Reptile & Amphibian Forums

OK I rescued this baby beardie from a lady who said it had coccidia. But here's the thing, she never took it to the vet so I asked her how she knew it had that and she said cuz it wasn't eating. then she tells me she has been forcefeeding it yogurt with live cultures to stimulate its appitite and applesauce. OK I've never heard of feeding it yogurt. But the poor little thing is skinny. she stays in her water bowl a lot and eats crickets just fine. Will occationally eat greens and I havent yet seen loose stool or blood in the stool. she never said anything about feeding it crickets. I noticed that if she sits in her water bowl for a while then she is active but if she's out of water for a few hours then she sleeps most of the day. I've had beardies for years and I've never seen this. She also had an older beardie, it was on the skinny side too but other then a messed up toe from an older beardie fight I dont see any problems. What is everyone's opinion other then taking it to the vet, Working on that part.
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Owner of:
5 ball pythons
5 crested geckos
3 iguanas
1 bearded dragon
1 bibron gecko
9 dogs
9 cats
4 kittens
1 hamster
1 rat
RIP:
Rocky-chow mix-11 years
Willow-lab mix-8 years
Kain-Savannah Monitor-2 years
Scooter-sulcata tortise-1 year
Mr Krabs-hermit crab-5 years
Niko-gerbil-3 years
sweet pea&niblet-dwarf hamsters-1 year
Hannibal-dwarf hamster 2 years
Scarlett- hamster-3 years
wicket-hamster-2 years
pixie- ball python- 3 years

You can't be sure of anything without having a fecal exam done. Her force-feeding it yogurt and applesauce has done more damage..this will give it runny stools and further contribute to weight loss. If it DOES it crickets on it's own, how many and how often ? A baby should eat as many as it wants. preferably twice daily. Make sure the crix are no longer than the space between it's eyes...too large crix can cause paralysis and lead to death. Is it possible that the cage is too hot ? Why it would lie in the water bowl ? If you describe the set-up, what size tank and all lights and heat you are using, someone might get an idea as to the problem.

Coccidia is a matter of degrees. Pretty much every dragon has it at some level. It is generally only treated when the infestation gets out of control. Unfortunately, this most often happens when dragons aren't cared for correctly.

Do you know the dragons weight, length and age? That would really help with formulating an opinion.

First off no more yogurt or apple sauce. Dragons cannot digest the dairy part of the yogurt and apple is an appetite supressent.

If the dragon is eating crickets, I would continue to feed her well gutloaded crickets twice daily in whatever quantity she will eat in a 15 minute or so time period and offer salad in between. Dust the crickets each meal with Calcium w/D3 no phosphorus or Vitamin A, one meal a week use a multivitamin. Most likely this will be all she needs to start to gain weight back.

Coccidia is treated with Albon which is a harsh drug that will likely cause her to stop eating while being treated. This is why I would wait for now on testing her for parasites. Albon should always be followed by a probiotic to eliminate the risk for Yellow Fungus Disease. The best product is Acidophiliz by Pet Authority. It can be purchased from online sources.

My vet says pinworms are the same way you just have to keep up with follow up fecal floats so you can catch it before it becomes more deadlier.I still feel pinworms or coccidea it should be treated but, going to blame the vet if they die.

In large numbers coccidia can lead to gastrointestinal pain, diarrhea, malabsorption and fluid loss. Eventually this can lead to a failure to eat, weight loss, secondary nutritional disorders and bacterial infections. (excerpt from 'The Bearded Dragon Manual' by Philippe de Vosjoli et al)

Without knowing more history about this dragon...hard to say if its health issue is solely due to a flare up of coccidia, or if the flare up is because of the dragon not being in good health. A healthy bearded dragon with proper husbandry and clean environment, naturally keeps levels of coccidia in its system to a minimum and has no ill effects from their presence. However, insufficient heat, UVB, dirty environment (like poop left in the cage for a long time before its cleaned, or water dish isn't cleaned especially after a dragon is sitting in it), stress, improper diet, etc can all cause flare ups of internal parasites.

It is very unusual for a dragon to sit in water, unless the cage is so hot, that is the only place it can cool down in. Unless she has a dragon that for some reason doesn't mind bathing. Either way, I don't think its good for the dragon to sit in water for long periods of time.

Try and get good accurate measurements of the cage temperatures, basking spot (both surface and air temperature) and the cool end. If the cage is really hot, the basking may be due to trying to cool down, especially if there are no hides or cool end for the dragon to go into.

As for yogurt..it shouldn't be fed every day. In the past I had recommended a very small amount of yogurt to serve as a probiotic, but now its easy to get reptile specific probiotics (Check BDLrv's post...I can never remember how to spell it...Aciliphys or something like that). That and in the past I didn't know about diary products being indigestible for dragons. I am not surprised though.

The only way to be 100% sure on whether a dragon has internal parasites, is via a fecal examination. Some vets wont' do this unless they also examine the animal, mostly because they want to get an idea of the overall health etc...and they will need to see the dragon anyway, to weigh it inorder to recommend proper dosage for any medication. Since it sounds like the dragon is now in your care, it will be up to you to bring it to a vet for a proper examination. However, getting it eating regularly and in a proper environment, may make it unnecessary to treat internal parasites, as a healthy dragon can typically fight off the affects themselves.

