Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Where can I find treatment for internal parisites? I just don't want to take any chances. I found This , but how well do you think it would work? Seems like it would be a pain to administer to a snake too. Any help?
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"Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are." - Kurt Cobain

"You laugh at me because I am different; I laugh at you because you are all the same."

~~ Krystal ~~

I'm not sure that medication you linked is recommended for snakes or how effective it would be.

There are three main parasite medicines I've heard of for snakes. Your best bet is to find a good snake vet and take a stool sample in to see what you might need as I think you are SUPPOSED to have a vet prescription for any of these anyway. A good vet can also help you know the latest recommended dose based on your snake's weight (my vet indicated that some of the doses have been adjusted down in the last few years).

Panacure and Flagyl are the most commonly used medications. I've used them as liquids and dosed with a feeding needle. I forget which nasties each kills but there are some things that one will kill and others that the other one kills. One of those two is also a little dangerous if overdosed and might cause problems if used two often or on gravid females so best to see a vet and get only what you really need. Droncit is the third parasite medication I've used and it will kill tapeworms and the other two will not. Unfortunately, Droncit is much more expensive than the other two but the good news is that I'm told tapeworms only come from feeders (not likely to spread snake to snake) so a clean rat supply should avoid them. Unfortunately I don't yet have a place to raise my own certified lab rodents and I get the idea that lots of commercial rats might have tapeworms as my supplier isn't the only one I've heard of leading to captive bred snakes with tapeworms. Also tapeworms don't show up in every fecal exam (they only pass sporadically) so if you eliminate everything else and they still don't seem to gain properly you might try Droncit.

My vet did a study where 100% of a group of wild caught balls had at least one type of parasite. I also get the idea that parasites aren’t all that rare with captive bred snakes and many snake breeders just consider them a fact of life and treat every so often to keep them beaten down. In theory the certified lab rodents in a new clean facility might be a way around this but I’m not sure how hard it would be to maintain (i.e. does one fly or mosquito get in and contaminate your whole colony).

If you don't already have a herp vet lined up that you feel comfortable with, find one in your area. I would recommend that you have any new animal coming into your collection checked out while it's still in quarantine. Fecal exams are not that expensive. See if you can drop off a fecal sample when it's fresh.

I don't think I'd use that powder. I notice you've picked things that say "all natural". Just cause it's natural doesn't mean it's safe. In the mite powder from the other post, the ingredients listed cloves and thyme which can be irritating to the skin in humans, who knows how it will effect a snake.

Panacur is a wormer and Flagyl is a bacteriacide (sp?). Panacur is more forgiving if you overdose but don't even consider messing with the Flagyl if you don't know the proper dosages and you best be darn good with your calculations to use either of these. I've used both with my corn snakes, doing a *shotgun* treatment on a yearly basis but I'm new to balls and I wouldn't even hazzard a guess as to the proper dosages.

Good Luck with your new baby,
Cheryl

Right I guess that is what I will end up doing. My fiance found a vet near his work that he was talking to, but I was just trying to see if it was easier and/or cheaper to do it at home, but I don't want to put her at risk so I will take her in. She isn't showing any signs yet, but I haven't had her that long, and her having mites, you never know. I only posted those because they were all I could find, but if they aren't ideal I won't use them. I just went to Drs Foster & Smith because they have GREAT stuff at decent prices for dogs, but I wasn't sure about herps (there isn't too many people or places knowledgeable about them as we all know), so I was just checking.
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"Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are." - Kurt Cobain

"You laugh at me because I am different; I laugh at you because you are all the same."

~~ Krystal ~~