Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone,
I took my snake to the vet to treat her for strongyls and rather then using PANACUR he decided to go with IVERMECTIN every 2 wks for 3 doses all together. I would appreciate any info in regards to this treatment.
Thank you,
Mohamed

Sorry, I don't have anything concrete to add but please let us all know how it works out for you.

One of my pet store girls was recently diagnosed with Strongyloides and my vet prescribed 6 treatments with Panacure. When he was researching for his book on reptile parasitology I think he had poor results with Ivomectin. However, I've used it as a pour on for cattle back when I was a farmer so I talked him into selling me a little of it too and I sprayed it on at the same time (I suppose you are injecting). Years ago when I had persistent mites with Burmese pythons I finally got rid of them with a combination of treatments including spraying dilute Ivomectin.

I will do a follow up fecal soon but since I used both it really will not tell us much unless I didn't get her cleaned up. I hate doing injections and tube feedings so it would sure be nice if spraying dilute Ivomectin was effective. On an interesting side note, about the time that my vet was writing his book my father told me that one year most all of the Ivomectin sold was counterfeit by the mob. I'll have to ask my vet if he has done any recent research with Ivomectin and still has failed to have much luck with it.

I will definetly let you know how things go. There are 2 more sessions, the next appointment is on 10/27 and then another that I will have to schedule 2wks after. I only posted this message because I was not familiar with IVERMECTIN and everyone was suggesting either panacur or flagyl or both so when I started looking up ivermectin I started to read how toxic it can be and that overdosing is possible and that just got me worried. Thank you again for replying and I will definetly keep everyone updated.

Thank you,
Mohamed

I read in one of the avs books that ivamec can be toxic in ball pythons, i will try to find the book and post any further info. What i do remember was it was related to injecting to control mites.

Yes, it was an injection, and when I got home and searched for it on GOOGLE all I kept finding was the "deadly side-effects" warnings regarding improper dosage or mixture or combing with other drugs. That is why I got so worried! That would be very helpful if you can find the book and send me an update.

Thank you,
Mohamed

I love ivomec. The big problem with it is that it is so concentrated, and it isn't water soluble, that a lot of people have toxicity problems with it. (1 cc treats 110 lb of animal if I remember right). Since it is clear, when it is mixed with water it looks like it is mixed well when it is not. The only thing I know of to dilute it with is propylene glycol--if given orally. It works by blocking parasites neurological systems.

I know it is very toxic to chelonians because they have a very primitive brain/nerve system and it is able to penetrate it (just like it does to parasites) due to a lack of a protective membrane that protects most other animals.

I have used it to eliminate mites on imported green tree pythons, emerald tree boas and many species of chameleons and parrots/finches with no problems. The nice thing about it is that it stays in the animals system for a long time (weeks) and any parasites that feed on the animal in that time will die. It is also effective on a very wide range of parasites. It seems to be very safe (10X overdoses didn't cause any problems during testing of this drug by the manufacturer in cattle and other various livestock). It is also cheap since it is so strong. One bottle runs around $35 and will treat something like 5000 lb. of animals! (think about that--a small imported ball would need very little. doing math in my head, (20 drops = approx. 1cc.) so 1 drop is enough to treat a 5 1/2 lb. ball. so a baby ball would need about 1/20 of a drop! Don't dilute it right and you could have problems.

Rodney

My vet mentioned that Ivomectin is light sensitive and to store it in the dark. I guess it comes in a clear bottle in spite of this.

As long as my baby girl heals and is cleared of her parasites then I will love ivermectin too! The problem was just that I did all my "research" on panacur and flagyl before I went to the vet to make sure what other breeders do and then all of a sudden when I got there he surprised me with the ivermectin that I just got worried (especially when I read that it can be fatal!). Thank you for your reply.

Mohamed