Panacur for hunger strike

[Badgemash]

I have a female who has been a very difficult feeder. Apparently whenever she gets stressed her gut flora get out of balance and she goes off food. After taking her to the exotic vet for a physical and fecal, she was de-wormed as a precaution (no worms in the sample, but she didn't have much to sample by that point) and given baytril injections for two weeks for her "bacterial bloom" (which was visible in the sample). I also switched to ASFs at that time. After this she ate like a champ, and since she was up to breeding size and body condition, I paired her. Although they did lock, it looks like that stressed her out and she stopped eating again and started losing weight. Under the supervision of a vet (good exotic vet, but not her regular exotic vet) she was Panacur'd a week ago to stimulate her appetite, and she ate 3 small ASFs last night.

So although I'm pleased to see her eating again, I'm a little hesitant about this kind of off-label use of Panacur, has anyone else used it specifically as an appetitie stimulant? Are there any risks I should be aware of? He made it sound like it was no biggie, but I'm left wondering if it's just him who thinks so or is this a fairly standard procedure that I was just unaware of? Thanks!

[West Coast Jungle]

I have never heard of that for an appetite stimulant. I would look more at husbandry factors such as temps, hides/security or breeding cycle as effecting appetite.

[satomi325]

I've heard of it being used as an appetite stimulator in addition to the deworming. But I don't know anyone who does use it specifically for appetite stimulation. I wouldn't think it would be an issue.

[Badgemash]

I have never heard of that for an appetite stimulant. I would look more at husbandry factors such as temps, hides/security or breeding cycle as effecting appetite.

She's in an AP rack 41qt tub, with snug fitting RBI hides, temps are 89-91 warm end 80-82 cool end. I do think pairing her for the first time put her off food, but she's also been a difficult feeder the whole time I've had her, which is probably why I got such a good price for her in retrospect. I should have realized something when the woman told me taking her outside for a play in the grass helped her eat, but I didn't put it all together at the time.

I've heard of it being used as an appetite stimulator in addition to the deworming. But I don't know anyone who does use it specifically for appetite stimulation. I wouldn't think it would be an issue.

Ok good, it makes sense to use as an appetite stimulant if it has that side effect anyway, I just don't want to hurt her and I'm starting to think this may become a recurring "thing" with her.

[gardenfiend138]

I have heard from a big breeder (edit: very experienced, with many years of professional keeping) near me personally using oral deworming medication, in appropriate doses, for snakes who have ceased to resume normal feeding, but only as a last ditch effort. He has reported 100% success in his collection using this method, but when he spoke of it he said he would NEVER suggest anyone doing it because although his personal experiences backed his usage, he was in no way a licensed vet, and would not suggest or condone the usage to anyone. You can PM me for more information if you would like, because I am in no way condoning this practice, but wanted to share what I have learned from others.

[Skiploder]

I hesitate to throw this out there, first because I'm pretty sure someone will misrepresent what I've posted and second, because I can only imagine the hell someone snake is going to go through when their owner decides to forego nature taking it's course and tries to stuff medication in it.

So with that, I will throw out there that if you know the correct dosing instructions, both panacur and flagyl (metronidazole) are sometimes used as appetite stimulants. Whether they should be used is a different story.

Snakes often go off feed for perfectly normal reasons and for often lengthy period of times. In those cases - when there is no underlying medical issue - the use of either of these medications to kick start eating is pointless. Why should you stuff medication in an animal so that YOU can feel better about something that you should not be worrying about in the first place?

For animals that have recently dealt with a parasitic infection, or another underlying illness, yes - the judicious use of either of these medications can be utilized if the veterinarian deems necessary.

Now before one of you decides that you can do this without the supervision of a vet - how do you plan on doing so? You gonna inject either medicine? You gonna shove a pill down a snake's throat, hold the mouth shut and rub the chin? Even if you knew how to administer it - do you know what the safe dosing is? Or how to calculate the safe dosage?

I guess the thing to keep in mind is that one of the most common issues people report with their snakes is fasting - and that despite the hordes of people who worry about substrate in the mouth, substrate in the heat pits, temperature discrepancies of a degree or two, etc., the fact is that healthy snakes sometimes fast. If you think your snake has a health issue, go to a QUALIFIED herp vet. If a QUALIFIED herp vet recommends a stimulant, the let the QUALIFIED herp vet administer the stimulant.

But to answer the OP's question, yes, panacur is sometimes used as an appetite stimulant.

[patientz3ro]

Flagyl also has the side effect of appetite stimulation, but in my case it was used as a parasite preventative at her first vet visit. The appetite was a bonus. I also would NOT recommend administering it yourself, solely because the dosage will vary, and it involves basically tube feeding the snake. That sounds easier than it is. I'll put N/G tubes in human patients all day long, but I'll leave tubing snakes to my vet.

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[Badgemash]

Thanks everyone, and I definitely wouldn't do such a thing on my own! Doing this kind of thing unilaterally seems like a great way to kill an animal. I just wanted to make sure this was not completely unheard of since this was not my normal exotic vet and he made it sound like this was common practice (or at least not uncommon). I figured if it was way out of line I'd just drive the extra distance to her old vet, I only went to the new guy because we moved and he's much closer.

[rafacacho]

Did he administrate it once or a few times? I know fenbendazol for being very effective and it has a large safety range. It`s commonly administrated for 3 days.

[Annarose15]

Uncle Skip - I wish I could "Thank" your post more than once!!! Well said!