Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I found a website for this stuff.. I'd never heard of it but my vet carries it now. It's for mammals & reptiles, it's a nutritional supplement made to boost immune systems.

I think the change in season has something to do with this, the humidity is dropping & such but my girls started sneezing a lot.
They don't look or act sick- just sneezing too much.
I started giving this to them & I'll be darned they stopped sneezing too much!
Since it's not a drug & is a nutritional supplement.. I thought you all might be interested in hearing about this.
When I googled it, a website popped up & oh wow.. I just found out it comes from Harrison's the people who make the organic parrot foods. That's what we feed our parrots & I would bet since you can only buy that food from a vet, you can probably only get these supplements from a vet too. Any vet who sells Harrison's should be able to order it in though.

I'm sold on it though.. I think it's prevented my bRATS from getting sick.
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PHRatz

I just googled it too, I'm going to give it a try. It can be ordered at the web site, $14.95.
Thanks for the info. my girls are looking kinda droopy.
Robin
Harm None.

>>I just googled it too, I'm going to give it a try. It can be ordered at the web site, $14.95.
>> Thanks for the info. my girls are looking kinda droopy.
>>

Cool! I should've thought about that, ::::slaps head::::
you can order the bird food directly from them too, I'd forgotten that you can. If you can do that you should be able to order from their site.. it's not a drug.

I just put my girls back in their cage for the night and I found that after 4 days of taking 0.1 ml of this once a day the sneezing is almost completely gone. Sure they're going to sneeze now & then normally but this was getting way out of hand.

I still don't know if the weather change did it or what but I'm glad to see that instead of this turning into they all have to take antibiotics, it's clearing up.
Whooo hooooooooo!
My vet said she's been having good luck with this stuff using it in sick reptiles, I got the impression that this was the first time she's tried it on rodents. I can tell her now that I have had good luck with it.
I AM SO RELIEVED because I've had these girls since Feb. 3,2007 & they so far (knock on wood) have NOT been sick.
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PHRatz

I would note that rats with colds tend to get better at about the same time we get most concerned and try things, often after a week or so. Suppliments can only really 'boost' immune systems if the immune system was failing due to a nutrition deficiency. I would recommend having a vet look at this tonic to ensure there is nothing that will be toxic to rats if given long term. What is good for one species can be bad for another--and anything with medicianl effects *always* has side effects and toxic effects as well--and so needs to be given strictly at the correct dose.

[/grinch]

Well actually rats don't really get "colds" in a harmless way as humans do. The many respiratory viral infections that plague them tend to be more serious than just a cold. That's because they often carry a plethora of latent bacterial infections such as Mycoplasma pulmonis and cilia-associated respiratory bacillus that keep the immune system in a lesser state than it should be.

When a minor viral infection hits, or an allergy, or anything that inflames the respiratory system then the immune system has to fight the combination of different problems at the same time.
To prevent the secondary bacterial infections from taking over, boosting the immune system if it can be done is better for them than putting them on a round a antibiotics that further weaken the immune system in the long run.
So yeah I am sold on this stuff because it's working.
Will they be on it forever?
No just until the sneezing is cleared up.
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PHRatz

I don't plan on using it for long term either. Just as a "boost" when I see the droopy, they are 2 yrs. old now and haven't been sick, and face it we all need a boost now and then.

Robin
Harm None.

I accept your POV naturally, but in my experience -- keeping as many as 200 rats at once -- the most common conditions which clear up in days to weeks and occur with all animals are are in fact colds. Severe respiratory infection which are common only for older and sick animals require veterinary care and treatment. I know of no evidence at all that these boosters have an clinical efficacy.

Yes, a good immune system greatly reduces both colds and RTI--but treats neither. Good diet, exercise, and social contact boost the immune system. Tonics boost your wallet.

Just my opinion, of course. If you think the treatment works then of course you should use it, but I would still recommend veterinary input. And I am not a vet so that isn;t just because I am a know it all -- I have seen rats come in poisoned by owner provided substances such as childrens anti-biotics. The does, especially in a sick animal, is easy to get wrong.

>>> I know of no evidence at all that these boosters have an clinical efficacy.

