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Anybody know which Baytril dose would be best for a 380gm Golden Greek with a moderate case of RNS?

Oral or injectable?

Dose for either type would be great!

Thanks!
Jim Smith

"Anybody know which Baytril dose would be best for a 380gm Golden Greek with a moderate case of RNS?"

hi jim.

even licensed vets won't post drug does without seeing an animal first. you may not get a response posted here, because most keepers (even with dosing experience) know that it would be pretty irresponsible to play vet on the internet.

barring that, there are a few books (e.g. Highfield's tortoise, and Mader's and Frye's reptile medicine books) that publish some suggested doses.

good luck,

matt

I don't see anything wrong with posting dosages. Mader did it Highfield did it and many others have done it. Actually there is nothing wrong with the practice considering that Baytril has never been approved for use in reptiles to begin with. So, the dosages you see for reptiles (a tortoise is a reptile) have been obtained through trial and error and is by no means a proper dosage as far as herps go.

I know of one study on blood levels done by a vet done on snakes and I don't know if it was published.

Now, if the person was asking what should I do to treat my animal and you give the recommendation of using Baytril and the dosages... you would actually be breaking the law.

Oh, btw the accepted dosages are 7 - 10 mg/kg for... 7 to umteen days. The duration seems to be an item of debate.
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Ed
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Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

"I don't see anything wrong with posting dosages. Mader did it Highfield did it and many others have done it. Actually there is nothing wrong with the practice considering that Baytril has never been approved for use in reptiles to begin with."

ed -- you're a rebel with a cause!

matt

/
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Ed
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Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

My question is where did you get the Baytril? The vet who prescribed it should tell you the dose. Since Baytril has not been approved for use in reptiles, all the more reason not to post dosages. There are very few antibiotics that are stronger than baytril, if it is used inappropriately (too low of dose, or too short of a course, or for the wrong type of infection) you can be creating resistance issues, and actually harming your pet in the long run. Depending on the state you live in, there must be a client patient relationship, meaning the person (vet) that is dispensing the medication has actually seen the animal in question and has an ongoing relationship with that patient.
If you bought the baytril from someone other than a vet, this person could actually get in trouble for practicing veterinary medicine without a license, if they charged you for it.
So you should just call your vet, and more than likely they will help you with the dosage. I also would be cautious using second hand baytril, because you don't know if there could be quality control issues. Good Luck with your pet, I hope it feels better soon.

>>My question is where did you get the Baytril?

I've kept other herps for 15 years. I've had other herps with these problems. Usually shipping issues, but that's another story. So I have Baytril , but I've just bought a few Greek tortoises recently and one came in with RNS. Not too bad, but there are issues. My vet is on vaction until December 15th or so. He goes to South America every year. No one in the office is willing to see the tortoise, much less give out any information on dosage. He's the only herp vet I trust in my area.

My tortoise weighs 380 grams and is 133 mm long.
I know the correct dosage for snakes, but since I've not owned a tortoise before I do not know the correct dosage for a Greek Tortoise. So shoot me if you will. But I need some information!

Jim Smith

If you tell me where you live, I can ask on the repttile board in VIN for a good herp vet in your area. That's the best I could do, as a vet I cannot give you the dosage. Maybe someone else on the list could recommend another vet as well, it would probably make sense to have a back up vet. You should ask your vet when they get back what you are supposed to do when they are gone.

Jim, Here's a little info for you.

The problem with immediately dosing your tortoise with Baytril is that is usually your last line of defense in an unknown infection. If you go to that straight away and the tortoise does build a resistance to it... you're screwed.

In snakes a respiratory infection is pretty obvious and Baytril does seem to be the wonder drug in that instance but as you noted, tortoises are different. The runny nose does not always mean that it has a respiratory infection and Baytril is not always going to help.

There are many new surprising new protocols that are being used to treat RNS in tortoises because, as a rule, there is know known single causes. (lots of suspects but no definate answers)

I recently cleared up a case of RNS in an Egyptian Tortoise by setting it up in the incubator (85 - 90 F) and soaking it daily. It had watery eyes and a very runny nose. I've treated it with Baytril in the past with no help so I thought I'd try something different. It cleared up on its own in about 5 days.

The point is, you really should talk to a vet or another more experienced tortoise keeper to get an idea of what you are dealing with.

Another thing, you mentioned that you were dealing with T. graeca. In that case it can also be a parisitic problem.
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Ed
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Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

I found a Herp vet today. Gaia is presenting signs of RNS and possibly pneumonia. She is not open-mouth breathing, but she is breathing with difficulty. She does have mucus and sneezing could be heard. Their developer for the x-ray machine broke yesterday, so no x-rays, but she did hear gurgling while listening. I didn't know a doc could hear lung sounds through the shell, she did.

Now my question about Baytril is not how much, but is 14 units every other day for 28 days about right for what I've described?

Thanks to everyone!
Jim Smith

I don't know what 14 units is but 14mg/kg every other day sounds reasonable but I've not heard of this dosing. I do know as more tortoise vets use Baytril there is constantly new ideas poping up almost daily as to how to dose these critters.

I like the idea of an injection for the first dose and oral for the remainder of the treatment. Also present thoughts is to really hammer them over a long period of time. Also, do not forget to continue the treatment over the whole course of action. Some vets oral dose with the injectable but I've recently heard that the oral Batril is placed in a suspension and dosed that way.
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Ed
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Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care