wont eat staple or greens/watery poop

[michigan101]

My stella has been continuously going through some issues. For a while she had coccidia and was treated with albon. Then after the 2nd cycle we had a fecal dropped off at the vet. They said it came back negative (i THINK they did the float 2 days after i dropped it off) Either way, with a negative fecal I figured Stella would start to return to her normal self. that is far from the case.

Lately she has had watery feces (poo itself isnt runny, just seems to always be sitting in a pool of water) Stella has also stopped eating crickets. I am able to feed her superworms and waxworms though. She also prefers to bask at about 100 degrees now, much lower then when she was healthy. Im holding off with the worms for a few days, gonna try and get her to eat crix again.

Maybe i should get a 2nd opinion on the "negative fecal". She always looks so sad and always has stress marks and never colorful. Any advice?

 

[AHBD]

Since she doesn't feel good anyway, I would let her have the superworms to keep her weight on, and maybe in a while she'll accept other foods. She may need a probiotic after the albon...she is not feeling well because the treatment is somewhat harsh.

 

[discojan]

Just offering some support on fighting Coccidia. Our little Salsa has been fighting it too and from what I can tell from your posts, Salsa and Stella got sick/treated around roughly, though Salsa has not yet cleared it. I know first-hand how heartbreaking it is to watch your beloved creature look uncomfortable and how long it seems to take some of our buddies to clear this nasty stuff.

After 2 months of assorted treatments, we stopped giving our Salsa meds to give her system break, but she too had gone off her greens/salads/crickets and other daily feeders. For the last 3 weeks or so, she's not been eating super well, though after doing what I suggest below, she is at least now shedding (which suggests she was getting some nutrients--enough to grow anyway) and eating some salads from my hand (spoiled little girl!).

The meds seem to be harsh on their delicate reptile systems. Do you have acidophiliz? If so, try to get her to take a few droppers full and then put her on a heating pad covered in a towel--the heat will help boost the growth of good bacteria (there is an article on this site about supportive care during treatment for parasites). If her stomach hurts, the heating pad might help her feel better. If you don't have a heating pad, try a hot water bottle or a microwaved sock full of rice or beans to provide heat. You can also try soy yogurt (flavored ones seem to be yummier to Salsa) or crushed up dairy-free acidophilus pills.

If she isn't eating on her own for long enough, you may want to syringe feed her some homemade lizard soup (boiled/pureed salad ingredients or apple/butternut squash seems tasty to our girls) and mix in some vitamins/calcium/or stage 1 chicken baby food or you can get something called critical care/carnivore care from the vet. It is a powdered smoothie mix for reptiles, but it can be kind of expensive! Beautifuldragons.org has a list of dosages for how much to hydrate/feed lizards who aren't eating on their own, based on their body weight, and I think you can even order the stuff from them too. You can also order acidophiliz and nipples to put over the feeding syring from her (if I remember right, Stella is missing some teeth from the syringe feeding, yes?). The profits go to their reptile rescue.

Thanks to Tracie's recommendations, we're trying bee pollen now to help Salsa get her energy and good spirits back!

Good luck and hope Stella feels better sooon!
Jan

 

[michigan101]

It is so confusing to me how she is still sick but the vet told me that she was negative for coccidia?? I am starting to believe they held on to the fecal sample for an entire weekend and didnt run the float until monday afternoon. Would that be a reason she has come back negative? Not running a float on a fresh sample? I have also heard such horror stories about coccidia, and how it is so hard to get under control.

She is missing teeth on the side from biting the heck out of the syringe. I do have acidopholiz but stopped giving it about 1 week after the meds. That is about when she starting going south. I am not sure what to do at this point?? I could force feed her but what if she does have coccidia still?

 

[AHBD]

The main thing is to continue to feed what she likes and see how she recuperates. The superworms are fine....keep the superworms on bran and or oatmeal, sprinkle a multivitamin powder in the mix with them and provide a large leafy green in with them [ like collard or mustard, but dry off before hand so the oat-bran doesn't get moldy ] You can also put a sweet potato or zucchini slice in. So this is like " gut-loading the worms . The thing about force feeding is the stress itself can cause more harm....so let her eat the supers until she decides to eat something else. I imagine you could sprinkle the bee pollen in with the supers as well.

 

[ziggy23]

the watery stuff is just they are well hydrated, and maybe she just decided she doesn't like crickets now.

 

[michigan101]

I didn't think supers could be fed as a staple? She will only eat worms though, so it would be nice if I cannfind them a way to make a staple protein. Currently she ate some greens and waxworms dusted with calcium and is basking on her own. I think it is because I gave her a dose of albon with 1CC of acidopholiz and 1CC of water. This is the first day in about a week I've seen her without stress marks

 

[AHBD]

Yes, superworms can be a staple, but eating the greens will give the proper nutrition as they are loaded with calcium and minerals. Good to hear that she's eating them.

 

[michigan101]

I have a question about my acidopholiz. I read the article here about the supportive treatment during coccidia. I bought mine online and when it came to me, it wasnt sealed. It was in a geniric dropper jar with a simpley typed sticker. Could this render the bacteria ineffective? Ive been giving stella a dropper full daily and STILL havent seen any improvement! Please give me your opinion. I may purchase another jar. :/

 

[michigan101]

I went to the pet store yesterday to grab some supers and I was talking with the owner. I told him she has kinda stopped eating, doesnt really like her supers much anymore but was all she tolerates. He suggested to me a pinky. She ATE it within 3 minutes of being in her tank. Today I got home and she was basking and looked good. I also bought the store acidophilus and mixed it in some sugarfree apple sauce.

Since she is still under weight and sick, I would like to offer her more pinkies. How many can I give her safely without worring about too much phosphorous or fat?

 

[discojan]

I'm glad to hear Stella enjoyed her treat; I hope she is feeling better.
I don't have much advice about mice; we only feed our girls insects and greens, but I hope you'll receive some good advice from others who know more. How are her little teethies doing? I got the syringes with nipples from Beautiful Dragons yesterday, and they're pretty good.