ornate nile moniter 14yr 4ft 7lbs

Question
took him 2 vet 4 a checkup. found protozoa in poop. gave metronidazole
125mg perday in food for 8 days. poop turned white,quit eating aftr 4th
dose,his pond water teated too-1000mg for 200liters of water. had healthy
appitite,fed 1x week before vet visit. does not eat anything now for about 2
weeks now 11/12/06.looks at food,smells it ,slight interest but will nt eat.vet
totally cluless.looking into malpractice,incomp details on req.  getting
thinner,am very worried. any advice,resources,contacts etc, would be greatly
appreciated. thanks

Answer
 Metronidazole or Flagyl is the proper medication to treat a protozoan infestation, though it's still a veterinary crap shoot as to length of dosage, the rule of thumb is treatment through the lifecycle of the parasite.  For example, there are various types of giardia, found in contaminated water.  During treatment, I would have the pond water tested for the parasite, and if it tests positive, to find an uncontaminated source.  Giardia in water is hard to kill, in fact, boiling is the only surefire way to kill it, unfortunately, that would also destroy the healthy pondlife as well.
 I would get a second fecal done to see if he is reinfested.  And then change his water everyday, steam out his tank everyday, use fresh uncontaminated pond water each time, and give him a probiotic every day to replenish his gut flora.  That's another thing that these medications do, kill off the normal gut flora he needs for proper digestion,  he's not eating because of he now lacks it. Acidophilus, Nutribac, or Benebac will replace it.