reps.and Herbal remedies?New beardy w/ bloody fecals??

Hi ,
I have not posted here before. My Girlfriend and i have posted on the snake forums mostly. My FIRST question......Does anyone know about or use natural herbal remedies/ medicinals for their dragons or any reptiles? If so I would really like to know about it. I think this would be a great topic if not a truly helpful one! I use herbals and Homeopathy my self and council many others on doing so. Its so much more about finding/fixing a cause then a symptom ,then modern medicine is for the most part. Its generally healthier/ easier on the system.
I have a Beardy I just got, I haven't had lizards for several years now. I had lots in the past. Never a BD, My last one was A green Iquana that stayed w/ me for 17 years. So I just got back into it w/ the coaxing of my girlfriend who has just gotten into Ball Pythons. I'm finding that theres so much more info. out there now then 10 years ago when i was hot and heavy into them. I do remember many trials. Some lost, some saved. So I'm hoping that herbalistic treatments have also found their way into the arena. My BD is very healthy no parasites etc,, eats like a pig. But the other day I got some crickets from a dif. store I got a mixed batch . I wanted smalls. They loaded them right into my cricket keeper so I didn't notice the big ones until I was shaking out a tube for my BD. She got three or 4 of them so fast I couldn't do anything about it, they were huge! The next day she had blood in her stool. The breeder I got her from says it is indeed probably from the huge crickets. That I should watch her for a couple days and it will probably go away. If not call them back. I know it can also be from other things but I feel its not. They say theres nothing else to do right now but wait. I wondered if anyone had other thoughts? BF

Hey BF...I was going to give this to you on the MHD post we have going -

This is a slurry receipe that was given to me when one of my BD girls was sick:
"Joan's Slurry
1 tablespoon chicken or veal baby food
1 tablespoon squash baby food
1 tablespoon ensure plus calcium, vanilla flavor
1 handful of mustard greens
1 tablespoon of royal jelly
3 capsules (opened) of bee pollem
3 capsules (opened) of acidophilus

You can put in some multivitamin powder too if you want to.

Throw all this in a blender, and make it smoothie consistency, I added more ensure, because mine was too thick. I make it fresh every day, I don’t think it will stay good for more than a day or so. The last three ingredients you can get at GNC or a health food place, the rest are available at a grocery store. I bought the ensure in a 6 pack of single serving bottles, so you only throw out one if you don’t use it all. "

My BDs like this and I make the same thing for the MHDs without the greens.

Angie

Ummmmm, sounds yummy. Thanks for the recipe.
My beardy is voracious about bugs and has eaten some of her veggies and beardy food. We bought the usual dry and soak it kind at the show. A vet was there telling everyone it was a complete diet etc.. I never feel that can be totally true but the breeder we bought her from said to use it as an addition to her veggie and fruit plates. She's just not as interested in that stuff so far as she is the bugs though. I know firefly's are toxic for them , is there a particularly good list of whats good and whats bad for them to eat somewhere? BF

www.beautifuldragons.com

a very good resource for care

Hello,

I thought I would respond to your post here. I know you have the MHD too.
Is your dragon still having bloody stools, & if so, how bad? That can also be attributed to parasites or worms, especially hookworms.
I highly doubt it is due to large crickets....
How else can I help with your dragon? Do you need help on your setup?

Tracie

Originally Posted by Drache613

Hello,

I thought I would respond to your post here. I know you have the MHD too.
Is your dragon still having bloody stools, & if so, how bad? That can also be attributed to parasites or worms, especially hookworms.
I highly doubt it is due to large crickets....
How else can I help with your dragon? Do you need help on your setup?

Tracie

I agree with Tracie. Parasitic infection is more than likely the cause of the bloody stools. Large crickets can cause impaction...which would lead to symptoms such as NO stools, lethargy, paraslysis, dehydration, etc. Have your vet do a simple fecal test to rule anything out as far as parasites, and watch for signs of impaction if you are worried about the size of the crickets causing problems.

Jamie

Ok, sorry I took a bit to get back. Thanks every body for your helpful hints and insights.
The blood has stopped in her fecals. The (they husband and wife) breeder is really nice and pretty trustworthy. His assumption was based he said on experience w/ this happening. I really do think shes clean, however she and the mountain will be going in for vet visits soon to get things all checked out. The theory on the too big crickets was not so much the size of the bug it self but the size and hardness of the spines on back legs. They get stuck into the intestine walls cause cuts and bleeding. I wish when they put out info. in books etc, they would be more clear as to the reasoning behind the size rule for the crickets. (IE: no longer then the space between the beardy's eyes) Because when you see the voracious little thing going after the big ones its just to easy to think well there's no problem here she eats them happily!
I know I have read smaller beardy's then mine can eat easily 50 crickets pr day. I guess I'm wondering if this amonut should be metered out , and not all given at one time. Though she gladly wiped out 30 or 40 3/8 to 1/2 incher's at a time. She weighs now 125 grams and is 5 months old. Also she still shows little interest in greens or veggies. Her pellet food doesn't really interest her either. I was wondering if there was an age at which she might become more interested in the fruits and veggies. I think I was not giving her enough crickets to start as I guess I missed the memo on a small beardy eating 50 crickets pr day! But still she wasn't eating her greens ?? thanks G.W.

We checked out the beautiful dragons site its great. Our breeders had said also that it was a good place for info. I was excited to see that some herbal remedies have been tried and are useful w/ reptiles. Grapefruit seed extract being a favorite of mine. I had that out and ready and had already added a bit of it to the mountain dragons soak. It looks like also echinacea and some various other herbs were being used. Probiotics also a big favorite was on the list. So I was pleased about that. G.W.

Hello,

Yes, definitely. Crickets should never be larger than the space between the eyes or it can cause impactions.
Hookworms can also attach to the intestinal walls & feed off of the blood & when they pass they take blood with them.
Good to hear that there hasn't been anymore blood with the fecals though.
Yes, beautiful dragons is a great site, it has alot of good information on it.
Let us know if you need anything else.

Tracie