So I took Weetbix for check up after his fecal exam turned up positive. Our vet checked him physically, he is well hydrated and fine in all sort of ways. However, his feces had coccidia, flagellates, and maybe ascarids (vet showed me the microscopic view of these). But since Weetbix is showing no symptoms, is eating and active, therefore his immune system is taking care and keeping the parasitic load under control, so we decided no medication is required for now. She said the medicine will only lower the coccidia count but will not likely clear all of them. So, unless Weetbix is sick, otherwise we can just let him be.
I also asked her about giving baths to bearded dragon, since there is always a debate on to bath or not to bath. She said she heard a lot of people claimed that bearded dragons come from desert area, therefore don't need much water. That is completely wrong. She had seen a lot of dragons with renal failure; and keeping them "hydrated" by bathing once a week is simply not enough. Therefore, bathing is necessary and should be done more often if possible.
Then we talked about how much food should they be eating. I told her I read about other people's dragon eating 50-100 crickets per day, she said that is over feeding. Young dragons do need to consume a lot of food to grow, but 50-100 daily is just over. I told her Weetbix is only eating 8-10 roaches or 5-6 silkworms per day, and she thinks that's plenty enough. In nature, bearded dragons probably don't have constant food all the time. They may gorge themselves when they encounter a termite hill one day, but then there will also be days where they hardly find much to eat. So, no need to over worry if a dragon eats less or skip a feeding every now and then. He is probably doing fine as long as he is growing and gaining weight steadily.
That's about all the information I obtained from the vet visit yesterday.
I also asked her about giving baths to bearded dragon, since there is always a debate on to bath or not to bath. She said she heard a lot of people claimed that bearded dragons come from desert area, therefore don't need much water. That is completely wrong. She had seen a lot of dragons with renal failure; and keeping them "hydrated" by bathing once a week is simply not enough. Therefore, bathing is necessary and should be done more often if possible.
Then we talked about how much food should they be eating. I told her I read about other people's dragon eating 50-100 crickets per day, she said that is over feeding. Young dragons do need to consume a lot of food to grow, but 50-100 daily is just over. I told her Weetbix is only eating 8-10 roaches or 5-6 silkworms per day, and she thinks that's plenty enough. In nature, bearded dragons probably don't have constant food all the time. They may gorge themselves when they encounter a termite hill one day, but then there will also be days where they hardly find much to eat. So, no need to over worry if a dragon eats less or skip a feeding every now and then. He is probably doing fine as long as he is growing and gaining weight steadily.
That's about all the information I obtained from the vet visit yesterday.
