I have a bearded dragon that likely has intestinal parasites (waiting for a stool sample to be evaluated) and will need to be treated with antibiotics. Vets generally give metronidazole or something called “albon” for this.
Antibiotics are hard on reptiles and I’ve heard reptile owners recommend the use of “probiotics” along with, or immediately after, treating them with antibiotics. The idea is that antibiotics kill off the good intestinal flora along with the bad bacteria and parasites, and probiotics help replenish the good bacteria. People sometimes eat yogurt after antibiotic treatment for the same reason, though I’m not sure if it makes any difference. There’s a reptile product called acidophiliz by Pet Authority and there are others. I’d like to see any scientific evidence that this stuff works. I called Pet Authority and they told me that studies were done by the Bronx Zoo Reptile House, but they couldn’t give me any cites. Their site also claims that this product suppresses salmonella in reptiles, which I’m pretty sure isn’t true.
Any herpetologists out there who can point me to literature about use of probiotics in reptiles?