Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was talking with my girlfriend, who works at a zoo, and apparently all their snakes have come down with mites. She said they are treating them by giving them shots of ivermectin (I'm pretty sure this is found in commercial dog and cat tick/flea medication). This seemed odd to me, and I was wondering if anyone has heard of this being used in reptiles.

Bad Idea--- Ivormectin is for Cattle, horses, etc. It can be used for dogs but is a much lower dose and concentration!

Seems like a bad idea...
AND--
Why are they injecting things (chemicals) INTO the animals to deal with something on the OUTSIDE of the animals?????

The strongest thing I've ever used to get rid of mites in an entire collection has been frontline.
I have more recently discovered BK-II (Thanks to Robyn at Pro Exotics) -- And it is MUCH safer for reptiles-- actually made for reptiles-- and kills bugs- period. Without the HUGE risk of killing the animal in the process.

Gah!! ivormectin... lordy...

Beth
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The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue

A few years ago I was sent Rats that had been wormed with Ivermectin. I wasn't disclosed to me at the time, so they were fed off and every animal that had Rats from that batch either puked them up or had a really hard time digesting them. It wasn't firsthand exposure, but enough to tell me that it isn't good for Reptiles. Everyone that did eat those Rats immediately went into a shed cycle, with most going through 2 cycles before finally shedding. One Boa went through 4 cycles before finally shedding. Once they finally shed, they went back to digesting normally and I started breeding my own feeders. I just recently had a situation that mirrored this one, but on a much smaller scale. I couldn't trace it back to anything concrete, but I do think that Ivermectin is somewhat toxic to Reptiles. I don't have anything but personal experience to back that up though.

Ivermectin has been used for years in the treatment for mites. It is not widely used anymore since provent-a-mite, black knight and other products have come onto the market. When it was commonly used it was either diluted and used as a spray or the dosage was figured out by a vet and then injected into the reptile. Basically it would make the reptiles blood toxic to the mites when they injested it.
Bruce Delles c/o Twin Cities Reptiles

Injected Ivermectin is, in proper doses, a safe and very effective treatment for mites. A bit expensive and labor-intensive for a large collection, though....
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Brad Chambers
WWW.HCU-TX.ORG

The Avalanche has already started-it is too late for the pebbles to vote....

Learn something new everyday lol...it would seem like a spray treatment would be easier, like provent-a-mite or BK-II? Its a small zoo so I dont think they have alot of snakes to treat so I guess the injected stuff will work out fine.

that is facinating... Not my cup o' tea-- something about making my "snakes blood toxic enough to kill" ... is not something i'd try personally.
I have no doubt that it would work and be effective... just seems like the cost, security, and labor with BK-II is MUCH better...

Hope it works.

Beth
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The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue

You can pick up a can of equate bedding spray from wal-mart for a fraction of the price. It's used for killing lice. It works excellent and no waitng for a shipment and you save money. I bring a can of it and a bottle of hand sanitizer to any show I end up doing.
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don't marry the cow when the milk is free when the milk drys up it's time for a new cow

If you have dogs, you do realize what is in Heartgard, right? Ivermectin and Pyrantel..

Ivermectin, given at the proper dose for the weight of the animal, is very effective at killing mites and ticks as well as most internal parasites. It's just less labor intensive and easier on the animal to use BK or Provent A Mite. Ivermectin is thick(like penicillin) and can be a painful injection.

I've not used it orally in anything except for cattle and goats. It can even be used cutaneously(dripped on the skin) for amphibians.
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-Becky Brown, RVT-
1.0 Lemon Pastel Classic Jungle,1.0 Black Pastel,1.0 Enchi,1.0 Yellow Hypo,0.1 100% het Butterscotch Hypo,0.1 66% Poss Het VPI Hypo,3.24 Normals,1.1 Spider,1.1 Yellowbellies(BHB),1.0 100% Het Pied Classic Jungle,1.3 66% Poss Het VPI Axanthic, 1.1 Poss Het VPI Snow,1.1 100% het Genetic Stripe

I've used Ivermectin on import Balls in the past with no problems. The dose is very small, It can be injected directly into the snake or injected into the pray item just before its eaten. There is about a 5% risk of neuro problems, and that risk goes up with higher doses. Overall it works great for some specie of worms, mites and ticks, but can be difficult to dose if you don't know what you're doing.

Its the cheapest way to prevent heart worm in dogs.

zoo should have vets that know enough about injecting ivermectin into snakes

I have heard of it being done......never did it myself......

yes it's potent stuff....

maybe it will work better than PAM and BK.......LOL

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ivermectin seems to be used more to deal with internal parasites or as a spray for external parasites. Using it internally to deal with mites seems more risky...as this stuff is very toxic,....also it only affects mites that are in the biting stage. It makes more sense to spray the cage with something like Provent a Mite or BK-II, then reintroduce the snake after sufficient drying time (as per directions on the cans).

below is a link I found talking a bit more about it in relation to reptiles.

www.anapsid.org/resources/rxdose.html#parasites
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PHLdyPayne

While it does work, it isn't usually the best choice.
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Brad Chambers
WWW.HCU-TX.ORG

The Avalanche has already started-it is too late for the pebbles to vote....

>>I was talking with my girlfriend, who works at a zoo, and apparently all their snakes have come down with mites. She said they are treating them by giving them shots of ivermectin (I'm pretty sure this is found in commercial dog and cat tick/flea medication). This seemed odd to me, and I was wondering if anyone has heard of this being used in reptiles.

Think about a zoo, and the types of cages they use and it should be very obvious why they are treating internally and not treating the cages. It would be prohibitively expensive and difficult to sufficiently clean and treat the environment rather than the snakes. Furthermore, zoos are for people, the dose of pyrmethrin found in BKII or PAM applied to such a large area would be potentially toxic to people, whereas Ivermectin is not toxic to humans and is an FDA approved drug. It does have a low chance of nervous system problems in reptiles, but when dosed properly, it is less than 1%. On the other hand it is 100% effective at getting rid of all mites and ticks the first time, without worrying about cleaning cages. May not be the best choice for your $5000 ball python that lives in an easily cleaned tub, but for a zoo with hundreds to thousands of reptiles and a huge amount of area to treat with lots and lots of people, it is the best choice
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when life hands you lemons, make super lemons, bumblebees, etc...

Invermectin is a great, easy, and affordable way to exterminate a mite infestation. Although it could be injected you must know the right ratio to inject based upon the weight of the snake.

The most effective (easiest) way to use it is to dilute it in distilled water. I've used one 2ml tube into 1L of water. Then I remove the water bowls and using a spray bottle, I spray down the entire tub to include the snake (back and belly). I continue this every other day for about 8 days. Once the treatment is complete, I clean out the entire tub and all. Then using white paper towels lay that down a bedding. Then you would closely look at the snakes and inspect the paper towels as the mites would clearly stick out on the paper towels. If you see them repeat the process. Any left over spray will need to be stored in a lightless environment since it easily breaks down if left in any view of light making it less effective.

This will effectively kill any and all mites present. Diatomaceous Earth also works well (food grade) but is extremely caustic for you and the snake.

I’ve also used Invermectin to cure “Cauliflower Ear” in rats, rats having mites on the ends of their ears. Using Invermectin as a soluble they drank the spiked water. Try injecting a live rat or getting them to eat the paste, is not possible. This easily cured the problem; I also feed off some smaller rats to my snakes with no ill affects on any snake.

Just remember when using any medication use it with caution.

Pitoon