Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi All!!

Well Dex has been with me for 4 months as of tomrrow and is I think about 2-4 weeks older than that... got him at about 3 or 4 inches 4 months back.

last measure he was over 15 inches long (need to check today !)

about the first I noticed he was a wee bit off and did a kind of "burp" thing... some of you may recall when I posted that on july 1-3 or there about....

well he has a load of coc. and is getting his albon goop every day ... and i've done major cleaning of cage and such....

here are some things I kinda wonder about:

I have read that folks often have problems with a dragon eating while getting treated for this, also I have read of dragons getting very ill before getting to the vet.

for what it's worth here are my notes so far:

I saw dex get just a bit "sleepy" and wanting to go hide about 1-2 weeks before I saw a big sign... he burped and shook his head as if he wanted to heave / puke.

I did not see any other signs that I could recognise.

but having read that they do not normaly make sounds like that and having cared for him for over three months I knew that the way he reacted that day was a clear sign he was not right.

the vet found no outword signs of illness....
said he was growing well, had good fat pads etc...

did say "add some calcium and more uv" but the stool test came back with a (his words) "major load of coccidia"

my point I guess??? is this:

if folks watch and get the dragon in soon they need not get to the point of "Intensive care"

he doe not care for the albon but he's still eating well and poping every day ( 7 days of meds 14 to go)

now perhaps this may change in the next two weeks who knows?

but so far I think I got him in soon enough that this is no big deal to treat .... in terms of him, sure I am doing mucho-work
to disinfect things and all that.... but he seems to hardly notice.

Ok /Flame=off now.....

just my thoughts on reading folks saying how sick a baby dragon is and asking "should I get him to the vet?"

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DAMM!!! that photo came out HUGE!!! posting it to the gallery it was small.... go figure!! SOrry for any dialup users etc... who get hosed downloading that!!!
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The gallery resizes them for the gallery, but they remain the same size when you post the URL for them. You need to resize them on your computer 640 x 480 is a good size.

IF you want to check a size just right click on the photo and go down to properties, then image properties. I use ACDSee to resize or edit them, there are a variety of programs available and you probably already have one on your system

Yea I know ... Just was not thinking this am and then saw how it posted after the fact....
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You may not see any ovious signs, depending on how long a dragon has had coccidia, the amount they carry and their how well their own imuune system is working.

Dex is nice size for his age and from the picture he is well feed, developed and I would venture from that his immune system is fairly good.

Coccidia that is only in the lining of the intestinal wall or shedding oocysts into the intestines may show no signs, some of the early ones that most people notice is smelly poo, dragons seeming lethargic or decrease in eating. Spme will also gap when they are not under heat or when they normally did not when healthy.

This can run a dragon down and cause anorexia as his system is trying to fight the coccidia and he is not getting the nutrition he needs

Its when those signs are ignored and the coccidia starts burrowing deeper into the tissues that it becomes a serious threat to the dragons health. Coccidia can get into the liver and block bile ducts. You can start seeing what was normally white skin/scales and the mouth tissue turning yellow. When it gets to this stage, the dragons need medical help asap or it can kill them or at least weaken some organs and cause other disease including making them more susceptible to sencondary infections.

If your picture of Dex is recent, he looks in excellent shape and I would say that his own immune system has been dealing with keeping the coccidia from advancing.

Yea the pic was this am so it's peretty "recent"

and I think waht you just posted is spot-on.

he is other wise healthy and I saw the signs fast.

the only other thing is his growth rate slowed down at the same time this started.... if he had kept growing like bfore he would be more like 17" by now.... but he is young so I figure as he gets over this he will shot out a few more inches before he passes 6 months

BTW: he color in this photo is kinda dark, in good light he can turn almost tan/gold color .... realy something how much they can shift color based on heat and backgound colors... and other things....

thanks!
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np
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reiko

photos