Piperazine?

[onomatotia]

I recently took my rescued bearded dragon to the vet since he was completely off his food. During the visit she did a fecal smear and sent the sample off to a lab. Gnarly came back positive for just about every type of parasite common to bearded dragons: pinworms, roundworms, coccidia, flagellates, and probably more that I'm not remembering. In the office the vet gave him a one-time oral dose of Flagyl, prescribed Toltrazuril once a day, two days a week, for three weeks. She sent me a prescription of Piperazine suspension to give him once, following with another dose in two weeks time. I've been hand feeding him for a little over three weeks and on Tuesday he finally began to eat on his own again! I have not yet given him his Piperazine since I just got it in the mail yesterday. I've been trying to research the side-effects of Piperazine in bearded dragons, but I can't find any useful information. Does anybody else have experience with this medicine? Thanks!

 

[BeardedDragonCo]

The vet probably gave you piperazine for pinworms and roundworms instead of Panacur.

I found this in the Merck Veterinary manual
Piperazine is rapidly absorbed from the GI tract, and piperazine base can be detected in the urine as early as 30 min after administration. The excretion rate is maximal at 1-8 hr, and excretion is practically complete within 24 hr. The spectrum of activity of piperazine is largely against ascarid parasites in all animal species (including humans). The safety margin is wide.

 

[onomatotia]

Thanks! I was a little worried about it. I gave him his first dose today. His appetite has decreased a little, so his tummy may be slightly upset. I gave him a shot of benebac tonight before bed. Hopefully the poor thing starts feeling better.