Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I brought hanabils newly deposited fecal into work today to look at it under the microscope. The good news: no more pinworms!!!! The possibly bad news: We did see some coccidia.

Here is my question/problem:

I know that some levels of coccidia in dragons is considered normal (I double checked this by looking at Melissa Kaplins website and beautifuldragons) and i am hesistant to treat her with another dewormer if its not needed.

We saw 1 oocyte(sp?) per 3-4 feilds on 40x. i had previously heard that anything less than 3-4oocytes per single feild was considered normal.

I called the Dr. Guerrino (the vet who i took hanny to most recently) and he said he treats if he see's any coccidia at all. I am worried about damaging her system by retreating if necessary, but i also feel like i should do what the vet says, so i am asking you for help.

Can anyone tell me (and have some good evidence to back it up) wether or not we should treat when we are seeing 1 oocyte per 3-4 feilds on 40x in a bearded dragon fecal?

Thank you so much, i really hope you can help!!!
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0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican Black kingsnake
1.1 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Tokay Gecko
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Anerythristic Corn
0.0.1 Red Tegu
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats

This is a tough one. You're going to get a million different opinions on this, and it's going to come down to you deciding what is right.

If it was me, I would not treat for one oocyst per 3 or 4 fields at 40x. Coccidia cannot be completely eliminated from a bearded dragon. All the research and info that I have read says that. And my vet confirmed it. Treating such a low level of coccidia will only make the coccidia more tolerant of the Albon. Which means they will be harder to treat later on.

In my experience, I've seen levels as high as 2 or 3 oocysts per field at 10x, and the dragon was acting normal, had normal fecals that weren't runny or smelly at all, and had a great appetite. At such a low level, I don't feel the oocysts are a threat.

Albon can be potentially harmful to beardies if used often. It can damage their kidneys and cause all sorts of other problems. Not to mention eliminating the beneficial gut flora in their systems.

Good luck with this and please let me know if I can be of any further help.

Hugs,
Veronica

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Red Flame Baby Beardie currently up for adoption! See website for details! www.BeautifulDragons.com
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Beautiful Dragons

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Signature file edited; [phw 8/31/04]

Don't overuse Albon. You're also stripping your beardie of "good" bacteria. Go natural and use Parazap. it's all natural, herbal, safe for all animals and works great.
www.parazap.com

i mix in a pinch of parazap in some chicken babyfood and a green veggie, like greenbean babyfood and give via medicine syringe. do this for about 5-7 days. it will make your dragon poop, too. you'll want to add acidophilus or just a bit of plain yogurt , too. this will help put back "good" bacteria in his digestive system.

katharine
crazy lizard lady shop

Thanks for your responses, I was hesitant as well to treat for such a small amount. The other thing is that she was just recently treated for pinworms and has had two doses of Panacur, so the thought of putting her on another dewormer made me uneasy. The only thing that made me think i might want to treat was that we have been having some health problems lately (urate stones, not pooping, pinworms etc) and i wonder if the coccidia might be taking advantage of this and multiplying....any thoughts on that?

thanks
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0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican Black kingsnake
1.1 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Tokay Gecko
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Anerythristic Corn
0.0.1 Red Tegu
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats

Anytime your dragon is sick or "worn down" the bacterial and parasite levels are naturally going to rise. This can be from many different things, such as stress, bad husbandry, contaminated food items, and so on. The key and goal is to keep everything in check and balanced.

My advice, hold off on treating your dragon with any more meds. Establish a baseline right now of the weight and length, as well as any other physical characteristics releveant. Continue feeding normally and watch for good appetite and healthy activity. If dragon acts and appears normal, then I would wait 2 to 4 weeks and check size/weight again. If the dragon is growing and eating properly, continue to monitor growth closely.

If the dragon is not growing and gaining weight, the parasite levels may be too far to one side and may need to be treated. I agree with Veronica in not treating if all else appears normal. The time to act is when the dragon visually appears sick and loses appetite and activity.

Goodluck with your dragon.
brandon
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Dragons by Nature

Thanks a lot guys, i think i will hold off andj ust keep an eye on her for now. Her weight is still good (600g) and her appetite is good also. I ordered some parazap yesterday and was thinking i might do a little while on that to help her build up any good bacteria the previous dewormer may have gotten rid of and also to maybe lower the coccidia levels a bit, i figure that this way would be much less stressfull on her system than the antibiotics. Do you agree?
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0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican Black kingsnake
1.1 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Tokay Gecko
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Anerythristic Corn
0.0.1 Red Tegu
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats