Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone out there. Hope all is well. I have a question for y'all.(Warning this is kinda long) I have a SHT male that I've had for about 2 months. I bought him online, and unfortunately he was shipped incorrectly so that when he arrived his tail had fallen off He's had no problems and his tail is growing back now. He's got a healthy appetite and is very active. Yet, recently his poop has had a very strong, nasty odor. I read somewhere that this can be a sign of parasites. From my knowledge of lizards, they all have a normal amount of parasites that live in their intestines. When they get stressed, like my lizard dropping his tail, their immune system gets weak and the parasites take over. Some people say that you should just give the leo time and they will eventually get rid of the parasites when their system regains strength. Strong medicines that vets prescribe can often have worse side-effects on their weakened systems then the parasites. Others say that medicine is the only way to go. I'm just affraid that meds could be worse because he is so stressed from lossing a body part. What do all of you think? Any of you ever have a similar problem? Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!

That's a very general rule to apply to herps that come from different environments in different parts of the world. They don't all carry the same gut fauna. Take bearded dragons, for example. Coccidia is accepted as a normal part of their gut, but you can't say the same thing in regards to a leopard gecko. On top of that, there are a number of medications used to treat different parasites; some are safer than others.

The best way to handle the situation in your case is to have a fresh fecal sample looked at by the vet. You might be dealing with a bacterial problem instead of parasitic. That's the best way to handle it. You can wait and see if he continues having foul stools, but the sooner you act the better.
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