Teramycin Powder

[Pippen's Pal]

Hi all, do you know if I can legally purchase teramycin from the UK or States online. We've had no luck obtaining any teramycin here in SA for my boys URTI. Our suppliers don't use it because they say it is ineffective against modern resistant strains of bacteria. My Leopard Tort had an advers reaction to the baytril, so I want to give teramycin a go anyway. He was on and F10 / mucolytic nebuliser treatment, 20 min a day fro 10 days. It did help some, but he still has the runny nose. Open to options about where and how to purchase legally.

 

[zovick]

Hi all, do you know if I can legally purchase teramycin from the UK or States online. We've had no luck obtaining any teramycin here in SA for my boys URTI. Our suppliers don't use it because they say it is ineffective against modern resistant strains of bacteria. My Leopard Tort had an advers reaction to the baytril, so I want to give teramycin a go anyway. He was on and F10 / mucolytic nebuliser treatment, 20 min a day fro 10 days. It did help some, but he still has the runny nose. Open to options about where and how to purchase legally.

Was the Baytril injected? There are many posts on here warning of severe pain caused by injecting Baytril.

See if your vet will give the tortoise injectable Fortaz (ceftazidime is the generic name for it). It causes no pain and needs to be injected only every 3 days for a mild infection and every other day for more severe infections. Give it for a period of about 10-12 days (3 to 5 injections total) and it should help.

Good luck.

 

[Pippen's Pal]

Was the Baytril injected? There are many posts on here warning of severe pain caused by injecting Baytril.

See if your vet will give the tortoise injectable Fortaz (ceftazidime is the generic name for it). It causes no pain and needs to be injected only every 3 days for a mild infection and every other day for more severe infections. Give it for a period of about 10-12 days (3 to 5 injections total) and it should help.

Good luck.

Thank you, the Baytril was injected. Fortaz / here under the name of Taziject, not effective in this case.

 

[zovick]

Thank you, the Baytril was injected. Fortaz / here under the name of Taziject, not effective in this case.

That is unfortunate. Not sure where this company is located, but it has Terramycin (oxytetracycline) powder:

Oxytetracycline / Terramycin 96% for SALE ONLINE | Vet Pharmacy

Oxytetracycline 96% powder is ✔ tetracycline antibiotic. Treatment of cattle, pigs, poultry and horses ✔ Online Vet pharmacy ✔ Antibiotics

homelabvet.com

Maybe you can get them to ship to you.

 

[My3Tortoises]

That is unfortunate. Not sure where this company is located, but it has Terramycin (oxytetracycline) powder:

Oxytetracycline / Terramycin 96% for SALE ONLINE | Vet Pharmacy

Oxytetracycline 96% powder is ✔ tetracycline antibiotic. Treatment of cattle, pigs, poultry and horses ✔ Online Vet pharmacy ✔ Antibiotics

homelabvet.com

Maybe you can get them to ship to you.

They have a free newsletter and more information online.

 

[Yvonne G]

I've had very good results soaking sick tortoises in Terramycin powder (in water, of course). It's too bad you need a prescription to get it here now. My vet still sells it to me, but charges a lot more for a small pill bottle full. I used to be able to buy whole package of it for less than $10.

 

[dd33]

Did you try ceftazidime without success or was the vet unable to provide it for you? I recall you said something to that effect in your previous thread.

Are there other tortoise vets you can work with in your area? If ceftazidime is not available they may be able to prescribe a different cephalosporin medication. A highly experienced tortoise vet may be able to suggest some antibiotics that are geared towards livestock that may be easier to get although very expensive.

Have a read here:
https://newcms.eventkaddy.net/event...RNasalDischargeinTortoises_20150512213127.pdf

 

[zovick]

Did you try ceftazidime without success or was the vet unable to provide it for you? I recall you said something to that effect in your previous thread.

Are there other tortoise vets you can work with in your area? If ceftazidime is not available they may be able to prescribe a different cephalosporin medication. A highly experienced tortoise vet may be able to suggest some antibiotics that are geared towards livestock that may be easier to get although very expensive.

