Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My little dragon, Puff, the one with Coccidia, is not doing well. He wasnt eating, so the vet told us to force feed him. We are giving him babyfood. He just seems like he is getting worse. He lost two grams (He only weighed 28 to begin with) and he is just getting skinnier. HELP!! Any ideas what I can do for him?

Just babyfood doesn't seem like enough. I would mix in some ground up pellet, pedialite, and probiotics and then feed it through a syrenge they will usually just lap it right up. That should help some. Good luck

Thanks. I will definitely try that. I bought the probiotics today and already gave him some. After, I offered him water dropped on his snout, and he lapped up more than he ever has. So perhaps the meds are dehydrating him...

Meds can dehydrate and it's always a good idea to make sure your beardie has extra water while on meds. Meds can be rough on their kidneys also, so by hydrating, it helps that situation too.
Heartmountain gave you excellent advice, I would only add some suppliments to the mix (calium w/d3 and vitamins).
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www.classylizard.com

we added the supplements to the babyfood. I am going to try soaking some bearded dragon pellets and adding that..see if it helps. I just want him to be okay...

bump up the tank temps by 2-3 degrees.....keep him warmer at night.....no colder than 75 but preferably 80......mist him at least 3 times per day.....preferably 5-6 and soak him at least every other day.....hyrdration is key when you're giving antibiotics as Christy said.....

Definitely add the pellets to the mixture as well.....

Good luck to you and keep us posted!
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Tracey
Tracey's Beardies
www.beardiecrazy.com

I am going to add another red heat light tonight. I think he is dehydrated now for sure. I have given him water on his snout twice in the past hour and he is lapping it up like crazy. Also, I mashed up bearded dragon pellets and ectotherm (smooshed up crickets and stuff) and fed it to him. He ate it right up. So, my fingers are crossed..

n/p
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Tracey
Tracey's Beardies
www.beardiecrazy.com

np
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1.0 Beardies (Spike)
0.0.2 Corn Snakes
1.0 Chineese Rat Snake (Chino)
2.3 Kenyan Sand Boas
1.0 Eastern Chain King (Spot)
1.0 King Rat Snake
1.0 Tarantula

RIP Rusty(BD)....u were my favorite little girl

my dragon right now is on albon for the same problem. lucky for noodles and myself she is healthy and eatting very well. what i do after i orally give the medicine i have a very clean syringe (sp) and bottled water and orally gived water to her. there was a chart on beautifuldragons.com (i think??) which said how much water a dragon should be getting daily to stay hydrated well. i have doubled that dose by giving it once in the morning and the same amout in late afternoon. im not sure if that is 100% the correct way of doing it, but it allows me to measure and make sure that she is getting excatly the right about of water a day. good luck to you!

You can try the t-rex Crested Gecko Diet. It is a powder that you mix with water. It is a complete diet like the pellts, but is in powder form and would be easier for force feeding. You would not need to add supps., as it already has the minerals and vitamins added plus probiotics. You can find the diets at most petcos or order online from lllreptile supply. If you can get the Gargoyle diet, it might be better for a sick dragon as it has more protein. If you want to stick to a babyfood based mix, you can add turky baby food to whatever you were using to increase protein.
good luck
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Bill DiFabio
Garden State Herpetoculture...website to follow...
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