Parasites

[Crazyoscar]

So my bearded dragon(Oscar) was having diarrhea. We took her to the vet and then we treated her for parasites. They said we caught it before it got bad. We were also told to not give her green beans(her favorite) because they have a lot of liquid in them and that can make it watery too. It's about 2 weeks later and she still has diarrhea. We have not given her green beans since the vet. Should I go back to the vet?

 

[EllenD]

What type of parasites was she diagnosed to have? I'm assuming you took a poop sample in and they tested it for parasites, worms, and bacteria? Did they tell you what her parasite counts were? What medication was she given, and how long was she on it?

Beardies get their hydration from their food, most do not drink water from a dish or even in their bath, so they almost exclusively get their hydration from their live insects and their greens and veggies. Yes, it's true that if they eat a lot of greens or veggies their poop can be a bit watery, that's normal and obviously they need their hydration. The water she's getting from her greens and veggies, as well as from her live insects, have nothing to do with the diarrhea caused by the infection she had, so if she still has constantly runny stools or stools that are very smelly (more so than they were before she was diagnosed when she was eating her normal greens and veggies) then it means she still has some kind of infection or infestation, and that's what is causing the diarrhea. I'm assuming that she ate the same veggies before getting sick and didn't have the constant diarrhea, which is what alerted you that she was sick in the first place.

If she has parasites or a bacterial infection that is causing diarrhea, then she actually needs extra fluids, as she'll become dehydrated from the parasites. So I'm confused as to why the vet would diagnose her with parasites or a bacterial infection that was causing constant diarrhea which would dehydrate her, and then would tell you to stop feeding her greens and veggies that would be keeping her hydrated while she was sick. It's the parasites that cause diarrhea. If she always had eaten green beans prior to the illness and they didn't cause diarrhea (occasional loose stools happen when they eat greens, veggies, and fruit, it's not necessarily a bad thing), then this means she's still sick and possibly needs another fecal done and then medication treatment to treat the specific infection she has. That's why I asked what she was specifically diagnosed with and how, because this doesn't sound like a reptile vet to me, maybe I'm wrong, but she needs to stay hydrated while she is sick with a bug that causes diarrhea...

 

[Crazyoscar]

The vet did not take a sample and just gave us three days of meds. I will start to give her more green beans and some more kale. I'll talk to my mom and see what we can do. Thank you for your information.

 

[EllenD]

Okay, yeah that's not good at all. Your vet didn't diagnose what if anything was even wrong with your beardie!!! You can't just look at a beardie's poop and diagnose him with parasites and guess what medicine to give them, he could have worms, a bacterial infection with something like Coccidia, or several different types of parasites. All of these require different medications to treat them, so the reason your beardie is still sick is because he most likely wasn't given the correct medication for whatever he has. He may not even have parasites, he could have some other type of internal infection that's making him sick.

What medicine did he take? See if you can find that out from your mom...

You need to tell your mom that any GOOD reptile vet would have asked you to bring in a fresh poop sample with you to his office when you made the appointment. Then he would have done a gram stain and looked at the poop under the microscope while you were there, he would have diagnosed exactly what your beardie was sick with, determined how high the count or load was, and then he would have decided what medication to give your beardie based on what was making him sick. So unfortunately it's likely that he's been sick with whatever he has this entire time and it's probably gotten much, much worse. He also probably too that medicine for no reason.

Most any vet, even a vet that isn't a reptile specialist, should be able to run fecal tests and prescribe the correct medication if you take in a fresh poop sample to them when you go. You guys need to make another appointment to have a fecal sample tested, as he needs proper medication. I wouldn't ever go back to that vet again, I can't believe that a vet would just look at your beardie and diagnose parasites and prescribe a medication based only on your description of his poop. That's very irresponsible of the vet (although unfortunately it seems like lately this is becoming more and more common)...

And yes please keep him well hydrated, this vet really did a disservice to you and your beardie, I'm sorry this happened to you...

 

[Crazyoscar]

We don't have the bottle from the medicine anymore. I will look and see if there are any other vets in my area that takes reptiles