Reptile & Amphibian Forums

..or maybe I'm just being too dramatic.

Hello,

My little buddy, who is nameless at the moment( was named Homer, but I don't think he liked that name ) seems to be doing great and not so great.

He eats like a champ, but, being the nervous parent I am I think I might be underfeeding. He gets about 85 of the small baby crickets each day. He is about 6 months old and at 13 inches. I know I should be feeding him much larger crickets, but I am worried about impaction. I can't order crickets online because I can't store them anywhere around here, and all the stores only have small and large. And some of the large are waaaay tooo big. Will feeding him these tiny crickets harm him in anyway?

Now, with my vet.. I have no idea what is going on. He has Coccidia and a type of worms( forgot which one vet said, started with an R), but the only treatment they have gave him so far was the Flagyl. Now, I remember CheriS telling me Flagyl doesn't treat coccidia, and I am getting very upset with the vet. My BD seems fine besides his poop being runny and smelling VERY bad.

Can I take these measures into my own hand? I want to give him ParaZap, is it alright to start him on it? Last Flaygl treatment was over 2 weeks ago. I also want to start him on the Acidphillius(spell?) stuff. Is it alright to give it at the sametime with ParaZap?

Another thing, my little guy seems a litttle tired during the day( closing eyes sometimes) and he has a good number of wrinkles on his back when he turns and sometimes when facing forward. He is around 115 grams, so not sure if he is underweight or dehydrated, but when he is basking I rarely if ever see wrinkles, just sometimes when he is lollygagging around the tank.

I also read somewhere that heat could be a part of him being tired. I used a 50 watt bulb for a 55 gallon tank, need to get a good good thing to check the temp, something that sits on the basking area. Anyideas?

With the veggies, is it alright to put his veggies in a dish and fill that dish with water too so he gets water at the sametime he eats veggies? Or will the water do something harmful to the veggies besides being soggy?

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Now...have a.. different problem!

I can't think of a name for my Beardie!

He is active..curious..lollygagger!

I was wondering if anyone could come up with some suggestions for me. I'm a fan of Disney, so maybe the name of an animal/pet from a Disney movie, because I am really stumped on this one!

Soo..Anyone who can lend a helping hand in any of my questions will be thanked when my little beardie says his prays in the morning before he goes on a cricket round up!

I store my crix in a large plastic tub I got from walmart for about $8. I cut a hole in the lid & duct-tape a piece of plastic needlepoint canvas, from walmart for .80, over the hole I cut out. Then I put a light over it for heat.

I'm not sure what is normally used to treat coccidia, but starting him on Parazap, use the tea method printed on the lable, would be a good idea. I don't think there would be a problem with using the Parazap & AcidophiLiz together, but someone else may know more about that than I do.

All of my beardies take little naps throughout the day; as long as he's not sleeping all day long, he's probably OK. Soaking him can help if he's dehydrated. I also let water drip off the tip of my finger onto their noses to give them an extra drink. I also mist them a couple of times each day.

A digital indoor/outdoor thermometer with a probe is a MUST! You can find them @ Radio Shack or Walmart for around $10. Place the probe directly onto the spot he uses to bask; if the thermometer has a switch/button to measure the indoor or outdoor temp, make sure it's switched to outdoor.

I wouldn't put veggies in a dishful of water; they'll get mushy & smelly & he may quit eating them. I mist the greens just a little bit throughout the day when I notice them starting to get that wilted look.

As far as a name, I've always liked the name Pogo--short for Pogona. I named my latest-acquired baby Sydney, after the city in Australia.

Good luck & keep us posted!
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God Bless, Beardie Dreams, & Peace!
Pogoniacs™

is the first thing you need to do. 50 watt house blub is not usually going to generate the heat for 95-110F surface temperature he needs to digest food properly. Also, he needs UBV light of some kind either through a mercury vaper bulb, a UVB tube light or Several hours of sunshine. Some people feel that regular supplements with Calcium with D3 can replace this, I do not recommentd that for a growing bearded dragon.

Once you know that his heat and UVB is good, then start working on other husbandry issues. While he is on any meds or while you are trying parazap to lower a parasite/worm load, you need to keep the dragon and the enclosure really clean. Several test have should that dragons count can be lowered with cleaning alone, but its a lot of work and cleaning daily.

Most bearded dragon's own immune systems can deal with parasites given the cleanliness, heat, diet and UVB they need to keep them healthy. Since he is eating well and basking, I would try this first ans see if there is any improvement as long as he is not showing other distress signs of to heavy a load.

