Best way to orally administer panacur and flagyll?

[13mur 6]

Hey everyone,
My vet gave me some panacur and flagyl (in marshmallow flavor!) to give to my snake. It's an oral solution/paste in small syringes with no needles, and she said I should just try to coax the snake to sip the stuff by slipping it bit by bit into its mouth. Well, I tried, and I think it swallowed half the dose (saw flex its jaw in swallowing motion), but the other half got slathered all over me and the snake. So my question is, is there a better way? I was thinking maybe pumping a pinkie full of the stuff with a syringe and feeding her the pinkie (would that affect the drug?). I don't have any of those ball tipped syringes, but does anyone know anything about them? I think if I can slip some sort of round tip into her mouth, she'll swallow the drug as it comes.

-13mur 6

[bmm]

The vet didn't show you how to properly administer it? Its weird she just told you to let her sip it kinda as no snake I know willing drinks that crap *L*

We have had to orally administer both of those to a snake before with a syringe (with no needle tip). The vet showed us to grab the snake behind the head, gently open the mouth with a Q-tip or other smooth device, then slowly squirt the medicine in the mouth, then gently let mouth close (still holding snake by back of head in your fingers) and gently rub the throat to help it go down. We rarely wasted any of it and the snake got a full dose each time.

bmm

[Tim Madsen]

I have always Tube fed it to them. You would need the help of a person who has done this before or have a Vet. show you.

Tim

[CornCrazy]

to the back of the mouth. You want to avoid getting any of the dewormer in the trachea. It can cause a respiratory infection and pneumonia.

[13mur 6]

well the first dose of flagyll I sort of got her to sip half the dose (visually saw her swallow the stuff). The 2 doses of panacur and one dose of flagyll I think I'll slip it into her food (I have a couple sterile insulin syringes that I can use to inject the meds into a pinkie belly). I just hope she doesn't regurge the pinkie...

Thanks for telling me about the Q-tip, I was a lil worried I might be damaging her teeth. And the resp. inf. warning.

-13mur 6

[Susan]

Injecting oral meds into food items is perfectly acceptable and one of the easiest ways to give it. There is always the risk of regurgitation, but the snake could do that with the plain meds as well. I, personally, invested in a set of straight metal feeding tubes that attach directly to a syringe. I've used them numerous times and they make giving oral meds very easy as well. The set of 3 cost me about $35 straight from the distributor (I work at a vet's office and get stuff like that at cost). Your vet should be able to special order you a set. Most of the major distributors carry them.

Just an additional note, hopefully you'll have little trouble injecting those meds with insulin syringes. Those meds tend to be fairly thick and insulin needles are about the smallest made. Don't be surprised if it seems like forever to get the meds to go into and out of the syringe with those needles.

Also, depending upon the size of the snake and the size and type of the syringe, you could actually insert the syringe directly down the snake's throat part way, sort of using it as a short feeding tube. Don't use a syringe any larger than a 3cc syringe, and that is for an adult corn. Also, it should be a luer slip, not a luer lock (which has a place to actually screw a needle onto it). 1cc syringes work best, and they don't come in anything but luer slip.

[13mur 6]

Wow, I wish I could get a set of those somewhere. I was looking for them online and most of them seem to be on the huge side (16 cm long!). My snake is only 2 ft long and just over a year old, so I need some super small stuff. I'll ask my vet if she can order them for me.

Yep, those insulin syringes simply didn't work. The meds were like glue, so no matter how hard or how long I left the needle tip in the slurry, it wouldn't go up, so I resorted to just using a 25 g needle and pulled in a good amount of air into the syringe and tapped the meds to the bottom and injected into the chest and not the belly (since there's more air, thus more space, in there, and the meds will probably come out quicker).

I did try to just give the meds straight initially, and my snake just would not sit still or open it's mouth (I was using a small blunt stylus type thing from HP to open it's mouth, and I tried to hold it open by letting it bite my pinkie, but it just twitched and the mouth would be closed). I was sorta afraid that putting the syring tip into it's mouth to it's throat would damage her teeth, and I was also worried about getting panacur into her trachea (hear it causes respiratory infections).

I work at a cancer hospital/research lab actually, and I have free access to most types of syringes (just those dosage syringes are still impossible to get), and I guess I never see anything larger than a 1cc syringe since I work mainly with mice(personally I like .5cc syringes with non-removable needles best. No deadspace, very accurate, and don't need to fiddle too much to get all the air out). Would slipping a catheter into a snakes throat cause too much damage? (that cut polyurethane stuff can get pretty sharp at the end, could cause a good scrap to soft tissue). Rubber catheters tend to be on the huge side, also the dead space could cause a problem. Also the straight ball end tips, don't they kinda' hurt if the snake bends its neck? Oh wells, more trial and error for me I guess...

-13mur 6

[Susan]

I've not noticed a problem using the straight metal ball end feeding tubes. I hold the snake's head up a bit, using it's body weight to keep the neck fairly straight (the rest of the body is supported) and even if the snake tries to move it's neck a bit, I've found no obvious damage done. If you have access to rubber atheters/feeding tubes, just try to find a smaller French size...say a 3 1/2 or a 5. A snake's throat is pretty elastic...just think of all the stretching it does to swallow prey as wide as the snake is.

Yeah, getting the mouth open is the toughest part, but once you get it open, just put whatever it is you use straight in. The only place for a tube/catheter/syringe to go is down the throat. (The tracheal opening is very small and right by the base of the tongue.)

When using a tube or catheter, put more of the meds into your syringe than you know you'll need, then fill the tube/catheter until the meds come out, removing all the air. Then get your correct dosage in the syringe and give to the snake. The tube/catheter will still have meds in it, but that was accounted for before-hand. Just use air in the syringe (after disconnecting it from the tube) to put that amount back into the bottle, or just throw that amount out...which is what I prefer due to possible contamination. The amount isn't really that much to "waste".

[CowBoyWay]

#5 feeding tube

#5 French Feeding tube and Urethral Catheter. For hand feeding puppies (small 1.7 mm x 16")
011017-474
$1.30 each
They do also sell syringes as small as 27 gauge

http://lambriarvet.com/catalog/medical_supplies.htm

Been dealing with these guys mail order for decades, recommended :)

[13mur 6]

Oh, actually, I ordered a professional stainless steel ball tipped 16 guage x 2" dosing needle from the bean farm. I should get it pretty soon, today or monday. I'll try it out and post results. Thanks to everyone for helping~!

-13mur 6

[PSYCOSNAKEMOM]

I've use a blunt end syringe and forced the treatment down the throat of the crawler, pinkie before feeding. Not the best if you have to treat daily....but if not it works. Sam ~~~~:~