Administering Reptaid to
TURTLES AND TORTOISES
Turtles and tortoises experience health challenges
with various parasites and infections. A healthy turtle can become
infected with parasites through the food source or through contamination from
another animal. Common parasites include coccidia, flagellates,
pinworms, roundworms, and hookworms. Sometimes the immune system of the
turtle is weakened by stress or an overload of parasites making the animal
susceptible to bacteriological infections. Most commonly this is seen as an
Upper Respiratory Infection (URI) , mouth rot, or eye
infections. Sometimes a turtle or tort has an injury to the
carapace or plastron. If there is a crack or hole in either shell, infections
often develop. These infections call be caused by both virus and bacteria and
must be treated. Reptaid has been very effective in helping
chelonians overcome all of these health challenges.
Eye dropper vs Syringe: Your Reptaid
bottle may or may not come with an eye dropper attached to the lid. It is
totally unnecessary. An eye dropper is NOT used to dose or administer the
product. The syringe included in the box is what is used to dose
and administer the product. The eye dropper, which may or may not
be present, is a standard pharmaceutical device but is not used with
Reptaid. Our laboratory here in the United States occasionally uses
bottle lids that do not have the eye dropper attached.
DOSING:
You can use either Reptaid or Reptaid XL for your turtles
and tortoises depending on individual weight. Reptaid is dosed at
.1ml per 100g animal weight. Reptaid XL is dosed at .05ml per 500g animal
weight. It is usually administered orally either directly
into the mouth or injected into a food item before feeding the turtle.
Following is a dosing chart for various weights of turtles and tortoises:
Reptaid dosing
Animal
Weight
|
Dose of Reptaid
|
<25g
|
1-2 drips
|
25g
|
.025ml
|
50g
|
.05ml
|
100g
|
.1ml
|
150g
|
.15ml
|
200g
|
.20ml
|
250g
|
.25ml
|
300g
|
.30ml
|
1 GRAM = .035 OUNCES
Reptaid XL dosing
Animal
Weight
Grams
|
Animal
Weight in
Lbs
|
Dose of Reptaid XL
|
250g
|
.55lbs
|
.025ml
|
500g
|
1.1 lbs
|
.05ml
|
750g
|
1.6 lbs
|
.075ml
|
1000g
|
2.2 lbs
|
.1ml
|
1250g
|
2.75 lbs
|
.125ml
|
1500g
|
3.2 lbs
|
.15ml
|
2000g
|
4.4 lbs
|
.2ml
|
2500g
|
5.5 lbs
|
.25ml
|
4500g
|
10 lbs
|
.5 ml
|
1 GRAM = .035 OUNCES
TREATMENT BY AGE AND WEIGHT
1. BABIES ( up to
25g)
Generally baby chelonians have no need for treatment.
If given proper food, moisture, lighting, and cleanliness, they will thrive
naturally. But if a young turtle is not thriving like its clutch
mates, Reptaid can be used carefully on the youth. The dose per the chart
above is just 1 or 2 tiny tiny drips from the needle attached to the
syringe. One drip off the end of the needle is a very small amount of
Reptaid but for a turtle or tort less than 25g this is sufficient.
The trick is to get the drops into the mouth. Be careful not
to overdose the baby. Only give Reptaid once a day, any time of day, earlier
being better.
2. JUVENILES OR MIDSIZED
TURTLES (25g to 250g)
Treatment for medium sized turtles and tortoises is per the
chart above. Until the animal weighs over 250 you should use regular
Reptaid for treatment. Again the idea is to get the Reptaid into the
mouth. Some turtles will allow their head to be restrained the mouth pried open
with your fingernails or with a rubber spatula or credit card.
Quickly squirt the reptaid into the open mouth. If the turtle or
tortoise is eating, you can simply inject the Reptaid into a food item or even
spread it on a piece of lettuce. To treat all the turtles in a pond
or large aquarium, apply the Reptiad to a piece of lettuce. Fold the
lettuce up so the Reptaid is contained within the folded leaf. Then
place the folded lettuce into the pond. When a turtle eats the lettuce,
them remove that turtle from the pond. Continue until all the turtles
have eaten their piece of treated lettuce.
