Medicating Snakes

[Crowfingers]

Quick question: This is mostly for the sake of my corn, but the methods should be the same as for ball pythons. How the heck do you all de-worm them? Or do you not unless the snake is symptomatic.

So my corn has coccidea - very light load - but present none the less. I have spoken to two vets today, one is not a reptile specialist and one is. One (the specialist) says its not worth stressing the snake as the medication would need to be given via oral tube every day for 5 days, then every other day for two weeks. The other (small animal vet) says to treat whether the snake is showing symptoms or not because it could cause illness at a later time.

I have given injections and am very comfortable with this, however the only snake I have tubed for meds (a black snake) died during the process and I'm just not comfortable with it since, though to be fair I don't think it was the tube that killed it.

So, do you de-worm your snakes, and if so - how?

This all seems very stressful to the animal, most of which carry a base load of bugs without issue all their lives including dogs and cats (which is why most monthly heartworm meds also do GI parasites)

[bcr229]

You can get liquid panacur rather than paste, which is then injected under the skin or down the throat of a small f/t feeder like a pinky mouse, assuming your corn is decent size and could eat one pinky mouse every day for a few days with no ill effects. You will have to work out the exact daily dosage based on your snake's weight and the strength of the panacur solution with your vet.

[Bogertophis]

I have added Panacur to prey items also; while I'm comfortable with tube-feeding/medicating snakes, the need for daily tubing would get "old" for the
snake so putting the medication into prey taken voluntarily would be best. (normally tube-FEEDING is never done daily or anywhere near that often)

That's unfortunate that the black snake died but I seriously doubt that was because of anything you did. I don't routinely treat snakes with Panacur unless
I have reason to suspect it's needed (seeing poor condition, weight loss, poor appetite, regurgitation, funky stools including diarrhea); in this case, knowing
it has coccidia, I'd probably want to treat it.

[Crowfingers]

So panacur won't kill coccidea - she would need albon [sulfadimethoxine] (which is a sulfa-based drug). By my calculations from the concentration the vet gave she would need 0.84 mls once a day. That's way too much liquid to fit is a pinky mouse or fuzzy mouse, but I may be able to get it into a hopper. I just don't know if she can eat 5 hoppers in a row without digestion issues. Still waiting on a second opinion from another exotic vet I know.

All the literature also recommends continuing the medication every 48 hours until a clean fecal is produced. There's no way a snake would handle eating every 48 hours for up to three / six weeks without regurg right - not to mention sulfa based drugs can cause kidney failure in reptiles if they are not very well hydrated, so the first vet suggested soaking every 3 days during the treatment period as well...

I want to do what's best for this girl, but without her showing any signs of illness this seems like a lot of stress for a few parasites - that and I've read several veterinary discussion where various intestinal bugs in low numbers are expected and treatment is not necessary unless the animal is immunocompromised. Also still waiting on the crypto results.

[Bogertophis]

So panacur won't kill coccidea - she would need albon [sulfadimethoxine] (which is a sulfa-based drug). By my calculations from the concentration the vet gave she would need 0.84 mls once a day. That's way too much liquid to fit is a pinky mouse or fuzzy mouse, but I may be able to get it into a hopper. I just don't know if she can eat 5 hoppers in a row without digestion issues. Still waiting on a second opinion from another exotic vet I know.

All the literature also recommends continuing the medication every 48 hours until a clean fecal is produced. There's no way a snake would handle eating every 48 hours for up to three / six weeks without regurg right - not to mention sulfa based drugs can cause kidney failure in reptiles if they are not very well hydrated, so the first vet suggested soaking every 3 days during the treatment period as well...

I want to do what's best for this girl, but without her showing any signs of illness this seems like a lot of stress for a few parasites - that and I've read several veterinary discussion where various intestinal bugs in low numbers are expected and treatment is not necessary unless the animal is immunocompromised. Also still waiting on the crypto results.

That was my concern too, that Panacur isn't that effective for coccidia, even though it's apparently used (per searches I did, I've not dealt w/ coccidia in my snakes).
On the hydration issue, that's where the tube-medication would be the superior method....and probably what I'd do, though by all means get another vet opinion.
As you said, is all this really necessary? I cannot answer that....I wish I could. I hope you get more credible input.