Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is this medication, in liquid form, ever used to treat snakes for general bacterial infections?

Mike

Clavamox is a combination drug containing the antibiotic amoxicillin and clavulanic acid. In simple terms, the clavulanate in this combination neutralizes the chemical resistance produced by certain bacteria to the amoxicillin, allowing this antibiotic the ability to inhibit bacterial species to which it would normally be ineffective. The human drug counterpart is an antibiotic called Augmentin.

I have never personally heard of Clavamox used in reptiles as it is usually used only in mammals. It also has a somewhat limited spectrum of bacterial activity, being effective against mainly gram positive strains. It is usually used to treat bacterial infections that are showing signs of resistance to aminopenicillins and other types of synthetic penicillins. For snakes, a better choice of a similar type of antibiotic would be a second or third generation cephalosporin class antibiotic.

Kelly