Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi Everyone,

In the past my vets have perscribed Amikacin at 5mg/kg IM for the first treatment, then 2.5 mg/kg every 72 hours for an additional 4 treatments.

I just got off the phone with my new vet, Dr. James Johnson of Texas A&M College of Vet. Medicine, and he informed me off an interesting case study he performed on ball pythons treated for RI with Amikacin. Dr. Johnson informed me that he found Amikacin to have a half-life of 10-14 days in ball pythons. He treated a large number of ball pythons with RI ranging from 250g to large adults using Amikacin at 3.75 mg/kg IM. The treatment consisted of one dose at 3.75mg/kg IM with a follow-up dose ten days later. Since the Amikacin had a half-life of 10-14 days, two injections were all that was needed for the vast majority of the balls to recover.

He also confirmed what I have heard from many others, and seen myself, that Metronidazole (Flagyl) works wonders when used in conjunction with the Amikacin.

I was just wondering if any of you had anything to say regarding this study or if anyone is aware of similair findings?

I also just thought you all might be interested in this info.
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-Ross Payan - www.LeosAnonymous.com

Leos Anonymous

Ball Pythons, Red Striped Leos, W.Hognose and Screaming AFT's

Did your vet have anything to say about the Amacacin being real hard on the kidneys ? Years ago I heard that Amacasin was safe but now hear that the snakes also has to be having injections for hydration to avoid this.

Were you doing this while using Amacasin ?

Hi,

Amikacin is hard on the kidneys, my vet recommended that I never administer Amikacin in 72 hour increments again. I have never heard of anyone giving SQ fluid injections just for a precaution, but what I have done is soak the snake(s) being treated once daily in luke warm water for 15 minutes. The neat thing about this case study is that it shows you only have to inject your snake once every 10 days. Previously with the 72 hour increments the Amikacin would build up leading to potential kidney failure.

Not to mention it much less stressful on the keeper and the snake to give an injection every 10 days... I don't know about you guys, but I dread having to give injections to my snakes.

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-Ross Payan - www.LeosAnonymous.com

Leos Anonymous

Ball Pythons, Red Striped Leos, W.Hognose and Screaming AFT's

The one and only time I used Amacasin I was told to use it ten days apart. It was on a blood python that didn't respond to raising the temperature for a slight R.I. I didn't know then about the possible effect on the kidneys, but I supposed the ten day period between injections is why I didn't have a problem later on.

Fortuneately , I haven't had an R.I. in years and haven't had to give injections for sometime. But like you, I don;'t like it and as far as giving injections for hydration, I'd have no idea what to do.

BTW, the blood I treated had no signs of R.I. approx 5 days after the first injection and was really impressed with how well the Amacasin seemed to work.

do you know where i might find more info on this case? i had a ball that was being givin amikacin for a few months we did have to put him down in the end, but i wonder if we had treated him different, maybe he would have responded different. although this was not for an RI it was for a large reoccuring abcess on his face ( three surgerys could not keep it from coming back)