Have a read here:
https://newcms.eventkaddy.net/event...RNasalDischargeinTortoises_20150512213127.pdf

In Post #3 above, he curtly says "ceftazidime not effective in this case". He doesn't indicate whether it was actually tried, though. If that's true, then trying the tetracycline is probably a waste of $$, time, and energy, although it is not all that expensive.

 

[Pippen's Pal]

Did you try ceftazidime without success or was the vet unable to provide it for you? I recall you said something to that effect in your previous thread.

Are there other tortoise vets you can work with in your area? If ceftazidime is not available they may be able to prescribe a different cephalosporin medication. A highly experienced tortoise vet may be able to suggest some antibiotics that are geared towards livestock that may be easier to get although very expensive.

Have a read here:
https://newcms.eventkaddy.net/event...RNasalDischargeinTortoises_20150512213127.pdf

The vet said that it would not be effective with mycoplasma. These are exotic vets and they work with the reptiles in our Oceanarium.

 

[Pippen's Pal]

In Post #3 above, he curtly says "ceftazidime not effective in this case". He doesn't indicate whether it was actually tried, though. If that's true, then trying the tetracycline is probably a waste of $$, time, and energy, although it is not all that expensive.

I'm sorry you thought my response was rude, it wasn't meant to be. Several other members have said that tetracycline is my best option.

 

[Pippen's Pal]

I've had very good results soaking sick tortoises in Terramycin powder (in water, of course). It's too bad you need a prescription to get it here now. My vet still sells it to me, but charges a lot more for a small pill bottle full. I used to be able to buy whole package of it for less than $10.

I really wish I could get the powder, but no one here will sell it, they say they it is "old school" and not effective against th more drug resistant strains of bacteria. Pip is not a small tortoise and I would need to soak him the bath, I'm not sure what kind of dosage I would need in about 30 -40 litres of water, even if I could get the teracycline powder.

 

[Yvonne G]

I really wish I could get the powder, but no one here will sell it, they say they it is "old school" and not effective against th more drug resistant strains of bacteria. Pip is not a small tortoise and I would need to soak him the bath, I'm not sure what kind of dosage I would need in about 30 -40 litres of water, even if I could get the teracycline powder.

I always used 1/4 teaspoon per quart of warm water

 

[Pippen's Pal]

I always used 1/4 teaspoon per quart of warm water

I really wish I could get the powder, but no one here will sell it, they say they it is "old school" and not effective against th more drug resistant strains of bacteria. Pip is not a small tortoise and I would need to soak him the bath, I'm not sure what kind of dosage I would need in about 30 -40 litres of water, even if I could get the

 

[Maggie3fan]

Hi all, do you know if I can legally purchase teramycin from the UK or States online. We've had no luck obtaining any teramycin here in SA for my boys URTI. Our suppliers don't use it because they say it is ineffective against modern resistant strains of bacteria. My Leopard Tort had an advers reaction to the baytril, so I want to give teramycin a go anyway. He was on and F10 / mucolytic nebuliser treatment, 20 min a day fro 10 days. It did help some, but he still has the runny nose. Open to options about where and how to purchase legally.

I believe Tom said that Fortaz is a better replacement for Baytril..you could get that easier I imagine

 

[Pippen's Pal]

I always used 1/4 teaspoon per quart of warm waterI keep mentioning, the powder is not freely available here. My maths is bad, but isnt a quarter tsp per quart of water about 35g in 30 litres of water daily? I have the doxy paste and he got 0.35ml in half a scooped out cherry tomato this afternoon. The consistency of the doxy is not paste-like, its more like honey and it warms quickly. He ate the tomato, no waste.

I believe Tom said that Fortaz is a better replacement for Baytril..you could get that easier I imagine

My vet said it is not the right antibiotic for mycoplasma. I have used Taziject before, the vet gave me a prescription that could only be filled by our hospital. Had to be reconstituted with saline solution.

