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 in reptiles caused by bacteria of the genus Mycoplasma and possibly Streptococcus (rarely). Tylosin will usually work well only if the causative organism of the RI is Mycoplasma, otherwise it will usually be ineffective in resolving most other types of bacterial infections in reptiles. Tylosin is relatively non-toxic and has a wide margin of safety, and I have seen dosage recommendations running from 10 to 50 mg/kg body weight, however, I have not seen any formal clinical PK studies conducted with tylosin on reptiles, but Ross, and later Jenkins, has looked at it informally.



The vast majority of RI’s in boids are caused by gram negative bacteria species and these would require cephalosporin, fluoroquinolone, or aminoglycoside class antibiotics. You have already tried cephalosporin class (fortaz) and fluoroquinolone class (ciprofloxacin) antibiotics. While tylosin is a macrolide class antibiotic, and would only be effective on Mycoplasma bacteria species, it is worth a try. If you do not see any improvement in a week, and hopefully the infection is not too far advanced, you should try an aminoglycoside class antibiotic which is usually highly effective in these types of cases where apparent multiple antibiotic resistance is suspect. Amikacin would be the best choice from this class. It is typically dosed at 2.5 mg/kg at 72 hour intervals, however use this only under vet supervision.



The other issue with antibiotic treatment is proper environmental conditions for optimum effectiveness of any antibiotic regime. This would be 70 to 75% humidity and 90 degree cage temps 24/7 until recovery is complete. Also, always have fresh water that is easily accessible at all times. Good luck with her.



Kelly

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