Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone know a good remedy or something perhaps better yet I can buy online to treat new boas and ball pythons for internal parasites? If you have lots of newcomers arriving (boas and balls) and don't want to take them ALL to the vet(very costly bill), I'd rather do it myself. Less expensive since I don't have a "relationship" with my local herp vet to give me discount rates. I know others do this themselves as far as treating with flagyl and other medicines, but where can I purchase it myself? I'm only treating as a preventative measure, the snakes may not have internal parasites when they arrive, but I do not know this for sure as they are all captive born babies, but to my knowledge have not been treated. Thanks for any help you can give.

Andrea

P.S. I am not an amateaur, I do have experience treating with flagyl and various injections. I just don't know how to access treatments myself. =) thanks all!

have to be gotten from a vet for the most part. I have a suggestion, If it is not broke, do not fix it. If you are not getting the proper fecals done to see if the animals even have a parasite problem and they are not showing any ill effect, why put them through undue stress? Especially with Flagyl; " Wich kills the good bacteria along with the bad and causes the animal to have the runs for a while. " I do not use any of that junk anymore or put the animals through being tubed. I have seen that 8 out of 10, never needed it in the first place. However, if you are " hell bent " to do it, you need to get the stuff from the Vet. .......Johnson Herp

Flagyl is a very common drug with chemical name Metronidazole. You can buy a 5 gram vial of it for $5.50 from www.herpsupplies.com located here in NH. Here's a link to the page with this product.
http://www.herpsupplies.com/subcategory.cfm?id=14&sub=54
It is perfectly legal and is sold over the counter as an additive to control bacterial growth in aquariums. Although you do not need a vet to administer it I do recommend you get instructions on how to properly dose an animal.

Panacur and a number of other medications are listed on the site mentioned as well at very reasonable prices.

You mentioned that you already have a good vet/client relationship with your herp vet. This would be a perfect time to use it. With large collections a "herd" strategy may be used as it is with cattle. Deworming medication can be cheap when bought in bulk, even through a vet clinic. Discuss this with your vet, I"m sure you will be able to work something out