If there is no improvement, then you need to take him back to the vet for another fecal (there should have neem a recheck anyway) I think your vet used Flagyl as it does cover a breaod range of parasites and bacteria. Here are some URLS for you to read, one is the mass cleaning/treatment for coccidia (but could be used for other parasites and worms) the other is about Flagyl

Flagyl
www.chameleonnews.com/year2002/sept2002/flagyl/flagyl.html

Treating coccidia with cleaning
www.reptilerooms.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=18&page=1

n/p
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Mystical Dragons

Thanks again CheriS.

My set up right now is-

Paper towels, cardboard boxes to bask on, dish of veggies, UVB light stretching across the whole tank, basking bulb, and a ceramic heat emitter connected to a rhetostat if it gets too cold at night for him.

I also do the Cal w/ Vit D3 every otherday and the Herptivite in the middle of the week on a day I'm not doing the Cal.

Gonna read up on those links you gave me, thanks for the reading material, always great to learn more.

Hi
i would first start with parazap it neevr hurt him.
if he got worms then 7 days tea 7 days no tea and then again 7 days tea must kill the worms.
most of the time the worm is the beginner and when the imume system is low then things like flagelates and coccidia can show up.
so kill first the worms with parazap.
if you give flagyl it wil also kill the good bacteria youre beardie need to digest his food.
yep the achidohulus is a good thing to give same time with the parazaptea.
parazap tea let the good bacterias life.
maybe a second opinion at a other vet???
youre beardie got roundworms?? then it wil be easy for parazap to kill.
i know if the worms r killed then the other deseases wil get kiled faster to.
i lost a beardie due of overdosis flagyl becarefull !!
she got impacted and then i gave her 2,3 time flagyl i saw it to late she whas impacted
hope it helps
you can always email me !
byeeeee

so ill post a name

how about "Tirrike" (pronounced tir-eek-i) it means "laughter or joy" its an aboriginal name from australia

>>..or maybe I'm just being too dramatic.
>>
>>Hello,
>>
>>My little buddy, who is nameless at the moment( was named Homer, but I don't think he liked that name ) seems to be doing great and not so great.
>>
>>He eats like a champ, but, being the nervous parent I am I think I might be underfeeding. He gets about 85 of the small baby crickets each day. He is about 6 months old and at 13 inches. I know I should be feeding him much larger crickets, but I am worried about impaction. I can't order crickets online because I can't store them anywhere around here, and all the stores only have small and large. And some of the large are waaaay tooo big. Will feeding him these tiny crickets harm him in anyway?
>>
>>Now, with my vet.. I have no idea what is going on. He has Coccidia and a type of worms( forgot which one vet said, started with an R), but the only treatment they have gave him so far was the Flagyl. Now, I remember CheriS telling me Flagyl doesn't treat coccidia, and I am getting very upset with the vet. My BD seems fine besides his poop being runny and smelling VERY bad.
>>
>>Can I take these measures into my own hand? I want to give him ParaZap, is it alright to start him on it? Last Flaygl treatment was over 2 weeks ago. I also want to start him on the Acidphillius(spell?) stuff. Is it alright to give it at the sametime with ParaZap?
>>
>>Another thing, my little guy seems a litttle tired during the day( closing eyes sometimes) and he has a good number of wrinkles on his back when he turns and sometimes when facing forward. He is around 115 grams, so not sure if he is underweight or dehydrated, but when he is basking I rarely if ever see wrinkles, just sometimes when he is lollygagging around the tank.
>>
>>I also read somewhere that heat could be a part of him being tired. I used a 50 watt bulb for a 55 gallon tank, need to get a good good thing to check the temp, something that sits on the basking area. Anyideas?
>>
>>With the veggies, is it alright to put his veggies in a dish and fill that dish with water too so he gets water at the sametime he eats veggies? Or will the water do something harmful to the veggies besides being soggy?
>>
>>----
>>
>>
>>Now...have a.. different problem!
>>
>>I can't think of a name for my Beardie!
>>
>>He is active..curious..lollygagger!
>>
>>I was wondering if anyone could come up with some suggestions for me. I'm a fan of Disney, so maybe the name of an animal/pet from a Disney movie, because I am really stumped on this one!
>>
>>
>>
>>Soo..Anyone who can lend a helping hand in any of my questions will be thanked when my little beardie says his prays in the morning before he goes on a cricket round up!
-----
reiko
photos