Rex, 8 week old, 28grams, has coccidia. What probiotic?

[Rowdy Rex]

Not a beardie expert by any means, but my little girl Stormfly had coccidia at the same age last year so I can at least speak from personal experience. The vet prescribed her 2 weeks of 1ml antifungal meds (I don't remember what exact type, sorry!), so I did that and it cleared her right up. I gave her a short bath for hydration every day, but she also would lick up water from my fingers. She did not drink her bathwater.

For her living situation while she was sick, I cleaned out her entire enclosure and removed anything that wasn't paper or cardboard. I use F10 for cleaning, too, and cleaned all of her old habitat setup like twice. I made a new setup with a couple tissue boxes that had a ramp and nice hiding space, and she loved it. If you're crafty, definitely recommend doing something like that for the little guy so the enclosure doesn't look/feel as barren! I covered the boxes in paper towels for easy cleaning when she pooed.

When I took her in for a 6 month checkup the vet said she was in perfect health, was growing as she should be, etc. Her meds didn't seem to have any affect on her appetite or growth, but I'm not sure if that was just her or more general. She got crickets and was offered greens, which she absolutely destroyed. Girlie LOVES to eat. She was shedding during all of this, too, and didn't seem affected by her meds.

Not necessarily recommending to do what I did, but I at least wanted to share my experience! She's a healthy, happy 9 month old now who still destroys her protein and veg with gusto.

I wonder which meds your vet prescribed for your girl. Rex hasn’t lost his appetite but he is pretty lazy.
I was thinking opposite, I was thinking get rid of the porous items and keep more of the plastic things?!?! I got rid of the bricks and slate, scrubbed and soaked them in chlorhexidine and then sprayed them with F10. I then baked the mopani wood in the oven at 250° for 2 hours. I will reuse them once we get this figured out. I replaced his things with all plastic except one piece of slate for a place to go on the cool side and of course keeping the paper towel liner. I feel like the plastic will be easier to keep clean. Am I thinking wrong by using plastic and should I go with more porous things?

 

[Rowdy Rex]

Beardies are FANTASTIC companions. Once they bond with us they are happy to spend hours and hours with us.
It makes me happy your kid is taking interest in him

He is absolutely loving him. That’s why I am freaking out. Haha. Everyday after school my son goes straight to his enclosure to get him out! I use that time to clean the enclosure so it is working pretty well. Rex seems to have a poo schedule, the last 3 days he has pooped on my son around 3:00!

 

[xp29]

He is absolutely loving him. That’s why I am freaking out. Haha. Everyday after school my son goes straight to his enclosure to get him out! I use that time to clean the enclosure so it is working pretty well. Rex seems to have a poo schedule, the last 3 days he has pooped on my son around 3:00!

Better be careful a lot of beardies tend to pick a spot and ALWAYS go there.
Usually they'll get really squirmy if they are on you and need to go.
I would keep using the plastic decor it's much less likely to harbor nasties long term.

 

[stormfly]

I wonder which meds your vet prescribed for your girl. Rex hasn’t lost his appetite but he is pretty lazy.
I was thinking opposite, I was thinking get rid of the porous items and keep more of the plastic things?!?! I got rid of the bricks and slate, scrubbed and soaked them in chlorhexidine and then sprayed them with F10. I then baked the mopani wood in the oven at 250° for 2 hours. I will reuse them once we get this figured out. I replaced his things with all plastic except one piece of slate for a place to go on the cool side and of course keeping the paper towel liner. I feel like the plastic will be easier to keep clean. Am I thinking wrong by using plastic and should I go with more porous things?

Plastic sounds a lot better, that's true about porous vs nonporous! My vet told me that everything in the enclosure needed to be disposable, so I used what I had. I'm certain plastic will work just as well!

I kept all of her information from that vet visit, so I will check the prescription when I'm home from work and update! Rex sounds like a silly little sweetheart and I'm sure he'll be feeling better in no time.

 

[stormfly]

Plastic sounds a lot better, that's true about porous vs nonporous! My vet told me that everything in the enclosure needed to be disposable, so I used what I had. I'm certain plastic will work just as well!

