Health Issues: Add prevention
OK, you have followed all the advice about providing the right
temperatures, humidity, lighting + UVB/UVA. You gut load the
feeders, supplement with calcium, keep a clean and tidy cage.
That's all you can do right? NO! One of the most beneficial yet
chronically overlooked "supplements" are ProBiotics.
ProBiotics are those microorganisms that live in the healthy gut
of all animals. The presence of large numbers of these beneficial
flora not only assists digestion and nutrient production and
release, they protect the body from pathogenic invaders, i.e.
disease organisms, by simply crowding them out and keeping
them overwhelmed. I supplement with probiotic powder at least
1 or more times weekly. Daily in new animals and those
showing signs of stress.
The populations of beneficial gut flora are easily disrupted by
environmental and man induced stress. For example, the Yellow
Fungus Disease that has been infecting Bearded Dragons is
believed to be related to the wiping out of beneficial gut
organisms by antibiotics and certain parasitize. With the
protective army annihilated, pathological organisms gain a
foothold and take over. The YFD has proven fatal in affected
Bearded Dragons almost 99% of the time. With new information
it has been discovered that if treated in the earliest stage with
topical antifungal AND internally with ProBiotics, the animals
recover. www.reptilerooms.com + links.
The stress of antibiotic or parasite therapy, being shipped,
breeding season, being gravid, being harassed by a cage mate,
temps too cool, temps too hot, changes in food, marginal
husbandry, addition of new reptiles to the household, (especially
of the same species), presence of cats, dogs etc. that harry the
reptiles, or stare at them with "predator eyes", not being able to
get enough rest because of lights or noise, being handled too
much, being handled at all, improper and inadequate lighting,
dirty cages, dirty water, no water, too humid, too dry, the list
goes on. These occurrences singly or in combination, will stress
the animal enough to cause changes in the environment of the
body itself(hormones, metabolites, fluid pH, suppression of the
immune system). This can cause die off of certain species of gut
flora, and/or encourage the flourishing of pathogenic flora. Even
the use of garden soil, or placing the animal outside on yard soil
can introduce organisms which the animals body isn't equipped
to deal with.
Further, it is believed that those animals receiving ProBiotic
supplements routinely, don't suffer the illnesses of non
supplemented animals. Conclusion, ProBiotics is the best,
natural health preserving supplement that can be used.
Probiotics can be found in pet shops and feed stores,
NatureZone is one manufacturer. You can also find ProBiotics
At GNC and its competitors, where the products are packaged
for human use. As a matter of fact, GNC offers a formulation
that includes a wider variety of beneficial species than can be
had with the older formulations that only include the milk
product flora cultures as in yogurt.
"The use of these products in reptiles has received little to no
study as of yet. Most of the data is anecdotal. I advise the use of
ProBiotics based on the affects my reptiles enjoy from receiving
the supplementation. And on the research that has been done in
other animals/humans. They can't hurt. In fact Probiotics help
by improving nutrient availability, extracting more nutrients
from ingested food, and producing and maintaining a healthly,
harmonized intestial environment. You can't underestimate the
value of that.
Being living organisms (in stasis until activated by being placed
in the right environment, like when ingested) they can start to
die off as the product ages (eg. years on the shelf sometimes
indicated by the layer of dust on the lids), especially after being
opened. Buy fresh. Expect to pay more for the better quality
products, but the highest priced is not necessarily going to offer
more than a medium priced product. Be leary of the cheap stuff.
Remember, a little goes a long way. Give them a try!