Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have two boas with RI infections. I have a friend who is a vet tech and has supplied me with Amakacin which I have been administering to both boas every three days. It has now been eights days and my larger female has showed no noticeable improvement. My question for all is that I plan to switch treatments to Tylan (it's cheaper and sounds like it will work better for my problem) but I am not sure if I can continue with the Tylan where I have left off with the Amakacin. Should I wait a few days or weeks before starting them on Tylan or can I start immediately? Drug interactions in reptiles I doubt have been studied thoroughly but any opinions would be appreciated.

It would have been cheaper and smarter to have taken the snake in, had the infection cultured and find out what the bacteria is sensitive to. This way you would not have spent the money on the worlds most expensive Antibiotic, and your snake would be on the mend by now. I don’t have the answer to your question as I do not know the drug interactions of each. But I will stress the need for the vet visit
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Jim Hopkins "Hoppy"
Hopkins Holesale Herps
Hopfam1@aol.com

When treating RI with aminoglycoside antibiotics such as amikacin, you will rarely see an improvement in the symptoms until after the 4th or 5th dosage. If still no improvement after 2 weeks from the initial dose, I would follow Hoppy's advice and contact a vet. Unlike the wide spectrum of activity seen with amikacin, tylosin is only effective on a limited number of organisms. I would wait three days after the last amikacin dosage before starting with a new antibiotic. Drug interaction is not a problem, but stress on the kidneys and liver can be. Good luck,

Kelly