Although Baytril (enrofloxacin) has been used successfully, there are several other antibiotics available that have proven superior to Baytril for treating RI in boids. All of these antibiotics, and Fortaz (ceftazidime) is one of them, were originally developed for human use and therefore many vets are not familiar with them. If your vet does not have direct access to Fortaz, or any other human antibiotic, he can write a prescription for it that can be filled at a commercial or hospital pharmacy. There are a very few antibiotics that can be effective with one or two doses, but none used for reptiles that I know of fall into this group. All the antibiotics currently used for reptile RI treatment require multiple doses at two or three day intervals over at least a two or three week period. Fortaz is a third generation cephalosporin and is one of the best for RI in boids due to its very broad spectrum of activity. It should be dosed at 20 milligrams per kilogram body weight once every 3 days. It is typically given for 6 to 8 doses and should be used under vet supervision. Good luck.

Kelly

[ Hide Replies ]

• RI - deadlyjokers, Wed Dec 28 22:39:46 2005
• RE: RI - Kelly_Haller, Thu Dec 29 00:54:45 2005
• RE: RI - joeysgreen, Thu Dec 29 04:21:41 2005
• RE: RI - wwreptiles, Thu Dec 29 18:28:30 2005
• Glad to hear that piperacillin worked for your python, as... - Kelly_Haller, Fri Dec 30 13:10:11 2005