Reptaid Discussion

[ajkry2]

In that case tomorrow, I'm gonna wake up, administer Reptaid, feed her, clean her cage with ammonia and super duper duper duper hot water...

Then I'll give her reptaid for 10 days following that. When I'm on my 2 day break (after the first 10 day treatment), I'll clean her cage again with ammonia and really really really hot water, restart reptaid one more time for 10 days, clean her cage one more time with ammonia and hotter than h-e-double hockey sticks water, get a fecal, and have a parasiteless beardie?

 

[pscaulkins]

In that case tomorrow, I'm gonna wake up, administer Reptaid, feed her, clean her cage with ammonia and super duper duper duper hot water...

Then I'll give her reptaid for 10 days following that. When I'm on my 2 day break (after the first 10 day treatment), I'll clean her cage again with ammonia and really really really hot water, restart reptaid one more time for 10 days, clean her cage one more time with ammonia and hotter than h-e-double hockey sticks water, get a fecal, and have a parasiteless beardie?

If you have a glass tank, be careful you don't crack the glass. A steamer is so much safer and won't crack glass but is just as efficient. They are not that expensive either. Also, make sure you get all the smell out because if there is any residue, when you turn the lights on you could harm your beardie from the fumes.

If your beardie poops in the tank, it has to be cleaned right after they make the mess or recontamination will happen. My vet said the tank needed to be cleaned any time they pooped in it. Also, it's easier to use things that can be thrown away and just replace like a small box for basking, rocks can be soaked and baked. I would keep wood out unless they don't poop in their tanks. Resin items are easy to sterilize, just pour boiling water over them.

 

[ajkry2]

Question 1: Can I use windex as an ammonia substitute?

Question 2: How do I know if my items are made of resin? :dontknow:

Question 3: Why am I so nervous about cleaning her viv and treating her with this stuff?

Thanks alot

 

[pscaulkins]

Question 1: Can I use windex as an ammonia substitute?

Question 2: How do I know if my items are made of resin? :dontknow:

Question 3: Why am I so nervous about cleaning her viv and treating her with this stuff?

Thanks alot

1. I don't know about the windex. I have only used a steamer in my tanks. I have, however, sprayed windex on a papertowel and wiped the outside of their tanks of all the fingerprints but not when they are in their tanks.

2. Usually if you get them at a petstore, they are either wood or resin. Resin doesn't break like glass. It's not pliable like plastic either. Hard to describe.

 

[ChamNW]

You don't have to be nervous about the procedure. It is very effective to help the reptile get rid of the coccidia.
As said previously, the recontamination comes from the poop.
Say you keep giving reptaid and all the parasites have been eradicated from the digestive tract. Finally clean. But you have been leaving the piles of poop on the enclosure floor. Or even just residue and maybe bits and pieces of poop. Then you put crickets in the viv and the crickets eat the poop. (they do that) Then the dragon eats the crickets with the parasites and now the dragon is infected again. After all the work of getting him clean.
So, the idea is to keep the place as clean as possible while you are in the process of ridding the entire habitat of parasites. Be VERY diligent about keeping the habitat clean.

Since the coccidia are so hard to kill, and it has been proven that only a strong ammonia or steam will do the job, then that is what you use. Just take the glass cage outside, wash it down with a lot of very strong ammonia solution. Mix like 3 parts water, 1 part ammonia. I use the lemon scent cause it just doesn't smell so bad. You cant do this inside as the ammonia odors when used that strong could knock you out. And although windex has some ammonia in it, it is not strong enough to do the job. So do it outside and then rise the entire enclosure with the hose for while until all the ammonia residue is really gone. Maybe I over do it, but I want to be sure.

You can soak rocks and hides in the ammonia solution also and then rinse very well. Any wood just discard as contaminated. There is no really good way to clean up the wood.

Oh, and never ever mix ammonia and bleach together. It puts off deadly fumes.

 

[gearbox1001]

This product does look rather good and will be getting some shipped over. However for my 2 pence worth, i dont agree with the vet comment's at all.

I agree vet's are expensive, but nothing with my beardie has been cheap, and i also think that if you get a pet of any kind, especially exotic, you need to build vet costs into the plan. I also know (and i have) in the UK, pet insurance, exotics direct, which covers birds and lizard's and for a little ammount per week/month depending on what you want, it knock's vet bills down a huge lot.

My view is, that at the moment im spending a fortune on light's, cricket's, green produce and to be able to do all that and then say well i can not afford for primary care. I know thing's happen in life (loose your job) but it just furstrates me that people get animals and kinda forget about vet care and all the thing's that go with having a pet, which then clog's places like mine up with unwanting, uncared for and sometimes quite ill animal's (parrot's).

So as i might support the product, i think their should be a huge drive in education, especially in the UK about what it entails in actually keeping a pet and the finacial responsiblity of pet ownership.

Sorry for the rant, just a personal crip of mine

John

 

[vickson420]

Thanks for that post John.I totally agree it is always the most important thing when dealing with any animal to have proper vet care.It would be nice to educate more folks about get proper care and being prepared to pay for that care BEFORE investing in any animal.

 

[pscaulkins]

Thank you John for your post. I totally agree with you. NOTHING replaces vet care. I am the type of person that has to know why my beardie isn't eating or acting right. Treating blindly is a disaster waiting to happen.

