respiratory infection

[jobeanator]

i come to look in my sulcatas cage today and my big guy and a bubbling nose discharge, and his mouth wide open. ive read to increase heat to fight the infection. what does everyone else do?? im worried i dont want my big guy to die or anything, let me know asap!!

 

[Yvonne G]

You need to take the Big Guy to the vet ASAP! Usually Baytril is prescribed for a respiratory infection, but your vet needs to weigh the tortoise to know how much of the antibiotic to administer.

I had the vet out to look at one of my Aldabran tortoises on Sunday. He also has a respiratory infection. Because he is still eating, I opted for the Baytril tablets, which I insert into a piece of banana or a bit of moistened Mazuri Tortoise Diet and hand feed to him. But, the vet has to know how much the tortoise weighs in order to know how much Baytril to give.

Yvonne

 

[jobeanator]

i dont know what to do, the sulcata that has it is only around 5-6 inches long and i called and heard it would cost like 100$ for a shot ( i hope its not that much!) is there some way i can just treat him myself by using the baytrill or something? im so worried about him..

 

[Yvonne G]

I always buy the Baytril and do my own injections...however, the injections are VERY invasive. They really sting. You also run into the chance of the injection site tissue dying, which happens frequently. That's why I've now opted for the Baytril tablets. If you get the dosage from your vet, they can order the tablets for you (that is, if you think you can get the tortoise's mouth open and administer the tablets. So far I'm not having any trouble getting my Aldabran to eat whatever food I've put the tablets into (two tablets per day) right out of my hand.

A full vial of Baytril injectable costa around $40. One vial should last you through the 10 days of injections with quite a bit left over. It keeps in case you ever need to use it again. Or you can ask your vet to load up 10 syringes for the 10 doses and show you how to inject the tortoise. But really...ask the vet for the tablets. Its much easier on the tortoise.

Yvonne

 

[Crazy1]

jobeanator, there really isn't any way to get out of having your Big Guy seen by a vet if you want to treat him with antibiotics and I don't know of anything else that will fight a RI. Baytil is the med of choice as it works best on a gram neg. bacteria and most RIs are Gram neg. Each shot should not run $100. I just took my new greek in and he weight 1 pound I give him Baytril shots daily for 10 days and the entire cost was about $98 that included a fecal test. Hope this helps.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

jobeanator, there really isn't any way to get out of having your Big Guy seen by a vet if you want to treat him with antibiotics and I don't know of anything else that will fight a RI. Baytil is the med of choice as it works best on a gram neg. bacteria and most RIs are Gram neg. Each shot should not run $100. I just took my new greek in and he weight 1 pound I give him Baytril shots daily for 10 days and the entire cost was about $98 that included a fecal test. Hope this helps.

Robyn, A couple of years ago I moved to the frozen North and had to find a new Vet. I was fortunate that the one I found is wonderful. At her suggestion we stopped using Baytril and started using Naxcel. It doesn't sting when injected, doesn't cause any muscle decay or skin abcesses, and can be used as an oral instead of injectable. It seems to knock out the URTI days faster than Baytril.
I so much prefer the Naxcel, I am trying to get the word out about it.

 

[mtdavis817254]

take it to the vet . it shouldnt be 100 dollars but even if it is it should be worth it to get your lil guy healthy again..

 

[Crazy1]

maggie3fan, Thanks for the heads up about Naxcel. I'll be talking to my vet re this next time.

 

[tortoiselady528]

I just took one of my leos to the vet a few weeks ago for a RI. The vet bill was $76 for pills and exam.

 

[jobeanator]

i got a appointment for him friday, so i feel better now that hes gonna get hopefully fixed up. its selfish i should be worried about money, but i dont care about money since i absolutley love this tortoise and id do anything for him!

 

[DozersMom]

Naxcel is what my dozer was on instead of baytril. It worked great especially since she was on them for about 6 months. of course she was stabbed in the head and didnt have an RI

 

[jobeanator]

just a update on my big guy.. they gave him nose drops for his infection, i have to give it to him 3-4 times a day. he seems to be doing alot better and eating tons!