If you don't have a digital scale, get one and weigh the dragon weekly, maybe even twice weekly to monitor weight loss or gain. IF it eats alot and doesn't seem to gain any weight or continues to loose weight...(note that after bowel movements, some 'weight loss' will occur, if you weigh right after or before it eats again). Probably the best time to weigh is after a bowel movement and before feeding..or same time every morning or evening (after lights out while dragon is sleeping, probably be the less stressful..as most will just lay there once they are not being touched)

One other reason a dragon may soak is to get rid of external parasites. I know snakes will definitely soak if they have mites, not sure if dragons will do that. However to find mites, its easiest to just check the water after it soaks for awhile...if you see small black or dark brown roundish things flowing around, roughly the size of a pinhead...mites are likely the culprit. You can also look for mites on the dragon, under the chin, around the eyes, in the 'armpits' and other skin folds.
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PHLdyPayne

Forum Princess

she is in a 20 gal long aquarium with newspaper. She has two of those heavy "kidney" bowls, a big one for water and a small one for food..although she'd rather poop in it. She has a branch to bask on I have a uvb light on one end and a basking light behind it over her branch. I will have to get a hide box in there. She eats 1 or 2 med crickets right now because they were out of small When i went to get crickets. I plan on going to a different store tomorrow and see if they have small. I am not seeing any poo problems(runny or bloody or otherwise.) I dont feed her the yogurt or applesauce just greens and crickets. I have no idea how old or anything else. she just said her boyfriedn had one and then she wanted one....took all my willpower not to roll my eyes or make a comment...The other one that I got with her is showing no signs of poor health at all, he(?) is a good bit bigger then she is but not as big as my adult male. But the baby is bigger then a hatchling..Her belly I noticed is a bit dark..dont know if that means anything. I just think she got it and didnt know what to feed it. She eats the medium crickets fine but I dont want to over feed her. I think she is gaining some wieght. As for the soaking, she doesnt do it all the time just every now and then. I know when my snakes had mites they would soak all the time but its not like that. I had a female beardie who loved to soak so maby she just likes the water. Idk. Thanks for the advice.
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Owner of:
6 ball pythons
4 crested geckos
3 iguanas
3 bearded dragon
1 bibron gecko
6 dogs
11 cats
1 hamster
1 rat
RIP:
Rocky-chow mix-11 years
Willow-lab mix-8 years
Kain-Savannah Monitor-2 years
Scooter-sulcata tortise-1 year
Mr Krabs-hermit crab-5 years
Niko-gerbil-3 years
sweet pea&niblet-dwarf hamsters-1 year
Hannibal-dwarf hamster 2 years
Scarlett- hamster-3 years
wicket-hamster-2 years
pixie- ball python- 3 years
Fira - Crested gecko age unknown

Well, a growing dragon can easily eat 3 dozen crickets...and more...a day. That sounds unnecessary and expensive, but it's a fact. She is not thin due to parasites but due to lack of enough to eat. Not picking on you or any way an insult, most people really don't know that they require that much feeding.You almost can't over feed a juvenile bearded dragon...the size [ medium ] is O.K. as long as they are not much bigger than the length between her eyes.

Yeah I know they can eat a lot, the mediums i think are a little too big, shes so tiny. But is the newspaper ok? I read somewhere that sand isnt good for a baby. the only thing i see wrong with the newspaper is that the crickets can hide under it but thats not a major thing. I have my bigger beardies with sand. Ive had my adult for a while and ive never ever changed the sand. Ive added on to it but as long as i scoop the poo and stuff out of it it stays clean. but ya I am well aware of their eating habits. my adult is VERY fond of his crickets. there was a time where he wouldnt touch his greens if he could hear or see a cricket. he's gotten out of that but it was funny
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Owner of:
6 ball pythons
4 crested geckos
3 iguanas
3 bearded dragon
1 bibron gecko
6 dogs
11 cats
1 hamster
1 rat
RIP:
Rocky-chow mix-11 years
Willow-lab mix-8 years
Kain-Savannah Monitor-2 years
Scooter-sulcata tortise-1 year
Mr Krabs-hermit crab-5 years
Niko-gerbil-3 years
sweet pea&niblet-dwarf hamsters-1 year
Hannibal-dwarf hamster 2 years
Scarlett- hamster-3 years
wicket-hamster-2 years
pixie- ball python- 3 years
Fira - Crested gecko age unknown

All of the sand should be changed and the cage and contents should be disinfected twice a year. Even when scooping bacteria will remain in the sand and on the cage furniture.

Believe me I know it's a pain. I just picked up 3000 lbs. of sand last week to change out my 20 cages that use sand.

I do disenfect the "furniture" but as for the sand, i am not the only one who does this. I have talked to several breeders and they say they rarely change the sand. I recently bought some of the reptile astroturf for the baby. I cant remeber what its called but its like green carpet. anyway, im not going to sit here and debate about sand and whether or not you do or do not change it. the next time i go to the pet store I will pick up some sand or more reptile carpet.
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Owner of:
6 ball pythons
4 crested geckos
3 iguanas
3 bearded dragon
1 bibron gecko
6 dogs
11 cats
1 hamster
1 rat
RIP:
Rocky-chow mix-11 years
Willow-lab mix-8 years
Kain-Savannah Monitor-2 years
Scooter-sulcata tortise-1 year
Mr Krabs-hermit crab-5 years
Niko-gerbil-3 years
sweet pea&niblet-dwarf hamsters-1 year
Hannibal-dwarf hamster 2 years
Scarlett- hamster-3 years
wicket-hamster-2 years
pixie- ball python- 3 years
Fira - Crested gecko age unknown