Reptaid Discussion

[ChamNW]

Thanks Tracie for the info. I will proceed with caution and not too many expectations. I have not found too much acceptance in the entire vet community but the exposure has been low. We will see, and I will report back...

 

[vickson420]

Elliot,
When you say you have not recieved acceptance in the vet community could you elaborate? Is there a specific concern they posed to you?

 

[ChamNW]

Vicky
Veterinarians spend 8 years learning to be a doctor of animals. And then they spend the rest of their lives learning the latest technology, techniques, and medecines for treating animal sickness and disease and injury. They buy the medecines they use in their trade from a pharmaceutical company as directed by their veterinarian societies and associations. Along comes this upstart (me) who has never studied veterinary medecine or medecine of any kind, but who claims to have a new herbal "cure-all" for all manner of reptile ailments. What intelligent doctor is going to begin to perscribe this herbal wonder to their patients? I have had a lot of Reptaid enthusiasts take it to their vet and ask them what they think. Many of them have said, well thats wonderful if it works. But that's as far as it goes.

There has always been a division between the medical world and the herbal world. And I have heard that there are some vets who prefer the herbal treatments but I have not found such a vet as yet.

So I hope this answers your question. Sincerely I have nothing against our vets. We use them and depend on them at times. But not for
-Upper Respiratory Infections
-Eye infections
-Mouth or lip rot
-any kind of parasite.
-loss of appetite

IF there are any veterinarians reading this post, and you are interested in trying Reptaid in your practice with an open mind about using it for reptile health, then PM me and I will gladly send you a sample bottle.

 

[TamiLynne]

Hi again everyone!

I was pondering this whole good/bad flora thing and realized I had COMPLETELY spaced on another test we run on feces - a Gram stain. So-called Gram positive bacteria and Gram negative bacteria are different types that may definitely be called "good" and "bad" depending on the animal in question. Now, an overgrowth of either one would be cause for further diagnostics or concern, but a heavier load of Gram negative can be considered a lack of "good" gut flora and an overgrowth of "bad". I typically think in terms of avian diagnostics when I think of Gram staining, so I didn't even put it in the same genre with reptiles in my head. But we certainly can and do run this test on reptile feces if it is warranted. The trouble is, most reptile owners can't afford to run more fecal diagnostics, or simply decline it. Would this be *the test* we are all discussing?

The last-ditch effort to diffinitively identify anything in feces (bacterial, that is) would be to culture it - again another very pricey test that most owners would opt against. But when in doubt, plate it and see what grows!

Tracie - Dr. Mader is presenting that particular topic, but there are loads of other speakers that will be present at the conference and will be speaking to all aspects of reptile veterinary care, as well as their representatives. I wouldn't be so bold as to think he would condescend to speak to a lowly technician at such a large gathering. (tongue firmly in cheek!) :wink:

-Tami*

 

[vickson420]

Yes Tami both the gram and culture method are indeed the way to go when testing for "good" bacteri.I do believe most use the culture method hoever both work.

Elliot I understand what you are saying and to some extent agree however with specialty herp veys in my area I have not found that to be the case since they are always up against owners who refuse to seperate themselves from the all mighty dollar for what some consider a "disposable pet".Most I have spoke to are always looking for alternatives herbal or not so dont give up and keep trying as vet recommendations go a long way.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Elliott,

Good luck, & hopefully you will find a few who will actually talk with you & listen as well. I wish more would adopt the alternative or herbal approach as well.

Tami, Dr. Mader has the tendency to had a very arrogant attitude. I have spoken with him in person, many times. I have also known at least a handful of vets who had the same line of thinking as I did. Just try not to get your hopes up too much with him, that's all.


Tracie

 

[ez2bbad64]

hi we just recived our bottle of reptaid to try on our baby beardie who was treated for coccidea(sp?) she was treated with albon but has not eaten on her own in a few weeks now she is only really thirsty wants to only to drink. shes been surviving off of jump start she is approx 10-11weeks old 91/2" and 38 grams. she has no energy i put her by the window in the sun and she just lays there with her eyes closed. her colors look awful shes real dark from not feeling well. i gave her her first dose this morning i could let everyone know how it works on her

 

[fresnowitte]

Sorry I know this is a Reptaid discussion but I'm going to ask the last poster an off topic question sorry. :wink:

Ez2bbad64 did you give your baby any probiotics to replace the good bacteria that the med's killed off? You may not necessarily need to give more medication natural or pharmaceutical of any type but something to settle your babies tummy.

