I am not a vet, but I do know something about antibiotic treatment and can give you some additional information on the drugs you mentioned. Additionally, proper dosing is important with any antibiotic as underdosing can cause as many problems as overdosing.

Tylan, or tylosin, is a macrolide class antibiotic that is mainly effective against only gram positive bacteria. It has been used successfully to treat chronic RI (respiratory infections) caused by Streptococcus and Mycoplasma bacteria in reptiles. Some people confuse Mycoplasma with bacteria of the genus Mycobacterium, which causes tuberculosis, but they are completely different. Tylosin will work well if the causative organism of the RI is Mycoplasma, otherwise it will usually be ineffective in resolving any other types of infections. One nice aspect of tylosin is that it is a very safe antibiotic.

Baytril, or enrofloxacin, is in a relatively newer class of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones. This class also includes the antibiotic Cipro. They are both used in reptile medicine, with Cipro being slightly superior to Baytril. The main drawback with Baytril is that it will sometimes cause tissue damage at the injection site. Cipro is given orally, but I believe there is now an oral form of Baytril as well. The advantage of these antibiotics is that they are relatively safe, and very effective against most gram negative bacteria, and they penetrate tissue well, so they are a good choice for most RI or other tissue infections. The oral administration of Cipro has also shown to be very effective against intestinal infections. There are other newer generation fluoroquinolone antibiotics that are broader spectrum, but they are very expensive and haven’t been used with reptiles that I know of.

Amikacin is an aminoglycoside class antibiotic that is mainly effective against gram negative bacteria. It has about the widest spectrum of activity of all the aminoglycosides. It is a potent and very effective antibiotic against most reptile RI’s and stomatitis (mouth rot), but it has the drawback of being toxic, and proper dosing is very important. Overdosing will cause liver and kidney damage, and ultimately death several weeks or sometimes months later. Clean and drinkable water must be available at all times when using aminoglycosides, however artificial hydration has not shown to be needed. If care is taken, it can be safely used. Additionally, blood and borneo short-tail pythons are very sensitive to the aminoglycosides, and the dose needs to be cut in half for these species.

Fortaz, or ceftazidime, is a third generation cephalosporin antibiotic. It’s mainly effective against gram negative bacteria, and many of the more antibiotic resistant forms. It is relative safe and works well against many RI’s in reptiles, as most of these are caused by gram negative bacteria species. Ceftriaxone, another third generation cephalosporin, has also shown to work very well on severe cases of stomatitis.

Trimethoprim sulfa, or Bactrim, is a combination antibiotic composed of trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole. These two must be used together or their effectiveness is highly reduced. This one is not used much anymore except when sensitivity testing shows that the causative organisms are highly susceptible to it.

Kelly

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