Update on New WC Quad Import

[jajeanpierre]

Update on my one young male Trioceros quadricornis quadricornis from the recent (mid December) West African shipment:

Weight the night he came home from the store 12/30/14: 36g
Weight two days later 01/01/15 after lots of hydration: 40g
Weight this morning 01/08/15: 42g

The first two weights were taken around 6:00 p.m., when his gut might have been full of food he had eaten during the day--he seems to do most of his hunting in late afternoon--so I'm hoping my 42g is actually a larger weight gain since he hasn't eaten anything this morning.

He must be eating a fair amount since he came because I couldn't find a living cricket in his enclosure this morning when I cleaned up the bottom. I only found two dead ones. I'm going to start very lightly dusting a few of them every other day or two.

He's passed about three stool that I've found which are well formed but quite soft. His urates have been sparkling white. I'm hoping his soft stool is from good hydration and not parasites.

On the advice of Laurie, who has been dealing with many specimens from this shipment, I wormed him with Panacur 01/03/15. A fecal hasn't been done yet. I was going to leave it until around the two-week mark after I gave him Panacur and before the second dose. If there is something that the Panacur killed, it might show up by then. Laurie's feeling was that he was very likely so loaded with parasites that it was critical for his survival to worm him immediately to reduce the heavy parasite load even though he hadn't produced any stool to get to the vet for a fecal. A fecal will also show whatever he might have that Panacur won't touch, even if it is clear for the Panacur-susceptible parasites.

I think so far so good.

Should I be getting any blood work done and if so, what for and when?

Thanks ever so much.

 

[Chase]

Soft stool can be from a number of things. Have you been feeding silkworms?

Make sure you keep him extra hydrated, the panacur can react poorly if he does not have enough water.

I don't know if the bloodwork is necessary just yet, maybe after you get the fecal done and treat for the parasites. But, I would be interested in what others would suggest.

Chase

 

[Mike Fisher]

He's passed about three stool that I've found which are well formed but quite soft. His urates have been sparkling white.

That's a sign of good hydration, nothing to worry about.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Soft stool can be from a number of things. Have you been feeding silkworms?

Make sure you keep him extra hydrated, the panacur can react poorly if he does not have enough water.

I don't know if the bloodwork is necessary just yet, maybe after you get the fecal done and treat for the parasites. But, I would be interested in what others would suggest.

Chase

No silkworms yet, but I'm working really hard to make sure he is hydrated.

I was just in to the pet shop I bought him from (and who imported him) and he reiterated the importance of hydration. The good news is my AquaZamp arrived and I will set that up very soon. For the first couple of days he was here, I saw him drinking many times a day. Now I almost never see him drinking but his urates are sparkling white, so hydration is good.

More good news: I asked the store owner who he thought was a good reptile vet and he named my avian vet and said he was really good. That's a relief! I knew my avian vet had a large reptile practice but didn't know if he was any good with reptiles.