 

[ez2bbad64]

i gave her soy yogurt with added probiotics with a syringe everyday for a week along with the albon i tried force feeding her the yogurt and baby food but she wasent doing so well on it and the vet said to use a calorie paste such as jump start on her instead.

 

[ChamNW]

This is the problem with Albon at times, especially with a young reptile. This is exactly why we NEVER use albon or any vet presribed drugs on our reptiles for parasites or infections any more. The only hope for your little dragon is that reptaid which you have started giving her. Just keep giving it to her for at least 10 days. And continue with the probiotics for another week. And try to get her to eat. Maybe some baby food, some protein like turkey. Mix a tiny bit of calcium with the baby food like you would have dusted on a cricket. she may not want to eat but she needs the strength she will get from the food. In a few days she should start to respond to the Reptaid and her appetite will return. Keep us posted.

 

[ez2bbad64]

last nite we noticed she was looking around were before she had no intrest in her enviroment. last nite her color looked a bit better this morning she looks quite a bit brighter i see she was walking around her cage and dug through her food bowl i dont know if she ate anything in her bowl as she has it thrown about the cage but at least she was in her bowl! her eyes look brighter and most the stress marks are gone i was so happy to be greeted by her on her branch this morning for the last few weeks she hasent moved much at all on her own. i suspect her stomach was very raw and upset from those meds or something and something in this reptaid is soothing it. i am really shocked at how quick it seems to be working!

 

[ckyforever43]

hey ive had my beardie for about a month now and i got it from petsmart(i know i know) but they had just got he/she in and it was in a cage all to itself. it eats good its poop looks normal its pretty active not afraid to eat. and is sheding its tale right now. ive took to vet to get check up but didnt have a fecal with me. as far as i can tell there isnt any sign of parasites. when i took to the vet it weighed 10 grams idk how much it weighs now. but my question is should i get reptaid and use it for a 10 day period just to be on the safe side and if so how much do i use. the beardie is prob 2 months old its 61/2 to 7inch long

 

[vickson420]

Personally I see no reason to give a perfectly healthy animal medications of any sort herbal or otherwise.It is my opinion that products like these should be left for use during times they are needed and not as a catch all supplement.In essence you may be doing more harm then good by building up resisitances to the medication via overuse.I am sure others will disagree but that is my opinion.Congrats on the new little one.

 

[ckyforever43]

thanks. im a slave to this little beardie hahah. im just trying to make sure it stays healthy. i see where your coming from about might do more harm than good. its kinda like the saying if its not broke dont fix it well if its not sick dont med it haha.

 

[ChamNW]

I'll agred with Vicky here. IF the little guy is eating and drinking, pooping, active and growing like a healthy little dragon should be, then there is no need to give him Reptaid. But two things I want to mention here. First is that he came from the store whose reptutation with reptiles is not the best. And it is likely that he came with parasites. So keep that in mind and watch him for changes or any decline. Second is that Reptaid is NOT medecine. Not even close. It is only herbs. So lets not keep talking about it like we are giving our reptiles medecine when we give them reptaid.

There are a lot of people who treat their animals when they get them, as part of their quarantine proceedure. You never bring a new animal into the area of the rest of your colony until you are sure that you are not introducing some contamination or disease. In the past a conscientious breeder who obtained a new reptile would take it to the vet, get a fecal check done as part of an overall checkup and then treat the animal if needed for whatever might be ailing it. Well, we are breeders and for over a year now when we get a new adult wildcaught animal or a rescue animal, we automatically put them on Reptaid. All of them. No exceptions. That is for adult animals. All wild caught animals bring things with them from the wild. So we treat them all.
But you don't need to treat a baby if there is nothing apparantly wrong with it. Parasites are not passed to the eggs so even if the parents had a bad case of parasites, the eggs should be clean. The baby gets a fresh start at life and should be healthy if feed and housed correctly.
So the long and short of this is, if a baby is healthy, it should not need Reptaid.
If you get an adult animal, Reptaid is a good part of the quarantine process.