Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Howdy!!
This has nothing to do with snake massages with happy endings......(reference to thread a couple weeks ago....remember that one??? LMAO.....)

I need to lubricate a plastic flexible tube that I use to administer oral medication for Ball Pythons. I usually use water but that's not always affective. Any ideas of what to use as a lube that won't hurt the snakes?? Is vegetable oil okay to use??

Thanks,
Tomsey

KY Jelly works best, I think.

K-Y is a no no ! not for oral use .

>>K-Y is a no no ! not for oral use .

Would you please cite a source for your assertion?

DVM Craig Wood

>>DVM Craig Wood

Thanks, but I meant a source we all could refer to. Perhaps you just misunderstood your vet. Just to clarify, so that the inexperienced here won't be misled:

Water soluble lubricating jelly (of which K-Y is only one brand) is a common substance for lubricating tubes, gloves or instruments of rubber, plastic or metal which may be inserted in, uh, various orifices in the reptile body (as well as those of other life forms, of course ). I like it because of its great slipperiness and because it spreads easily and adheres well initially, but washes away easily. It is non-irritating to mucous membranes.

You can buy little sterile foil packets for pennies apiece if you wish and keep them in your reptile room(s). I usually just have a standard-sized tube which I keep for purposes of probing reptiles for sex determination, or for lubricating the occasional tube for introducing food or medications, the subject which started this thread. If you squeeze out a blob of the stuff for each use instead of inserting instruments inside the tube, it stays plenty clean for our purposes.

Heck, as far as oral use goes, dsreptiel, this product is recommended as a moisturizer for the human mouth during radiation therapy and chemotherapy. You may use it with confidence!

Of course, it should go without saying that whatever lubricant you choose - jelly, oil, or water - for your medication/feeding tube, you are careful not to introduce any of it into your patient's glottis when you insert or remove the tube.

-Joan

This is a bit...odd, but here goes:

Y'know, on the box of my tube of KY, I swear I saw a warning saying "Do not ingest" or something along those lines. I've thrown away the box by now, but this is something where checking the box and the label would probably help considerably. I dono about you but I don't want something lubed up with a chemical compound including "methylparaben" being shoved down my throat, thanks.

~jenny
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1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons (Yoni and Linga)
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
3.0 horses (Buddy, Sam, and Scout)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
1.25 chickens (Ugly the rooster and his harem)

>>Y'know, on the box of my tube of KY, I swear I saw a warning saying "Do not ingest" or something along those lines.

Are you sure you're not thinking of:

"Caution: This product is not a contraceptive and does not contain a spermicide."

>>I've thrown away the box by now, but this is something where checking the box and the label would probably help considerably.

I agree!

>>I dono about you but I don't want something lubed up with a chemical compound including "methylparaben" being shoved down my throat, thanks.

Well, if you were being treated for certain ailments, your doctor would do just that very thing.

You might as well say that since mineral oil is a by-product of the distillation of petroleum, that "I don't want something lubed up with a chemical compound including petrolatum and paraffins shoved down my throat." You wouldn't say something like that, would you?

Perhaps you'll take the time to educate yourself further on this subject? Me? I'm kind of talked out now.

-Joan

I use mineral oil. That is what my vet recommended and it works great.

Have fun with the medicating! We had a snake with a protozoan infection once and had to treat her, the male she had been with and the other females that male had been with. Good times...

>>Howdy!!
>>This has nothing to do with snake massages with happy endings......(reference to thread a couple weeks ago....remember that one??? LMAO.....)
>>
>>
>>I need to lubricate a plastic flexible tube that I use to administer oral medication for Ball Pythons. I usually use water but that's not always affective. Any ideas of what to use as a lube that won't hurt the snakes?? Is vegetable oil okay to use??
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Tomsey

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Amber

Boas
1.1.0 Colombian (Austin & Ava)
1.0.0 Suriname (Aloysius)
1.1.0 Albino (Bo & Daisy)
Balls:
1.26.0 Normal (Tucker, Taylor,and lil' girls)
1.0.0 Spider
1.1.0 Pastel
1.2.0 100% Het Pied
1.0.0 100% Het Albino (Bubba)
0.1.0 66% Poss. Het Albino

I'm going to have to back joan on this one. K-Y is used orally for a variety of oral issues. I'm a grad student in herpetology and we use a tiny dab of it to help lube feeding tubes and when dosing our sick and/or weak snakes. Just be careful not to introduce it into the airway. A little dab 'll do ya. Sources, you say?? Why sure....

DYD Samarawickrama (2002)
Saliva substitutes: how effective and safe are they?
Oral Diseases 8 (4), 177–179.

The prevention of 'dry socket' with topical metronidazole in general dental practice
D. Reekie, P. Downes, C. V. Devlin, G. M. Nixon and H. Devlin Br Dent J 2005; 200: 210-213

Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod. 2006 Oct ;102:e115-20 16997085
Cellular toxicity of mineral trioxide aggregate mixed with an alternative delivery vehicle.
[My paper] C K Karimjee , S Koka , D M Rallis , T G Gound

and there are plenty more.....

cheers,
Kat