I would be really interested in fecals done after doses of Reptaid was given. Ask your vet to check the gut flora. My vet does it every time I bring a fecal in and he tells me if they have to little or to much gut flora. There is a fine line regarding gut flora.

 

[vickson420]

I agree every fecal should be done x 2,one to check for parasite count and one for good gut flora.I think especially those who are going to be testing after using the reptaid because it will help define how much probiotic should be used while using this product.Elliot I know your feelings about probiotics with reptaid but honestly I think with something as potent as reptaid appears to be to not use probiotic even as a precaution would not be wise.

 

[ChamNW]

You know I am always learning about reptiles. And it astounds me that with all the vet visits we have been to, and all the discussion on all the various forums, I do no think I have ever been told or heard that the vet can check on the amount of gut flora. It certainly makes sense but I don't think it has ever been mentioned. So I am very very interested in knowing how much gut flora is in the gut after a treatment of reptaid as compared to after a treatment of standard antibiotics.
We are treating a giant leaftail gecko (uroplatus fimbriatus) which we recently purchased from a breeder. He came loaded with coccidia and was not doing well. After a week of Reptaid he is starting to get more energetic and is gaining a little weight. He has more strength and yesterday we hand fed him a couple of dubias and a cricket. Also some baby food with a syringe. As I have my own lab to do fecals I am checking the fecal at least once a week to watch the numbers. When he is all clean, perhaps I will see if one of the three vets we use can check his flora for us. Then I will report back on the findings. If he needs probiotics, hey I will change my tune!

Also, for the record, please do not think I am against vets. Not in the least. As a breeder, the vet plays a large part in my business expenses. But I really think that many of my animals would not be as healthy and happy without reptaid. And I think it is very safe to say that most people who own reptiles need an alternative to going to the vet. With this alternative, many reptiles will continue to live on for many years instead of suffering because of a lack of funds.

 

[vickson420]

Thanks Elliot.I look forward to seeing the results of the gut flora check.Yes most vets dont offer it but it can be done if requested.Many think it isnt useful knowledge but I disagree I think it is very important especially in a case like this when we are trying to determine what precautions need to be taken when using a new product.
I dont think anyone here thinks you are against vets,the problem is that I want people to understand that regardless of how this priduct works vet visits are a must.For too long people have lookes at herps like 2nd class pets,they buy them on a whim and discard them when they are bored or when they get too expensive and its sad.The same goes for the pet industry,they are forever throwing products on the market with zero consideration of how it will affect the animal,this does not happen with dogs and cats but somehow it seems to be an accepted practice with herps.I guess thats why I would like to hash out every possible pro and con for reptaid because no one else will do it for us.Ok my rant is over please dont take anything I said to be directed towards you its not I just tend to go off the deep end sometimes...lol.

 

[ajkry2]

So far so good. Sahara's poop has been a more consistant and solid texture, and smells less . I have been injecting Dubia with the proper dose of Reptaid, and she nomnom's the Roach right up. It's been 4 days since I started treatment.

I had no trouble cleaning her viv with an ammonia solution. I plan on doing it every weekend until mid November, along with the 10-day-on-2-day-off type treatment. She doesn't seem to be behaving any differently, but that's no surprise -- she was active and full of spunk before I started her on Reptaid. I just wanted to treat her to be sure that those pesky parisites and worms don't cause her any grief... Also it's pretty darn humid (45-60% normally) here in Saint Louis, so hopefully this will help her respiratory immune system as well.

All is well

 

[DragonsInKansas]

Are you supposed to inject it into something and then feed it? I'm expecting mine in the mail on friday, so i was just curious

 

[ChamNW]

Most people just squirt the Reptaid into the mouth of whatever animal they are treating. But some reptiles lock their jaws shut and will not cooperate. So injecting the Reptaid into a bug is another way to treat them. That is why we give you one syringe with the bottle. The syringe has a removeable needle so you can either inject a bug or take it off and just squirt the Reptaid into the mouth.

 

[TamiLynne]

Hi everyone,

As a veterinary technician I wanted to toss in my 2 cents for whatever it's worth. I love the idea of an herbal remedy for ailing reptiles, and if it works I think it's very valuable in the reptile world. Heck, if it works that well, why wouldn't we recommend it to sick animals we see in the clinic? That said, I wanted to add a few things.
First, Albon and Panacur (when dosed appropriately, of course) are anything but "harsh" drugs. They are very safe, even in higher than normal doses. A huge percentage of the time, it is the stress of administering the medication itself (usually by an inexperienced owner), as well as frequent vet visits, that causes reptiles to fail post-administration of a course of these drugs. In most cases the animal in question was comprimised prior to the drugs, and stress makes it worse. Baytril is another story - many inexperienced vets think it is a cure-all, and no antibiotic therapy is without risk (even in people). Again - injections are stressful, period.
Second, I am assuming that with the dramatic rehabilitation cases seen with Reptaid there were other factors contributing to the success of the animals involved. i.e. a new environment with proper housing, lighting, heating, feeding, etc. So while this product may be a major contributor, it certainly isn't a miracle cure and that should be made clear as well. It is not an excuse for poor husbandry.
I'll say again, I'm not trying to bash this product and if your claims are true I am behind it 100%. Just wanted to clear up a couple of things I noticed while reading the thread.

-Tami*