Soooooo bloated!

[Roccosmama]

My baby Skooters belly is so bloated!!! In March we took both Rocco and Skooter in to the vet for a checkup and fecals. They both came back with high levels of coccidia and little Skooter had pinworms. The vet prescribed Albon to treat the Coccidia and said we would deal with the pinworms after that. She told us to wait a few weeks after their treatment to bring in another stool sample. Well, during those few weeks little Skooters belly has become incredibly bloated. Im thinking its probably the pinworms but I cant be sure. We took in a few stool samples today but will not hear from the vet till Monday. Her appetite is great and she is pooping normally (which for her is once a day) and its normal looking....meaning its not runny or funny looking in any way. Her diet consists of crickets and a little bit of greens. We believe she is now 6 months old. We got her in January and she was about a month old when we got her. She was close to 7 inches long when we got her and now,nearly 5 months later, she has only grown a half inch. With her appetite she should be double that by now! LOL! So im wondering if the pinworms are real bad and perhaps stunting her growth??? I need some advice.....is there anything I can do for her right now to help her bloating?? Im scared to even feed her because she looks like she is going to burst!!! I just want my poor babies healthy. I feel so bad that they have to go through all this!! Grrr! Anyway, thanks for your help in advance!!
Jenn, Rocco, and Skooter

Here are some pics to try to give you any idea of how bloated she is. Sorry some are so blurry but at least you can see her fat belly!

 

[Jiffy]

Oh my goodness. Poor baby sure is very bloated.
I dont have any idea of what to tell you to do, but wanted to bump up your post, maybe someone else can help.

 

[Dragoon]

I could mean two things. One: you're feeding it too much, but I don't know how that could make your beardie so bloated, or two: It is NSHP (Nutritional Secondary Hyperparathyroidism).

A sign of NSHP is bloating. You can look Nutritional Secondary Hyperparathyroidism online.

 

[Roccosmama]

Dragoon....do you have a link or an article on this NSHP? I can only find information pertaining to horses but nothing on bearded dragons or other reptiles. I thought that anything to do with the thyroid would affect appetite??? As I said in my post, hers is fine. As far as overfeeding, that is highly unlikely. She is fed 2-3 times a day and gets as much as she wants in a 15 minute period...as suggested on this site.

 

[Dragoon]

NSHP usually is a result of low dietary calcium and/or not enough Vitamin D.

Is your dragon getting enough calcium every day?

To treat Nutritional Secondary Hyperparathyroidism is simple. All you have to do is give your beardie quality dark green leafy vegetables and increase the amount of calcium of the food you feed the things your dragon gets, whether it be crickets, etc. Or, sprinkle a little calcium powder on his salad. You can get calcium powder at your local pet store that sells lizards, usually.

That I know of, nothing will effect your beardie's appetite.

And yes, I don't think a beardie can be that fat because of overfeeding.

 

[Roccosmama]

All she eats are green leafy veggies. She especially likes collard greens. We also dust her crickets 5 times a week. I wish we could have gotten the fecal done quicker because she is even more bloated today!!!

 

[Dragoon]

Oh my... :shock:

How many crickets does your beardie get a week? What's its diet?

 

[Dragoon]

http://www.exclusivedragons.com/HealthIssues.html
A good link about NSHP, because I know you asked if you wanted a link.

 

[Dragoon]

It is far down on the page; the site is not all about NSHP.

 

[Jiffy]

Just bumping this up again

 

[Dragoon]

Keep doing that and this thread'll be at the top in ten years. :wink:

 

[Roccosmama]

Good news....Skooters bloating has gone down some! She was up twice in the night to poop. She has NEVER done that after lights out so now im wondering if she was constipated or impacted. Although, im not sure what would cause the impaction. Im very careful about the size crickets she gets and the only other thing I offer her are greens. Yesterday we didnt even give her crickets because she was so incredibly bloated. All we offered her were greens and the poor thing kept looking at us like we were starving her! LOL! I took her out for some sunshine today for the first time ever and she seemed to enjoy it. She just laid on my chest and soaked up the rays. She is so laid back I can do about anything with her. I honestly think she would rather be out of her viv with me holding her all day long. Hopefull the vet calls early tomorrow to let us know what she found in her stool. Do you guys think I should try to give her crickets today or should I just stick to the greens till I hear from the vet tomorrow??

 

[Buggsy]

I had this last year, and after xray- Gizmo had gas! After a few days running around it went away! Just make sure the basking temp is right.

 

[Jiffy]

I am so glad that your beardie is doing some better. Let us know what the vet says.
And I dont really know about the feeding of crickets right now or not. I would think if you did, to just take it easy and not overdo it.

 

[Dragoon]

Yeah, I guess that would be the safest to do if you feed it crickets. Glad to hear your dragon is recovering!