hadn't eaten in 2.5 days and barely seemed hungry :/.
Ohh I see. I think the vet was going to prescribe a food like that if he stopped eating completely for a week or so. Thank you!
Sorry to ask again, but is it ok to give him his medicine first thing in the morning with a little food?

 

[AHBD]

Yes you can administer it in the morning. Hope that your handsome boy cooperates with you.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Poor thing, the Septrim is hard on their system. If he continues black bearding, you could
consider getting him on another medication that is easier on his system. He definitely should
be on a different powdered food supplement. The dog food is too much on his kidneys & as
AHBD suggested, Critical care powdered food is much healthier & more properly designed for
reptile use also.
They definitely become overly stressed after a vet's visit, so it might take a few days for him to
feel better.
Be sure to keep him a little warmer overnight to help boost his immune system while he isn't
feeling real well!

Tracie

 

[rhaegaldrogo]

I gave it to him this morning, he took it with far less of a struggle, less stress all around

I will try see if I can get my hands on some critical care . How warm should I keep him overnight? Like low 20°s maybe?

I've noticed he blackbeards an hour or two after warming up in the mornings, even when I gave him medicine before warming. He sometimes blackbeards when hiding too. I took him out of his Viv when he was hiding with a black beard. His black beard went away and he seemed interested in what was going on around him. After I put him back in, he had a black beard. Is there something in his tank that could be annoying him maybe?

 

[KarrieRee]

What are you using for a UVB and is it inside the tank or on top of the screen?
Karrie

 

[rhaegaldrogo]

What are you using for a UVB and is it inside the tank or on top of the screen?
Karrie

It's an Arcadia D3, inside the vivarium z no screen, with a reflector

 

[KarrieRee]

And you have a good UVB - is it approx 12-15 inches from the basking decor --? How black is the beard? I am trying to rule the lighting out as a possible cause for the black beard-- how old is the UVB? I am wondering if its the medication causing this --- was he doing the black beard thing before he was on the medication?
Karrie

 

[rhaegaldrogo]

And you have a good UVB - is it approx 12-15 inches from the basking decor --? How black is the beard? I am trying to rule the lighting out as a possible cause for the black beard-- how old is the UVB? I am wondering if its the medication causing this --- was he doing the black beard thing before he was on the medication?
Karrie

It's closer at some parts but he can escape it. His behaviour doesn't change when I turn it off. Oh no this is just a new thing. But he doesn't blackbeard when outside the Viv, that's odd to me, makes me think maybe something else is bothering him?

 

[KarrieRee]

Pain and distress is usual reason for black bearding-- what about his basking temps ? Is he basking like normal? You might want to post a pic of him w/ the black beard and we can have AHBD take a look and Tracie and see if they can throw in light on the issue
Karrie