Stella sick again!

[michigan101]

About 2 months ago stella went through a bunch of different treatments. Albon for the coccidia (about 3 cycled doses) panacur (3 treatments about 1 week apart)After she 2 clear fecals and still wasn’t feeling well and losing weight, the vet gave her 1 dose of Metronidazole (.2 CC for a 283 gram dragon). Around that same time I changed her UVB. She started eating superworms again and gaining weight like crazy. ( I thought maybe it was her UVB which was only 5 mos old)
She got up to about 385 grams when she started to slow down again. In about 3 weeks she has lost 20 grams and hasn’t eaten ANYTHING for a week. Last night I gave her some apple sauce w/acidopholiz. Im just not sure what to do at this point. Is it possible she has parasites AGAIN?
I have some left over Albon, do I treat with 1 cycle and look for improvement? Please help!

40 Gallon breeder
UVB reptisun 10.0
Basking temp 102 (she WILL NOT bask hotter than that)
Digital thermometer
Tile substrate
Offer crickets/superworms
Turnip/collard greens, cantaloupe, squash
She just will not eat

 

[xsmako1]

How old is she, she could be cooling her self down for the winter. Also is she dehydrated at all or lossing more weight?

 

[michigan101]

She is about 6 mos old (just a big girl) I soak her daily so I doubt she is dehydrated.

 

[michigan101]

Well I got her to eat some waxworms but she is still not feeling good. She doesnt want to bask any hotter than 90-92 degrees and will gape if any hotter. I do have a basking site of 107 and another of 98, her cool area is about 80. Maybe i will take in another fecal

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I would get another fecal before automatically medicating her again.
Is her beard darkened a lot right now? Did she ever slow down for the winter?
A lot of the dragons are already starting to come out of brumation for the winter though right now, or mostly. Some are still in, but they will be coming out soon.
How is her weight right now?

Tracie

 

[michigan101]

This is my first winter with her Ive never experienced a brumation. She is about 8 maybe 9 mos old now. I offer her food daily but she doesnt eat still. I doubt she even has poop for a fecal. She has been sleeping for about 3 days now. I gave her a rag to lay on in her rock. Stella weighs 390 grams as of 1/24. I will take her out today for a soak and another weigh in. If she is keeping weight I would guess its brumation

As for her color, during the day she is dingy, beard isnt dark unless i mess with her some. Then she gets bright in color as well. During the night (I guess when she gets to sleep good) she is a very pretty color.

I cant wait to get home to weigh her, Im so curious is she has dropped anything.

 

[discojan]

Ah, no. I'm sorry to hear Stella is sick again. Did her teeth ever get better? I've been following your saga, as we've had one of our own with our little one Salsa, who is roughly the same age, though much skinner than Stella.

It sounds like you probably want to take another fecal in. We're waiting for our girl's GI tract to get back to normal--she 's not eating a ton, and only pooping about 1x a week, and then only after she eats olive oil!

Hope your girl feels better!

 

[wildlife]

I was curious to know how well the olive oil works for your BD. I've read about it here and there but was hesitant to try it b/c I'm not entirely sure what application to use it for. I've heard to use it if they have swallowed a foreign object to help pass it. Is it more or less a laxative?

 

[discojan]

Yes, there are several thing that can help a beardie poop.

Apples can have a laxative effect as can canned pumpkin.

Olive oil
Mineral Oil (I've never tried it, but the vet has recommended it)
Flaxseed Oil
can be pretty powerful.


Usually with our girl we give her 1 cc orally (she is about 280g) and within a few hours of basking and with a nice warm bath, she poops on her own.

 

[wildlife]

Sorry to hear about Stella. Some words of encouragement, I think you are showing great animal husbandry skills! Too often people aren't willing to treat their pets as members of their family, so kudos michigan101 !

Is it just coccidia that's showing positive? (high egg count)
High counts of coccidia and no signs of other parasites could be interp. as a red flag for other parasitic infections as well as decreased immune system. Coccidia can be thought of as an indicator sp. but it's still debatable esp between captive vs. wild.

I'm no expert, by any means, but I conduct my own fecal exams and if there's one thing about internal parasites (specifically roundworms/flatworms) I've learned, it's: Arrested Larval Development or hypobiosis.
"This phenomenon may be defined as the temporary cessation[halt] in development of a nematode [roundworm/flatworm] at a precise point in its parasitic development(veterinary parasitology 2nd ed)."

It goes on to state further that "It may be seen as a ruse by the parasite to avoid adverse climatic conditions...".

With the coupling of brumation as an environmental factor and the med regiment, I second another fecal test. Although every vet and herper have they're preferences on what meds to use, all are pretty harsh on the gut flora of your BD as you are aware. Don't be afraid to ask (not assuming you are) the vet "why" they think one particular med is better than the next or if any. The reptile drug industry is derived from many avian drugs with few advances (my amateur opinion).

I can relate to how your feeling, I've gone through this with my BD's. Stay positive! If your feeling up to it, try blending their favorite foods and using a feeding syringe. You can get plastic ones(1cc, .5cc, etc) from CVS/Walgreens free at the pharmacy desk. Just make sure you ask for plastic ones. They gave me a funny look the first time I asked. lol

Hope this helps....

 

[wildlife]

thanx discojan! I'm into homeopathy and so are my dragons!

 

[discojan]

No problem Wildfire. I hate all the meds our poor girl has been through--panacur, SMZ, and then albon, poor thing. She gets acidophiliz 2X a day, and when her appetite is low I give her critical/carnivore care slurry--syringe fed with a nipple-syringe (bought from beautiful dragons) so that she doesn't hurt her teeth when she gets pissy and bites the syringe. I wish there were more homeopathic ways to deal with teh parasites so that it didn't hurt their guts so much.

Lately she will lick the food from a spoon, but she is a fiesty little girl. We call her "the punk," pushtaka, as a nickname!