Reptile & Amphibian Forums

went to the vet for a follow up and found out it was a bacterial infection. the cap closed so the eye drops won't really work any more but now they gave us antibiotics in the form of a needle injection so in the next 2 weeks or soo they said we should see a difference

thanks

they have prescribed? Thanks,

Kelly

its amikacin

I would suggest that you change the water in the cage daily during treatment. It helps to keep them well hydrated when using this class of antibiotics and bloods are much more likely to drink freshly changed water. Thanks,

Kelly

Its also a good idea to soak the animal once a day for an hour or so. Amikacin is a high powered drug with known dehydrating effects.

Amikacin itself will not cause dehydration in an animal. The reason that animals being treated with amikacin require proper hydration is that the majority of the drug is excreted through the kidneys. Aminoglycoside class antibiotics can damage the cells of the filtration system in the kidneys and adequate movement of fluids through this system will keep the excreted drug moving on through the kidneys. As long as fresh water is always available and humidity is moderate to high, there is little chance of an issue. I have used amikacin and tobramycin in blood pythons on numerous occasions in the 1980’s and 1990’s with no changes in water access and had no problems. Just make sure to keep it fresh.

No amount of extra water above what they would normally intake would be of any consequence, as they can only process water through the kidneys at a given rate. The issues occur when you have any animal that is already dehydrated for some reason, or is too weak to drink from a standard water bowl. Under these conditions, what you recommended is absolutely correct in order for the animal to be able to maintain hydration, and allow for proper excretion of the drug through the kidneys. Additionally, make sure that blood pythons receive half of the standard python dosage of any aminoglycoside. They are more sensitive to this class of antibiotics and no amount of hydration will protect them from an overdose and kidney damage.

Kelly

Make sure you make the proper injection w/ the needle. Going too much at an angle will make a bubble under the skin and scales and eventually turn into a scale rot form and the scales fall off. I had two spots that happened on me when treating my red blood years ago which turn into bare spots. Its hard to see but there are two spots 1/3 back from her head from bad injections.

Other classes of antibiotics will cause tissue damage or necrosis at the injection site, but I have never seen it occur with any of the aminoglycosides.

Kelly

I'm pretty darn sure. I'll double check my records at home, but seeing that word amikacin reminds me of when it happened. Those were my first injections too, so I was really worried then.

Man, Your good, I looked it up back in the 2004 forums and it was (Baytril). Man that stuff messed up my girl in a few spots. Amikacin must have been the next stuff prescribed. Thats sucks, good thing you read and corrected my mess up. Just hearing both these names just brings back memories of a sick blood that I bought that way. Good call. Later, Ethan

Baytril is well known for the tissue damaging effects it produces on reptiles when injected. While it does not always produce these effects, it is fairly common. Another one that is even worse for tissue damage at the injection site is chloramphenicol. It is an earlier antibiotic and not used much anymore. Besides the tissue damage, it has other unpleasant side effects as well. Take care,

Kelly