I don't have any evidence other than what I am seeing.
Since it was sold to me by my vet I saw no harm in trying it.
Generally when I see a sneezing rat in this region it's come from one of the lousy pet stores & when not treated with something they end up dead because a healthy rat young or old around here is a hard thing to find.
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PHRatz

I guess I'm really lucky about getting my rats from a friend. I've seen the rats at the chain pet stores and wondered how tame and healthy they were.
Now after reading your post I'm staying AWAY from them.
Robin
Harm None.

I wonder what makes it work? It's an essential fatty acid supplement, so it would be great for skin and coat, but how does it boost the immune system, I wonder? Something "magical" about the red palm fruit oil? (I'm not knocking it,- I think it's great there's something else out there that is NATURAL besides echinacea, which never did anything for my rats.)

My vet had my rats on Interferon once, during a particularly bad myco flareup- it helped, but it's only by prescription.

Anyway, Harrison's only makes top quality products (my bird eats their food, too) and if Jan says it works, that's good enough for me!

Is it something they're supposed to be on all the time?
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~Rachel~

I wish we could edit posts, but since we can't, I'm replying to myself.

The red palm fruit oil is something they're putting in their power treats, too. I bought a bag when they first started doing it, but my bird didn't care for the new taste. The rats got the whole thing. lol
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~Rachel~

>>I wonder what makes it work? It's an essential fatty acid supplement, so it would be great for skin and coat, but how does it boost the immune system, I wonder? Something "magical" about the red palm fruit oil? (I'm not knocking it,- I think it's great there's something else out there that is NATURAL besides echinacea, which never did anything for my rats.)

I don't know what the magical thing is, I suppose it is the red palm oil that they import.. I was reading about it on the Harrison's website yesterday lol.
Echinacea never did a thing for my rats or me either. My sister swears by it for herself but I found it to be useless.
My vet though prescribed this sunshine factor, she actually put a prescription label on it & said she's just has such great luck with it herself... I couldn't not try it.

>>
>>My vet had my rats on Interferon once, during a particularly bad myco flareup- it helped, but it's only by prescription.

WOW that's something to keep in mind for the future in case it ever comes up here.
>>
>>Anyway, Harrison's only makes top quality products (my bird eats their food, too) and if Jan says it works, that's good enough for me!

Thanks Rachel & I'll tell ya it has worked. They've been on it since last Friday & they are not doing any abnormal sneezing now. That was the whole point... let's find out if boosting the immune system this way can cause us to avoid going with actual medication.
Since we caught Brett Maverick the lovebird in 2004 I've seen 2-3 parrots that do not eat Harrison's food & I can see what a huge difference the Harrison's has made for her. Compared to those dull dry birds she's so shiny, active, and NOT cranky like those others (and now it's been great for Bart Maverick) I am so sold on that food I couldn't not try this other stuff they're putting out now.

>>Is it something they're supposed to be on all the time?

I wasn't planning to keep mine on it forever, just until the sneezing stopped. If they start again I can always go back to it.
Ya know the PMI lab blocks I buy for them are good quality but who knows how much nutrition stays in a pelleted food the older it gets? Too bad Harrison's doesn't make USDA organic rat food!
(I tried the Oxbow rat food with a different group, they didn't seem to like it much and you can't use it with youngsters)
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PHRatz

I know what you mean about the blocks, but I also feed fruits, veggies, bread, nuts( they usaully get different nuts for christmas). These items aren't fed all at the same time, I pick and choose and only feed these twice a week. I also keep blocks in their cage 24/7.
What I'm getting at is moderation with everything, I agree that Healx shouldn't be given all the time, I mean its a boost right? LOL
Robin
Harm None.

Instead of buying this 4 oz bottle for $14.95, why not just buy Natural Red Palm Oil from Swanson Health Products (google it), 16 ounces for $5.99? It's the exact same thing, but you get a lot more and it's a lot cheaper.
-Sara
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*Sara*
along with:
3 ball pythons
1 burmese python
1 black-lined plated lizard
3 leopard geckos
lots'a ratties
2 gerbils
fishies
2 dogs &
1 kitty