Red mite in iguana

Re: Red mite in iguana

bob lehner — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:53:05 GMT

[quote user="Gillian Mostyn"]

I should have said that I do use frontline sometimes ....but I USUALLY use ivermectin!

[/quote]

I should make it clear that Mr Forbes was simply replying to the question which I had originally asked Meriel - 'Can you use Frontline ?' He did not say that this was necessarily his preferred option. I wouldn't want anyone to misinterpret his comment or quote him inappropriately.

I guess whatever you use, it is vital to get that off-label consent form signed.

Re: Red mite in iguana

Claire McConnell — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:55:39 GMT

(better than baytril sorry)

Re: Red mite in iguana

Claire McConnell — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:54:36 GMT

Some vets at my practice use septrin off license and think it works better in guinea pigs. Any thoughts on that Mark?

Re: Red mite in iguana

Mark Rowland — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:33:40 GMT

Let me put it this way.

I use enrofloxacin with considerable regularity in Guinea pigs and have not seen anything I could interpret as a toxicity at the standard doses

Re: Red mite in iguana

Martin Atkinson — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:16:51 GMT

[quote user="Mark Rowland"]

Responsible use of off licence treatment is our condition of their use in exotics imo and I dont want them taken away from me ... I need them too much.

[/quote]

Slightly off thread Mark but to confirm the adage that the definition of an exotic animal is one where the owner knows more than the vet: a guinea pig owner came in a little while ago and insisted that I used paediatric co-trimoxazole instead of Baytril for whatever it was I was going to treat (which I have forgotten what it was now) now because he said that the great and good in the g.pig world have proclaimed that enrofloxacin is toxic to the little critters. Any thoughts on that?

Re: Red mite in iguana

Gillian Mostyn — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 16:01:21 GMT

I should have said that I do use frontline sometimes ....but I USUALLY use ivermectin!

Re: Red mite in iguana

Mark Rowland — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:36:27 GMT

I agree, I use it lots.

However it is not perfect and we have to keep an open mind.

For example, the latest version gives an oral cephalexin dose in rabbits. I would recommend against following that dose rate. I have to think a lot about this because I get some very rare animals presented to me and I am always having to look for adverse reactions, toxicities and the like.

Responsible use of off licence treatment is our condition of their use in exotics imo and I dont want them taken away from me ... I need them too much.

Re: Red mite in iguana

Martin Atkinson — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:29:39 GMT

[quote user="Mark Rowland"]

I used to use my own formulation of ivermectin/prop glycol/water. Then xeno came along and so I switched to that as it is an ivermectin formulation (and I was getting fed up of making up so much of my own).

[/quote]

Yeah but the home made stuff is much cheaper!

I found the Exotic Animal Formulary, (Carpenter, Mashima & Rupiper), published by Saunders, to be very useful for information on medication for exotics. It is American but still mostly relevant. Mine is the 2nd edition so there is no doubt a more up-to-date version now.

Re: Red mite in iguana

Mark Rowland — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:04:32 GMT

There are several incidents of toxicity in snakes where frontline spray has been implicated. It is likely the alcohol carrier (which is why Neil recommends allowing it to evaporate) that is involved. Symptoms are neurological with convulsions seen 24-48hrs post administration and are frequently fatal.

For this reason I dont use frontline in snakes either.

The moral here is that we have to be careful with all our off licence treatments and use them with caution. Ivermectin is toxic in chelonia, skinks and indigo snakes. Most clients use a permethrin preparation for mites and toxicity to these products is also seen. For me in most cases, Ivermectin preparations seem the safest.

Others may have their own opinions, those are mine

Re: Red mite in iguana

Gillian Mostyn — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:55:30 GMT

I've also used frontline sometimes, with no problems.

Re: Red mite in iguana

bob lehner — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:47:09 GMT

Ummm - that was Neil Forbes, as in zoo med diplomate....!

Re: Red mite in iguana

Martin Atkinson — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:16:58 GMT

[quote user="bob lehner"]

Oddly I have just had a query from a client about treating a snake and two bearded dragons with mites - could he use Frontline ?

I rang Meriel, who referred me to Neil Forbes. He said yes - 3ml/kg of the spray solution per animal - put 3/4 of this dose in a syringe and apply down the back - the remaining 1/4 make up with water and spray the house - don't put animals back into the house for 1/2 hour until the alcohol has evaporated.

Off licence of course.

Whatever Merial say I would not use Frontline on a reptile, thats why I concocted my patented spray!

[/quote]

Re: Red mite in iguana

bob lehner — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 11:29:32 GMT

Oddly I have just had a query from a client about treating a snake and two bearded dragons with mites - could he use Frontline ?

Off licence of course.

Re: Red mite in iguana

Martin Atkinson — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 10:43:44 GMT

I wouldn't contradict Mark as I'm no exotic specialist but if you're nervous about injecting the snake with ivermectin you can make up a spray with 2ml Ivomec + 4ml propylene glycol in 1L water and spray every 7 days for 3-4 weeks. You can use the same spray to treat the vivarium but let it dry before replacing the occupant or wash it out after 15 minutes.

Re: Red mite in iguana

midlandsvet973 — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 18:41:58 GMT

Thank you for such a quick reply!

Re: Red mite in iguana

Mark Rowland — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 18:40:33 GMT

The most important part is environmental cleanup. These mites have stages off the host, which need to be removed. I would get rid of the cage or viv furniture. house on paper, use plastic bowls for food. treat the viv weekly with xeno spray. treat the ig with xeno also, you can gice ivermectin at 0.2mg/kg s/c, i/m. some analgesia wouldnt hurt e.g. some meloxicam.

These wont be snake mites which are black , but control of any Dermanyssoidea is similar.

Goodluck