Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had 4 beardeds in my class for 18 months now and I still don't get it! Here are the facts:
- They are in seperate cages, but they have been housed together at times (vacations and younger)
- 2 males and 2 females
- All within 2 months of age
- 2 from same breeder and 2 rescued
- There has never been a constant eating pattern
- Have tried every food possible (crickets, roaches, silk worms, mealworms, super worms,wax worms, and all greens)
- Temps range from 80 to 105
- They go into resting periods every 2 months or so ( for several weeks)
- One tested for coccidia in January and all 4 given panacur(I know most people say this is the wrong medicine)
- No coccidia next test
- In April they just were a little off and I had all four tested again
- 2 had high levels and this time I ask for Albon
- 6 days on and 6 days off and I repeat again - I am just finishing and will test next week.
- Cages cleaned and cleaned and cleaned
- 3 of the dragons will NOT go poop without a bath
- One of the three has bloody stool and vet gave pink medicine (bottle at school)
- 4th goes every day or so, but very little poops
- All four have minimal appetites and hardly ever eat salad anymore
- Two sleep all day now(could be one of those resting periods)

I don't know what to do?

All suggestions welcomed!

Thanks!
Brian

Sounds like a pretty normal reaction to coccidia and albon. The bloody stool is a little more concerning though, I've seen worms cause it but not coccidia. What kind of substrate do you have them on? Also, are you treating all of them for the coccidia at the same time?

Sean
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Heart Mountain Herps

Yes they all get medicine at the same time. Right now they are on the week off phase of medication. The one with bloody stool is taking Kaolin. I have all of tmy dragons on paper towel right now - trying to keep it simple.

Thanks for any thoughts!

You mention you dragons sleep for a few weeks every couple months, this isn't normal. It is normal for dragons to brumate for 2-4 months once a year, but not every two months.

How big are the cages the dragons are in, what type of cage is each dragon? What kind of substrate? You mention the dragons are in the classroom, if in glass tanks, having alot of kids around (who may have fed things to the dragons that are not good for them) may be causing alot of stress. I would suggest covering three sides of tank to limit visibility and give the dragons a better sense of security.

One thing you may consider giving your dragons after their parasite, is a pro-biotic. This replenishes the good gut fauna.
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PHLdyPayne

Thanks for the advice. What is good gut fauna? I never heard of that. In regards to cages they live in Vision cages 36 by 24. I bought these cages because I can stack them.Currently I have 4 bearded dragons, 2 leopard geckos, 6 corn snakes, a tortoise, a tree frog, and 31 corn eggs in my class. I spent the money to get stackable cages or my 5th grade class would be one big fish tank. Right now I am using paper towel as a substrate. All thoughts appreciated!

Brian