I kept all of her information from that vet visit, so I will check the prescription when I'm home from work and update! Rex sounds like a silly little sweetheart and I'm sure he'll be feeling better in no time.

Update: she took sulfadimethoxine for coccidia!

 

[Rowdy Rex]

Update: she took sulfadimethoxine for coccidia!

Okay, thank you for getting back to me. Our vet gave us Sulfadiazine. Why does there have to be so many different things?!?! LOL!

 

[stormfly]

Okay, thank you for getting back to me. Our vet gave us Sulfadiazine. Why does there have to be so many different things?!?! LOL!

Not a clue!! Best wishes to you and your little lizard!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I think Rex will be just fine! I don't think meds should be given either at such a young age, it really can
affect their appetite, especially sulfa drugs.
I'm happy to hear your son has taken a lot of interest in him, that's wonderful!
Feel free to post more pictures & updates when you can.

Tracie

 

[Rowdy Rex]

Hello,

I think Rex will be just fine! I don't think meds should be given either at such a young age, it really can
affect their appetite, especially sulfa drugs.
I'm happy to hear your son has taken a lot of interest in him, that's wonderful!
Feel free to post more pictures & updates when you can.

Tracie

Hi Tracie!
I stopped the meds that day and he seems to be perking up finally. He was starting to get a little sluggish and looking pitiful while on those meds. I am glad I stopped giving him them for now. He is more alert and a little more active. He’s pretty stinkin cute.
His bare enclosure is driving me crazy to be honest. I’m ready to put it all back how it was before this coccidia chaos. LOL.

 

[Rowdy Rex]

I know I saw somewhere about their poo. I can’t find it now. Before the meds his poo was solid, but kind of watery. I guess you could say more “juicy”. Now it is pretty solid, with no liquid to it. Is that normal?
He does eat his salad, (collard, mustard and dandelion greens) but not much. A couple bites here and there. He loves carrots I am learned.
He didn’t eat any salad until tonight. He ate two small pieces and then put himself to bed. Is it okay for him to eat and then go right to bed? Aren’t they supposed to bask after eating so they can digest what they just ate? Should I not keep salad in there for him 24/7?

 

[xp29]

He is stinking cute!!!
A little water is normal so is no water. That poop looks good. ( no where else in the world is saying that not going to make people think there is something wrong with you lol)

 

[Rowdy Rex]

He is stinking cute!!!
A little water is normal so is no water. That poop looks good. ( no where else in the world is saying that not going to make people think there is something wrong with you lol)

I am glad to hear his poop looks good. It is pretty silly talking about a lizards poop! LOL!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

He is looking good! I'm glad you went ahead & stopped the medications. I bet he does feel better.
Has he gotten more active now also I hope?
Keep us posted on him!

Tracie

 

[Rowdy Rex]

Hello,

He is looking good! I'm glad you went ahead & stopped the medications. I bet he does feel better.
Has he gotten more active now also I hope?
Keep us posted on him!

Tracie

Honestly, I don’t feel like he is very active. He is alert but he’s lazy, is how I would describe him. He likes to just hang out at his basking spot and that’s kind of it. Once he sees me with his dubia roaches he will hussle tho! LOL. He is learning our routine, he knows what the container means now.
I try to keep his stress to a minimum so I don’t bother him too much while my son is at school. I just check on him and give him his dubia lunch.
I have been trying to get his warm side warmer to see if that helps him get a little more active. It’s like his warm side is staying the same temps as his cool side. Which is only getting to about 77-78°. I feel like this enclosure isn’t holding heat. I added a heat emitter to it now and it did help, got it to 81° but it is keeping the cool side just as warm.

 

[Claudiusx]

That's basically what babies do though. They bask and digest all day and go voracious when food is around
He will get a bit more personality as he gets older.

What is his basking surface temperature (Sorry if I missed it) Your warm side shoulder be hotter than 78 unless you are using a tight beamed basking bulb.

-Brandon