Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had my new bearded dragon for about a week now. He is a fully grown adult, and has adjusted very well. Right now I'm trying to feed him whatever he will eat since it is the very beginning. All he has been eating are collard greens, escarole, and mealworms with an occasional wax worm. He goes to the bathroom about every other day, and it is very watery and smells really really bad. Is there anything I could feed him or give him less of that would change this?
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*Kara*
0.1.0 Leopard Gecko (Tarzana)
1.0.0 Bearded Dragon (Racso)
0.0.1 Leopard Gecko (Nanito)

beardie had a fecal exam, and what the results were?

It could very well have a health problem (I'm thinking coccidia, just from personal experience with runny and stinky poop) that only a fecal exam would show.

No I don't know when the last time he had a fecal exam was. Is what he may have curable? If I get a fecal exam done should I just collect whats there after he goes to the bathroom and bring it to a vet, or does he have to be there also?
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*Kara*
0.1.0 Leopard Gecko (Tarzana)
1.0.0 Bearded Dragon (Racso)
0.0.1 Leopard Gecko (Nanito)

I do agree with ZZ that it sounds like parasites. I've dealt with both giardia and coccidia, and both had symptoms like you describe. Very runny, very smelly.

It is curable when treated, though depending on the severity it may take a lot of work. You'll have to keep the enclosure as clean as possible, using paper towels as a substrate so you can change it daily. You'll have to give him a bath and change out/disinfect the furniture everytime he goes to the bathroom. If it's coccidia, that can be so hard to get rid of some people will get two rubbermaid bins for temporary enclosures so they can move the lizard into the clean one after it's bath and disinfect the other one in the meantime. All this in addition to medicinal treatment will eventually clear the animal of parasites. Like I said it's a lot of work, it can take weeks to months, but if left untreated it can be devistating, so it must be done.

If you can get the fecal sample to the vet in a short period of time you don't need to bring the lizard. It will save you the money of paying for an exam as well. My vet tells me to try and get it there ASAP, like within an hour. I've heard people say a fecal is good for up to 24 hours, but I think the sooner you get it looked at the better.

Good luck! If you find out what it is and have any more questions don't hesitate to ask. Many of us here have dealt with these things once or twice, so you won't be alone.

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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

Thankyou so much. He has turned out to be the cutest beardie, and he has lived up to all my expectations. I want him to be as healthy as possible, so I'll def. do anything I can. He doesn't like bathes at all. I gave him one this morning in a couple inches of warm water and he was so scared he just froze and he wouldn't even eat the live food I threw in there for him. Any hints on how to make him get used to bathes? I'll call up the vet about a fecal as soon as I can.
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*Kara*
0.1.0 Leopard Gecko (Tarzana)
1.0.0 Bearded Dragon (Racso)
0.0.1 Leopard Gecko (Nanito)

Well, I've never succesfully gotten mine to enjoy baths either. I just do my best to keep them from stressing out too much.

CheriS wrote a little article on her website with some tips. Her website is www.reptilerooms.com/Sections index-req-viewarticle-artid-19-page-1.html. Go to the caresheets section/bearded dragons, the article is called Bathing and making it fun!

If yours is an adult and was never tought to enjoy baths, it will be hard to make him enjoy them now. Hopefully you can at least make them as comfortable as possible with them, though.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

a fecal just to assess her overall health, but that was just the first visit. After that she sees her once every couple of years and I do two fecals per year.

Worms and coccidia are both treatable, although coccidia can be a real pain to get rid of, like kephy said. My first experience was a nightmare and it took 3 different treatments over about 2 months to get rid of it. That was with sterilizing everything daily. It took Albon to get rid of it, and why the vet didn't want to use Albon first I don't know. I do know that my second vet used it first, and it was gone (or at non-detectable levels...apparently you never really get rid of all of it) in one treatment. Now my vet left the area and I have to train another one.

Thankyou for all the advice. Do you think I should ask about Albon as an option? I'm still not completely convinced that Racso has parasites. He eats whenever food is placed before him. He probably eats about 10-15 mealworms, a salad, and some baby food almost everyday. It seems like he follows some of the symptoms, but not all of them. I guess I'm just hoping for the best.
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*Kara*
0.1.0 Leopard Gecko (Tarzana)
1.0.0 Bearded Dragon (Racso)
0.0.1 Leopard Gecko (Nanito)

done so you know what you're looking at. If it's worms, they'll probably prescribe Panacur. If it's coccidia, and they want to use something other than Albon it'll be some other sort of sulfa based med. They used two on Kiana before they tried Albon, and neither of the others did a thing...the coccidia levels increased during the period she was getting them. I don't know if it's the meds themselves or the dosages that makes the difference. I do know I used the same husbandry methods and criteria during the entire treatment period.

You might mention that you've heard other people have had great success with Albon and are wondering if that's what they'll use, but it's tough (for me, at least) to tell a vet how to do his/her business. In my case, I just found another vet after spending 3 months sterilizing an enclosure for no net gain. :/

There has been some talk here about an Albon dosage other than the 7 day straight regimine...I think it was 5 on, 3 off, then 5 on, or something like that. It keeps them eating better because it doesn't eradicate so much of the good gut bacteria that they need for digestion. You should ask about that, as well as probiotics for after the Albon/sulfa treatment, regardless, if you do in fact have to treat coccidia.

Good luck!

Oolong has always eaten like a pig, even when he had pinworms & coccidia. The only symptom of coccidia he showed was watery, VERY stinky poop. The vet prescribed panacur for the worms, but said she'd rather not treat the coccidia if he wasn't really adversely affected by it, since the treatment can cause more problems.

After a couple of months of taking amicacin, fortaz, & now baytril (prescribed initially for abscesses & then proteus), I've noticed that his poop is much less watery & stinky, so I think we knocked down the coccidia levels as a side benefit. :}

If your beardie does start taking Albon or another antibiotic, be sure to get him some probiotics, too. Acidophiliz+ & Benebac are the 2 I've heard reccomended most... we use the former.

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~Alice

1.0 Bearded Dragon (Oolong)
0.1 ferret (Lil' Guy)
7.4 cats (Angel, Goblin, Hush, Kirin, Sammy, Squee, Toes, Feets, Gypsy, Kana, Raisen)