 

[dd33]

I am curious about your vet's decision to use tetracycline/doxycycline. Forgive my barrage of questions, I am interested in learning more.
Does your vet treat a lot of tortoises for mycoplasma in South Africa?
Has the vet determined the species of Mycoplasma your tortoise has and/or done sensitivity tests to determine that this was the best antibiotic to use in this case?
How did they tell you to administer it?

 

[Pippen's Pal]

I am curious about your vet's decision to use tetracycline/doxycycline. Forgive my barrage of questions, I am interested in learning more.
Does your vet treat a lot of tortoises for mycoplasma in South Africa?
Has the vet determined the species of Mycoplasma your tortoise has and/or done sensitivity tests to determine that this was the best antibiotic to use in this case?
How did they tell you to administer it?

These are exotic vets that treat the turtles at our oceanarium and reptile house. We've found a fair number of wild tortoises with urti that were left at the drop off point there. We suspect that these "wild" tortoises may have been kept in captivity and then released back into the wild. He was previously tested for urti, many years ago and taziject / fortaz prescribed. This time vet said it was not the right antibiotic for his infection. Straight baytril sc was prescribed and Pip had an allergic reaction. In the past I've used baytril diluted with equal quantity sterile water on other Leopards, Angulates and homopus, no adverse reactions. Tetracycline was given as an alternative. I couldn't get powder to administer as a soak, or orally. Our veterinary hospital and research facility said they had a reference where tetracycline was administered orally vet found a compound company and they made up a teracycline paste. Pip is 17.8kg, the dose 0.35ml daily for 45 days. I've been told to up dose to 0.5 in case of spillage. Sensitivity tests were not done. He is a big boy and is not moving much, but still eats so I manage to feed him the meds in food. Soaking in teracycline water would have been a challenge due to his size, but I can't get the teracycline powder anyway. He is different to my other Leopards, he goes into sleep mode in winter, none of the others do, so I'm desperate to get this urti treated because we are heading into Autumn. Long story, sorry.

 

[dd33]

I don't know how unpalatable that medication will be but maybe you can get him to eat it on his own.

Do you have access to spineless cactus pads there, if yes does he enjoy eating them?

 

[mark1]

what was the allergic reaction to baytril? if it was an allergic reaction , i can't imagine he would have tolerated the nasal flushing with baytril any better? i can't believe diluting the baytril would have any affect on the baytril dosage or efficacy , it may be too large of a shot for IM, but i've used baytril 50/50 with saline, SC, on much smaller redfoot tortoises, and monitors without issue ..... i had read previously about your vet using taziject, my thought was the same as your vet told you , wrong antibiotic if it's mycoplasma your treating ........ if your tortoise has a bacterial infection that is resistant to anything , it'd be more likely to be resistant to tetracycline than anything else , that stuff been available over the counter forever...... i read a paper on sea turtles rescued that had gram negative bacterial pulmonary diseases , 70% of the infections were resistant to beta -lactams(ceftazidime) and 100% resistant to tetracycline.....

 

[Yvonne G]

what was the allergic reaction to baytril? if it was an allergic reaction , i can't imagine he would have tolerated the nasal flushing with baytril any better? i can't believe diluting the baytril would have any affect on the baytril dosage or efficacy , it may be too large of a shot for IM, but i've used baytril 50/50 with saline, SC, on much smaller redfoot tortoises, and monitors without issue ..... i had read previously about your vet using taziject, my thought was the same as your vet told you , wrong antibiotic if it's mycoplasma your treating ........ if your tortoise has a bacterial infection that is resistant to anything , it'd be more likely to be resistant to tetracycline than anything else , that stuff been available over the counter forever...... i read a paper on sea turtles rescued that had gram negative bacterial pulmonary diseases , 70% of the infections were resistant to beta -lactams(ceftazidime) and 100% resistant to tetracycline.....

I don't remember the info I read, but something like, limp, lifeless, sometimes eventually dead.