LARGER OR ADULT TURTLES AND
TORTOISES
Treating larger or adult turtles and tortoises can certainly
be a challenge. In all cases the dosing is per the chart above.
However, the largest dose to give any animal in one day is .5ml of Reptaid
XL. This is the dose for a 10lb animal but it is also the dose for a 50lb
or 100 lb tortoise.
The method of administering the dose to the larger
chelonians is open to the imagination. Everyone will develop their own
method. As long as the animal is eating, you simply have to add the
Reptaid XL to the food item. Injecting the Reptaid XL into a bug or dribbling
the herbs on greens is very easy. Injecting the Reptaid XL into a treat,
such as a strawberry or other fruit works very well. Sometimes even
a sick tortoise will not turn away a strawberry.
TREATMENT FOR PARASITES
Detection of parasites is best performed under laboratory
conditions using a microscope. Symptoms of parasitic problems include
loss of appetite, lack of activity, dark coloration, diarrhea, blood in the
feces or urates, very smelly feces, visible worms in the feces. If any or
all of these symptoms are present, you can treat with Reptaid being confident
that if parasites are present, treatment will help solve the problem.
Treatment for all parasites should be once a day per the dosing chart. If
the animal is very sick, not eating at all, very dark and very inactive,
Reptaid can be administered twice a day. At this point you are
fighting for its life. You can also mix the Reptaid with some kind of
food so the chelonian gets some nutrition as well as the healing
herbs.
Continue with Reptaid for 10 days. You should see
improvement after 3-5 days but continue for 10 days. Then wait 2 days and
start another 10 day treatment. In most cases 20 days of Reptaid is
sufficient to rid the chameleon of any and all parasites. A fecal
check is needed to be sure the problem is solved. And of course, as with any
treatment for parasites, quarantine, disinfection of the habitat, and proper
hygiene are essential to prevent reinfection.
TREATMENT FOR BACTERIOLOGICAL INFECTION
The most common infections from bacteria which afflict
chelonians are eye infections, mouth infections, and URI,
upper respiratory infections. For all these dosing is per the chart
above. Administration is the same as for parasites. For a severe
respiratory infection, the chelonian will be showing foam in the mouth, holding
his mouth open a lot, making definite breathing noise, and possibly
coughing. Most infections will show signs of improvement in
2-3 days and be completely clear in 5-10 days. One 10 day treatment is
usually sufficient to completely clear up any infection.
TREATMENT FOR SHELL INFECTIONS
Sometimes a turtle or tort has an injury to the carapace or
plastron. If there is a crack or hole in either shell, infections often
develop. These infections call be caused by both virus and bacteria and must be
treated. Sometimes an infection can develop from unsanitary conditions of the
water in which a turtle lives quickly turning into a shell rot.
Remove the turtle from the water and dry his shell very well. Apply the
undiluted Reptaid XL directly to the infected areas with a Q-tip. You
should also administer Reptaid XL orally per the dosing chart, to treat the
turtle both internally and externally. Keep the turtle out of the
water for an hour or two to give the herbs time to help.
COMBINING WITH DRUGS
Reptaid is not a drug. It is an herbal all natural
alternative to drugs. It is not recommended that Reptaid be
administered at the same time as any drug. If a course of drugs is
underway, discontinue the drugs and just use the Reptaid. Or finish the course
of drugs and then begin the use of Reptaid. Do not use at the same
time.
PROBIOTICS
When using any antibiotic drug, it is highly recommended
that a probiotic such as benebac be used along with the drugs.
Drugs eliminate the good gut flora in the digestive tract of the reptile.
A probiotic replaces that gut flora. But Reptaid does not kill the good
gut flora with its natural antibiotic properties so a probiotic is not needed
with Reptaid. However Benebac can certainly be used with Reptaid as an additional
boost to the immune system during treatment.
USING REPTAID PROACTIVELY
You can use Reptaid products to keep your reptiles healthy
and vibrant, rather than just as a treatment for sickness or disease. It is
suggested to administer Reptaid or Reptaid XL to your reptile, per the dosing
chart, for 2 or 3 days at the beginning of each month. This has shown
positive results in keeping animals healthy and thriving
|