Grapefruit Seed Extract GSE

[Cindy]

I read here that some of you add this to the snakes water. Can you give me some guidance as why and what the dosage is. I believe is is anti fungal, If I am not awear of any infections should I leave it alone or use it anyway as part of a good husbandary regime?

 

[Krenna]

I did a search to try to find the answer, because this is useful information. I looked on websites as well trying to find a dosage. One thread on dosage a person stated about 3 drops per gallon of water. Which a gallon is about 3.78 liters, so I would think 1 drop per liter would be okay.

However I am not an expert on this. I have never had to use it on an animal only in the products that I sell for my business.

I would definitaly wait and see what other responses you can get to find an answer, or contact someone locally.

 

[MegF.]

I used 3 drops per 8 oz. for mine when I had a regurge. It is a good anti-bacterial and some people use it to keep the water clean. I change my water daily, so I don't use it for that. I only used it for the regurge, and I haven't had any problems since. I can't tell you if it's because of that or not.

 

[brownie55]

Meg, where did you find GFSE? I have been to several places, with one connecting factor. They look at me like I am speaking Martian when I ask if they have any.

Thanks

 

[MegF.]

I got it at a health food store.

 

[Krenna]

I buy mine on line, from a place called Nature with Love, its for the product I make, however I was thinking from my last post, I use a manufacture's grade of GSE. So when you get it look for the concentration levels it contains.

 

[neuf08]

I actually just get GFSE online where I get my own regular supplements. It's a supplement people use as well, as well as other animals, so it's not too hard to find. It's got good antimicrobial properties.

 

[Devilscat]

Grapefruit seed extract can be found at health food stores. It controls bacteria.I have used it for regurges (Kathy Love suggests that you withhold water for three days, then put a few drops into water bowl.) It worked for me. I also put 5 drops in a gallon of water. I use this fwater or all my snakes on a regular basis. Hope this helps

 

[Devilscat]

Grapefruit seed extract can be found at health food stores. It controls bacteria. I have used it for regurges (Kathy Love suggests that you withhold water for three days, then put a few drops into water bowl.) It worked for me. I also put 5 drops in a gallon of water.

Need to use spell check. I give all my snakes water that has 5 drops of grapefruit seed extract to a gallon of water every time I change their water.

 

[ForkedTung]

GSE NEW INFO.?

FYI
I found this on Fauna so I thought I would copy and paste the whole post as well as a link to the thread.
Link:http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16214

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zipzagger
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from terresentials.com

"Grapefruit seed extract. Sounds so friendly, doesn´t it? You´ve heard it touted as a “natural” preservative, and the health food store sells it in a capsule as an antifungal supplement. If everybody says that it´s natural they must be correct, right? Wrong.

Grapefruit seed extract is not grapefruit juice. It is also not grapefruit essential oil and it is most certainly not an herbal tincture. Chemical manufacturers take the leftover grapefruit pulp, a waste by-product from grapefruit juice production, and in an intensive, multi-step industrial chemical process, change the natural phenolic compounds into synthetic quaternary ammonium compounds. Typically, in chemical synthesis of this type, chemical reagents and catalysts are used under extreme high heat and pressure or vacuum. Synthetic ammonium chloride is one of the chemical catalysts used in this process.

The US Department of Agriculture´s (USDA) National Organic Program defines synthetic as “A substance that is formulated or manufactured by a chemical process or by a process that chemically changes a substance extracted from naturally occurring plant, animal, or mineral sources.” Grapefruit seed extract is a synthetic chemical compound, cannot be called “organic,” and is not permitted in organic food proucts.

Unfortunately, because there is no legal definition of the word “natural,” any company can put chemicals in body care products and tell you that they´re “natural.” Also, in the US, any company is free to sell any chemical compound as a “dietary supplement” without doing any pre-market or long-term safety studies of any kind.

Grapefruit seed extract has become an extremely controversial chemical compound recently. Studies conducted in the US and abroad report suspicious and abnormal chemical acitivity in numerous, randomly selected grapefruit seed extracts. Here is one report from the Institute of Pharmacy, Ernst Moritz Arndt University, Greifswald, Germany:

“The antimicrobial efficacy as well as the content of preservative agents of six commercially grapefruit seed extracts were examined. Five of the six extracts showed a high growth-inhibiting activity against the test germs. In all of the antimicrobial active grapefruit seed extracts, the preservative benzethonium chloride was detected by thin layer chromatography. Additionally, three extracts contained the preserving substances triclosan and methyl paraben. In only one of the grapefruit seed extracts tested no preservative agent was found. However, with this extract as well as with several self-made extracts from seed and juiceless pulp of grapefruits (Citrus paradisi), no antimicrobial activity could be detected. Thus, it is concluded that the potent as well as nearly universal antimicrobial activity being attributed to grapefruit seed extract is merely due to the synthetic preservative agents contained within. Natural products with antimicrobial activity do not appear to be present.”

Further, the USDA did a grapefruit seed extract study (full text here (pdf)) and declared, “Confirming an earlier study by researchers in Germany we found that some commercial grapefruit seed extracts contain benzethonium chloride, a synthetic antimicrobial agent commonly used in cosmetics and only approved for topical use, at relatively high levels of 8%.”

The Swiss Toxicological Information Center of Basel, Switzerland, reports that “Grapefruit seed extracts containing benzethonium chloride in concentrations of 7-11% represent a major health risk if larger amounts of a concentrated solution are ingested (i.e. by mouth). Exposure of the skin or the eye may cause toxic symptoms. The Swiss Toxicological Information Center discourages consumers from administration of these extracts unless it is known which of them are containing benzethonium chloride and what the concentrations are."

I don't think I will be spending my money on it. This was a better info source than the Wiki article, which didn't cite sources.

Here's the link the actual info came from:
http://www.terressentials.com/truthaboutgse.html

 

[Devilscat]

Whoa! Thanks. I have been using grapefruit seed extract in my snakes water for 5 years. Had fantastic results with my one snake that had a regurge and other problems. Now I am not sure whether I should using it period.

Wonder how many others use it regularly in their snakes water.

I am cleaning all water dishes and using just water.
Wil be using Nutribac if needed.