Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Was reading the post below on tetracycline, I noticed you suggested Baytril. How are you adminersting this? And what amount.I would like to put this in my water supply so i can hit all my animals at once.

I had black hooded and white rats, and thats all i got for offspring. Well long story short i wanted some blues and after hunting in my state for themto no avail, I found some in Carson City when i was at My Brother in Laws 6 weeks ago. So i promtly bought .2 and brought them home

Well 2 weeks after they were home and already bred they started sneezing. They seem healthy but 1 of the two is getting some disharge around the nostrils and some runny stool. Im also worried that my male carried it to my other breeders. Although my original breeders have showed no symptoms in the last 4 weeks since i re introduced him to them.

TIA
James

Putting baytril into the water isn't really an option. It needs to be dosed by weight and syringed it into mouths. Dose will depend on concentration too. That is the complication of baytril. Thankfully I have a wonderful vet who will give me a bottle of the stuff when I need it for the colony, after seeing one rat.
I honestly haven't had sick rats in a couple years. So it isn't a problem 99% of the time.
Once you get an established colony don't add to it. That will help immensely with disease control.
What are you bedding them on? I would suggest a pelleted bedding. If you have your blues on shavings that is likely the reason for the porphyrin staining...that and the stress of new places. I bed my rats on either cellsorb/ rabbit pellets. With that bedding I haven't had sniffles in a long time.
Just ideas.
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Sonya

I would give the rats some dry rolled oats (oatmeal) and yogurt to eat. Just like a teaspoon for both. But this may tighten up the stools and help destress them.
And, I would emphasis putting them on a pelleted dustless bedding (cellsorb, yesterdays news, or rabbit pellets) to clear up the sniffles and staining.
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Sonya

Thanks Sonya

When i first brought the new ones home i did have them on shavings, after i noticed the sneezing i put them on shredded paper bags(6 weeks ago). The syptoms have not cleared up. I will try the oat meal though. Thanks for the heads up.

Do you have a does by weight for baytril.

TIA
James

>>Thanks Sonya
>>
>>When i first brought the new ones home i did have them on shavings, after i noticed the sneezing i put them on shredded paper bags(6 weeks ago). The syptoms have not cleared up. I will try the oat meal though. Thanks for the heads up.
>>
>>Do you have a does by weight for baytril.

5-10mg/# BID (2Xday) it is nasty tasting so you might have luck mixing it with jelly or something sweet they love.
Tetracycline is not recommended for pregnant animals. 25mg/# TID If you are using ornacycline 1/2 tab in 1/4 cup water, fresh daily.
You might have best luck with combining the two treatments with a chronic, persistent URI.
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Sonya

Thanks a Ton

>>I would give the rats some dry rolled oats (oatmeal) and yogurt to eat. Just like a teaspoon for both. But this may tighten up the stools and help destress them.
>>And, I would emphasis putting them on a pelleted dustless bedding (cellsorb, yesterdays news, or rabbit pellets) to clear up the sniffles and staining.
>>-----
>>Sonya

I keep my rats on newspaper because I don't like to spend money and newspaper is readily available.

Just thought I 'd share.

cheers.
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Longtang. I like snakes and rats.

Unfortunately with paper I find that the cages need to be cleaned more often (at least in the males cage) but I keep so much of it around for my snakes that it's the most readily available substrate for them. I put a few layers on the bottom of the tank and then shred some to go above it. It's worked so far so if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one. Take care, Scott.
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Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

"In any civilized society, it is every citizen's responsibility to obey just laws.
But at the same time, it is every citizen's responsibility to disobey unjust laws."
—Martin Luther King Jr

Yeah! I use lots and lots of newspaper . I find that I have to go places to pick up free newspaper because I consume big amount of it!

By the way, I like your presence in the forum. I haven't seen you before. If you are new, welcome!

Like yourself, I also have just a very small colony. I only have four ball pythons and am breeding rats just for fun. I also have four hot snakes that are too small to eat rats.

I am having some good success with the rats. However, the mice are giving me some trouble. I had one great generation, but then the mice got a skinny disease and wouldn't reproduce. I had to feed them all off and start over. The new mice are not getting gravid yet.

Anyways, good luck and see you aroudn;

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Longtang. I like snakes and rats.

I've actually been reading the feeder forums for quite a while but don't post much here because I find most of the info I need just by reading everyone elses posts and don't have alot of experience breeding feeders so I can't contribute any experience breeding feeders. I post more regularly in some of the other forums: burm, ball, blood, milk, kingsnake, sometimes the garter forum and sometimes the general forum. My wife and I have been keeping snakes for 10 years (she owned snakes when I met her). I also like to do alot of reading on other people methods of care and try to contribute with practical experience when I can. Combine that with being married and having an 8 year old daughter as well as keeping our collection and it sometimes doesn't give me much time to post, just read quickly when I can. As I gain more experience with maintaining feeders I'm sure I'll be able to answer more questions and post more regularly. Thanks again, Scott.
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Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

"In any civilized society, it is every citizen's responsibility to obey just laws.
But at the same time, it is every citizen's responsibility to disobey unjust laws."
—Martin Luther King Jr

Time savings was why I switched to rabbit pellets. I only clean every other week unless something gets real dirty or floods. Cleaning is easier also, I just hose the tubs out and give them a swish with a soapy cloth. The waste is made into mulch.

I would think newspaper would have to be changed every couple of days or so?

DeMak

Every 2 or 3 days I change the cages. I only have 3 so it doesn't take more than a few minutes and give them a good scrubbing with soap and bleach once a week. It keeps the smell not too bad. I may have to go to one of the local feed stores and check how much these rabbit pellets cost. My next problem is I have a 6 foot burm that's going to want rabbits soon and I really don't want to have to add rabbits to my daily schedule (although I may have to.) I live really close to NERD so I will have a decent supplier of large rabbits in the somewhat near future. The only rabbits I have ever seen there are HUGE rabbits, a long ways off for my burm, LOL. Who know's, maybe a rabbit hutch may be one of my next projects. Take care, Scott.
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Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

"In any civilized society, it is every citizen's responsibility to obey just laws.
But at the same time, it is every citizen's responsibility to disobey unjust laws."
—Martin Luther King Jr

Look around for a breeder of show rabbits. They cull a lot. Sometimes only 3% or 4% are show quality.? I think that's what I heard.

DeMak