Worried

[MooshiChi]

Hi all, I'm new to this forum and I'm also a new beardie owner. I adopted my girl not quite 2 weeks ago. She is 2 in April. Since I bought her home she's hardly eating quite 'lazy' in her tank, however she's lively outside, she is alert though.

I've had a few concerns. Previous owner told me she only poops once a week. However since I have had her she's done daily even though she's hardly eating. This struck me as odd so I got a fecal done and she's grade 3 coccidiosis infection. She just had her 2nd and final dose to eliminate this.

Now tonight (had her dose at lunchtime) I noticed she sneezed and then follows with what looks like swallowing several times, I'm concerned that when she was given her meds via syringe in mouth that she could have aspirated she and it's the start of respiratory tract infection?

She won't touch salads and every 2nd day I'm giving her about 10 crickets and couple of mealworms.

Her enclosure is 120cm (L) x 70cm (W) x 70cm (H)
Her temps are (in Celsius)
Basking Spot: 37 - 40
Mid tank: 26 - 30
Cool end: 22 - 23

She's also currently in shed (ear plugs came out today - that was freaky)

I understand she could be off food and feeling lethargic due to high numbers of coccidiosis but what could be causing her to sneeze (only the once I have noticed so far) along with what looks like swallowing?

Sorry for the long rant

I have attached photos of Mushi and her enclosure.

 

[Eavlynn]

If they gave you Albon for the coccidia, it can be pretty rough on them. I had to syringe feed my girl slurries when she was being treated for coccidia. Once she's done with her meds, your girls appetite should pick up again. What are you offering for greens?

I love the enclosure, by the way. What are you using for substrate?

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[Canicke]

hi - and - shedding can cause them to be "off" also. I wouldn't worry about one sneeze. just watch her. worm meds can be tough. how's she doin?

 

[MooshiChi]

Here in NZ the vets gave her Baycox to treat Coccidia. It had to be syringed into her mouth. Following the meds she looked like she was swallowing/gagging for a while.

Substrate is fake grass/astro turf.

For greens I've been offering a mixture of kale, rocket, dandelion, butternut, apple, broccoli, strawberry, capsicum, carrot, grapes.

It's 8am here now she still sleeping/laying in her hammock. I will prepare her breakfast soon and offer it to her.

She is also fully toilet trained so only goes poop outside in the grass which is super awesome haha


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[Hdrydr31]

I would suggest some probiotics to help restore her normal gut flora antibiotics are gut cleaners

 

[MooshiChi]

Thanks il look into that today.

I'm so gutted she came to me with coccidia. Well I'm pretty sure she came to me with it already as counts were super high and I've only had her 2 weeks today.


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[Hdrydr31]

stress will greatly affect the numbers! so since she is new to you it's like a "relocation stress" we call it..
Normally we recommend waiting 4-6 weeks after bringing them home to get fecals done as the counts will be high in times of stress

 

[MooshiChi]

I got her tested as she went from 1 bowel motion a week to going daily and she had a lot of water in it and diarrhoea (spelling) plus she looked like she was regurgitating. Completely off her food and very lethargic [emoji22]


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[Hdrydr31]

bump your temps up 100-107F for basking, the regurgiation could be tummy upset or temps not being high enough

 

[Eavlynn]

You're lucky to have been given Baycox, it's said to work better than Albon, without being as harsh to their system. Hdrydr31 always has some great advice, probiotics and a bump in temps should help Mushi.

I try to be careful when giving meds by syringe, if you go too quickly with it, they can aspirate the medication. I usually try to leave little bits on their mouth for them to lick off, but if they aren't feeling cooperative, I have to open their mouth a tiny bit and deposit a small amount of meds for them to swallow. Too much too fast and it usually goes down wrong and they end up breathing some in.

Don't beat yourself up over the coccidia, it's always in their system at some level, and stress can allow it to take over. We all deal with parasites at one point or another, you just got a taste of the fun early on

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[MooshiChi]

Thanks everyone for your advice and comforting messages.

A friend who's a breeder came over and gave her a couple of her large locusts, Mushi didn't like it at all and it upset her hugely she vomited them back up, yesterday I thought I was going to lose her, she was so black from head to tail and no energy what so ever. She put herself to bed at 4pm I woke at 8am this am and she had her colour back and got herself up out of her bed and on basking spot (first time she had done this in the 2 weeks I have had her) she looks a little more alert but obviously still nauseous as she's had a couple little mucusy vomits but only so tiny about the size of my pinky fingernail.

Here's hoping she's on the road to recovery.


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[PatsyB]

How is she doing now after the sneezing gulping from this morning? Keep a VERY close eye on her for the next 3 days to see if she shows any signs of an URI. If she aspirated and didn't get all the liquid out, it could be serious.

 

[MooshiChi]

She hasn't sneezed again since that once. Her breathing seems normal and no weird respiratory sounds so I'm hopeful she's not aspirated her meds when the vet gave them.


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[PatsyB]

It's obvious when they aspirate something. They cough, swallow, fluid comes out their mouth, eyes, nose. I'm kinda the aspiration expert in my group because it's happened to me a few times. The first time it was calcium and the second time was just from splashing water around in a bath.

 

[MooshiChi]

She's not coughing or having fluid come out of anywhere apart from when she's spewing a little. She's still looking unwell and not eating. I'm not sure how long they go off food after treatment for coccidiosis?


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[PatsyB]

She's not coughing or having fluid come out of anywhere apart from when she's spewing a little. She's still looking unwell and not eating. I'm not sure how long they go off food after treatment for coccidiosis?


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I'm not sure either. My girl was treated for pinworms and she never ate like she used to again. I think that before treatment, they are starving because they are sharing their food with the parasite. Once the parasite is killed, they don't need to eat as much because they aren't sharing the food anymore.