Parasites

[joprukop22]

I was wondering what I should worm my dragons with, how much of it, and how often. My big male is not keeping weight on like I would like him too while the female is pretty fat. Any suggestions?
Thanks!

 

[ErinMeetsMachine]

I would go to a vet first and be sure that pinworms/coccidia is an issue. Fecal tests usually are the first thing a beardie slave gets done when they suspect problems with their beardies. They give a lot of good information and are relatively inexpensive. I think my last one cost $28.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Are you housing your dragons together?
The best thing to deworm your dragons with is Panacur. Have you gotten a fecal done recently? I would recommend getting one just to make sure they don't have coccidia instead of worms.
I can tell you where to purchase it from & help you dose it, but want to make sure it is done safely.
If you go to http://www.beautifuldragons.com & get the Panacur & then we will talk about the dosage if you really feel you need to deworm them after getting a fecal done with analysis.

Tracie

 

[joprukop22]

I know it sounds crazy but yes, those two love birds are together. I think a big part of the weight loss was when I separated them for two weeks because of all the criticism I have read on housing dragons together. They both got very depressed, would not eat or move much. But when I put them back together, all way good again. They have lived together for 6 years solid now. I know this is probably an unusual case and not recommended but there happy together.

I will look into getting a fecal exam soon and I am familiar with Panacur ( I think we have some). Thanks for the reply.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Ok, great. Just get a fecal done & let me know how it turns out. It is no problem to deworm them. Hopefully he wont lose anymore weight right now.
You do have an unusual case of housing a male & female together. He probably went through relocation stress though as it is sometimes mistaken for them missing the other one. In the wild they never live in the vicinity or in the same group as the females. They come together for breeding & leave. It is normally too much stress for the female as she becomes overbred.
How many times has she laid eggs then? She should not be bred past this age of 6 though, as it begins to become too hard on her system & many times they can develop health problems from egg binding issues laying at later ages. Laying too many clutches can shorten their life span. That is the main problem of housing males & females together at older ages. Maybe he wont try to breed her as they get older, I don't know.
It is good they have gotten along for so long, there are few cases such as yours.

Tracie

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Hi Jo,
Be real careful with the housing together. Relocation stress is more likely the culprit of the depression. Reptiles just aren't into companionship. I would love to house mine together with 100 babies on the way but it just isnt worth the risk. I had 2 of my females in the same tank for 2 days while I built another tank and I had to break them up today. I just finished the new tank, so I got lucky. No sooner where the seperated they both ate like demons...lol.

 

[beardie parents]

Hi, Jo

I understand what you are saying with regard to your two beardies being housed together. It's very rare but the first two beardies we were given were best friends. You could tell that just by watching them. We figured that out after we'd had them only a couple of weeks. After they died, we hadn't found that level of "friendship" in two beardies since.

Enjoy your best friend beardies while you can, you may never see it again.

Lori

 

[joprukop22]

They have been together for 6 years now and she has had only two clutches of eggs which is surprising. But they have never fought or hurt each other so I am going to leave them alone. All my others are separated so Its not like housing them together is a habit of mine lol. And when I did separate them, the cages were right next to each other but they were still unhappy. So hopefully I can figure out why he is skinny (to me) and get the problem fixed.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

The old poop test is the only way to go then.