Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was just wondering can I hide the Droncit pills in the rat then fed to the snake?Would you reccomend that,or would grinding the pills and put into a syringe with water more effective?Thank You. Ashley Lopez

If it was me I would crush it up, dissolve that in some water and then inject the rat with it.
-----
Voices in the darkness... scream away my mental health. Can I.. ask a question.. to help save me from myself? Enemies fill up the pages, are they me?... Monday till Sunday in stages, set me free!!! " Diary of a Madman " Ozzy Osbourne

I'm just curious why you are giving your snake Praziquantel?

>>I was just wondering can I hide the Droncit pills in the rat then fed to the snake?Would you reccomend that,or would grinding the pills and put into a syringe with water more effective?Thank You. Ashley Lopez

DRONCIT is supposed to be a wider spectrum wormer specifically made for tapeworm species.

but is not particularly effective against all of the stages of tapeworm developement. Droncit is much more effective. I had a thing wrote up about the dosage of the Panacur.. but it took me to long to type it out and I was logged off! ARG! Give me a second and I'll try again
Matt Schubarth

I have only used Praziquantel for cestodes (what is labeled for) and I was unaware that Panacur was effective at all against cestodes. Furthermore, I was unaware that boas could get tapes...what tapes or flukes does your snake have?

>>DRONCIT is supposed to be a wider spectrum wormer specifically made for tapeworm species.

Praziquantel is the only drug that should be used for tapeworms in snakes. Fenbendazole (Panacur) is only effective against tapeworms of the genus Taenia and is not totally effective against any of the other species of tapes. The best mode to administer the pill is to cut with a razor to give the proper dosage of 5 to 8 mg/kg of body weight. This piece can then be inserted under the skin of the feeder animal. Alternatively, there is an injectable form of praziquantel. Be aware however, that the pill form should never be dissolved in water and injected into the snake. The original dosage should be given one more time in about two weeks.

Kelly

Kelly,

Do you know how prevalent tapeworms are in snakes (esp. boa constrictors) I could understand a *possible* need to treat fresh imports, but fail to see the need in animals kept in a clean captive environment. It seems to me that the snakes would only have two chances at infection...water fleas (no way these should be in anyone's snake room) are ingestion of infested prey.

Even then, and correct me if I'm mistaken, I admit I have not done the research here, only prey items like lizards and frogs or wild caught snakes would offer the chance. The type of tape that infests rodents would be incapable of living in snakes, correct? I've NEVER seen a tape segment in a snake stool. Or am I correct in believing that snakes only represent intermediate hosts?

thanks,

Kassandra Royer

>>Praziquantel is the only drug that should be used for tapeworms in snakes. Fenbendazole (Panacur) is only effective against tapeworms of the genus Taenia and is not totally effective against any of the other species of tapes. The best mode to administer the pill is to cut with a razor to give the proper dosage of 5 to 8 mg/kg of body weight. This piece can then be inserted under the skin of the feeder animal. Alternatively, there is an injectable form of praziquantel. Be aware however, that the pill form should never be dissolved in water and injected into the snake. The original dosage should be given one more time in about two weeks.
>>
>>Kelly

Kassandra,
Most internal parasites, but not all, require one or more intermediate hosts to complete their life cycle and are unable to move from one snake to another without this intermediary. Tapeworms require this intermediate host and this greatly limits their chance of spreading in a captive environment. I have seen several wild caught boas with tapeworm infestations. I would not even be able to guess the percentage of imports carrying tapes. It would be extremely difficult for a captive born boid to acquire tapeworms. You would essentially need to feed it on live or fresh-killed wild caught prey animals including rodents. The rodent may not necessarily be the intermediate host, but it could be transporting one. Best to stay with captive raised feeders. Thanks,

Kelly

Thanks for the information. I've very interested in looking into this further. Could you email me the species names of the cestodes that are found in boas? You wouldn't happen to have pictures of any, would you? I'm kind of a freak about this stuff. Thanks again,

Kassandra Royer

>>Kassandra,
>>Most internal parasites, but not all, require one or more intermediate hosts to complete their life cycle and are unable to move from one snake to another without this intermediary. Tapeworms require this intermediate host and this greatly limits their chance of spreading in a captive environment. I have seen several wild caught boas with tapeworm infestations. I would not even be able to guess the percentage of imports carrying tapes. It would be extremely difficult for a captive born boid to acquire tapeworms. You would essentially need to feed it on live or fresh-killed wild caught prey animals including rodents. The rodent may not necessarily be the intermediate host, but it could be transporting one. Best to stay with captive raised feeders. Thanks,
>>
>>Kelly

Oh yeah, I'm interested in all species, whether the snake is a definitive host or just an intermediate host. Thanks again

>>Thanks for the information. I've very interested in looking into this further. Could you email me the species names of the cestodes that are found in boas? You wouldn't happen to have pictures of any, would you? I'm kind of a freak about this stuff. Thanks again,
>>
>>Kassandra Royer
>>
>>>>Kassandra,
>>>>Most internal parasites, but not all, require one or more intermediate hosts to complete their life cycle and are unable to move from one snake to another without this intermediary. Tapeworms require this intermediate host and this greatly limits their chance of spreading in a captive environment. I have seen several wild caught boas with tapeworm infestations. I would not even be able to guess the percentage of imports carrying tapes. It would be extremely difficult for a captive born boid to acquire tapeworms. You would essentially need to feed it on live or fresh-killed wild caught prey animals including rodents. The rodent may not necessarily be the intermediate host, but it could be transporting one. Best to stay with captive raised feeders. Thanks,
>>>>
>>>>Kelly

Kassandra,

The following genera of Cestodes have been found in snakes either in adult or intermediate lifestages :

Bothridium
Acanthotaenia
Ophiotaenia
Crepidobothrium
Otobothrium
Oochoristica
Ophiovalipora
Spirometra
Plerocercoides

Notice that Taenia is not on the list, and that is why fenbendazole is not very effective in eliminating tapes from reptiles. It's an older publication, but see if you can locate a copy of a book on the infectious diseases of reptiles by Reichenbach-Klinke and Elkan. It is a great reference book on reptile parasites.

Kelly

Kelly,

Thanks for the info. I'll definitely see if I can find a copy.

>>Kassandra,
>>
>>The following genera of Cestodes have been found in snakes either in adult or intermediate lifestages :
>>
>>Bothridium
>>Acanthotaenia
>>Ophiotaenia
>>Crepidobothrium
>>Otobothrium
>>Oochoristica
>>Ophiovalipora
>>Spirometra
>>Plerocercoides
>>
>>Notice that Taenia is not on the list, and that is why fenbendazole is not very effective in eliminating tapes from reptiles. It's an older publication, but see if you can locate a copy of a book on the infectious diseases of reptiles by Reichenbach-Klinke and Elkan. It is a great reference book on reptile parasites.
>>
>>Kelly