A Loki update

Loki had been acting more tired and less aware of or interested in his surroundings for a week or two now. As soon as the sun went down, he wanted to find a place to sleep and ignored everything - food, noise, light in the room, etc. I put it down to the temperature drop initially. Bearded dragons do brumate (a reptile version of hibernating), but he's too young to do that yet. I read on a couple of bearded dragon forums that parasite infection can often mimic brumation. When he had really stinky poop on Sunday, which is another sign of parasites, I decided to take him in to the vet.

The exotic animal vet I go to is excellent but they keep odd hours because they also do house calls (imagine hefting an ancient, massive tortoise into the car for a vet visit). I was really surprised when I got the first appointment of the day on Monday.

Loki's tests came back positive for bacteria and 3 different kinds of parasites. Pinworms, and two other kinds, which aren't detailed on the care sheet. (None of it is contagious to humans. Humans can get pinworms, but not from other animals. It doesn't cross species.) The vet assistant gave Loki a dewormer and explained how to give him the two kinds of medicine he needs.

So far, he's been doing OK. He gets the medicine in the evenings. He's supposed to get a 30 minute bath in the morning. We did that Tuesday morning, but Wednesday morning he was shaking and trying to get out of the sink, so he only got maybe a 5 minute bath. I'll try again this morning.

He's supposed to be feeling better in 7 days. He's had 3 doses of medicine now, but still seems lethargic. He's eating, but he just seems down. Hopefully, he starts perking up soon.