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View Full Version : Hints for Administering Oral Meds to Tegus



HernandosMom
12-05-2009, 07:28 PM
Hi everyone. We recently had to give a 10-day course of oral antibiotic to our tegu, twice a day. We figured out kind of late how we could have made life easier for Hernando and us, so I thought I’d share in case others have the same issue.

My first experience giving liquid medicine to a reptile was deceptively easy. Our sheltopusik needed a daily dose of anti-parasite medicine. We just used a hypodermic needle to inject the stuff into a little thawed pinkie’s abdominal cavity. She ate one every day except for the very last day of the dosage:o! If you are lucky enough to have a cooperative pet like our little genius, ask for a needle from your vet when you get the perscription.

Unfortunately, when your animal is sick and needs medicine, its appetite may be depressed. The spiked pinkie method therefore might not be reliable. Also, some medicines are more helpful if given “straight up,” without having to be digested with food in the stomach.

The method demonstrated to me by two different vets seemed like it would be really rough:shock:: take a tongue depresser or credit card (!?) and pry the mouth open from the front tip. Shoot the medicine in with a syringe with no needle in it.

We are just too soft-hearted to pull that off:oops:. Instead, HernandosPapa held him and I used two fingers on either side of his snout, near the tip, to GENTLY and slowly pull back his upper jaw. I wasn’t forcing, just tilting a little and he EVENTUALLY parted his mouth a crack. I stuck the syrnge tip in and aimed for the roof of his mouth, toward the back. Depending on your tegu and your relationship with him/her, you may wish to wear gloves. Hernando did not bite us.

But after a few days of this he became impossible. He squirmed furiously and buried his head in Papa’s shirt. He still opened his mouth eventually, but figured out how to block his throat and spit the medicine out. This stress was doing him no good.

After getting the ok from my vet, I prepared a dilute honey water mixture. I used a soy sauce dish that holds about a tablespoon. I used warm tap water to dissolve about 1 mm honey (a generous drop), stirring well with a chopstick (if you live in a laboratory or bar, you can use a glass stirring rod instead of chopstick;-)). What precise concentration? There was nothing in the CRC manual so I just kept tasting a drop with my pinkie (the finger – I was not using a thawed baby mouse) until I could recognize it as barely honey-sweet, but not strong. The warm tap water should not be too hot by the time you use it.

Using a CLEAN syringe, I first drew the correct dosage of antibiotic from its bottle. Then, keeping the open side down, I drew an additional mm from the honey solution. Keep it at the bottom end of the syringe, so it’s what hits his mouth first.

On our initial try, Hernando struggled as usual but did not spit out as vigorously. Now here’s the good part: I held the dish of honey water up to his mouth. He was still in Papa’s arms. When he tasted it he easily wanted to drink it. But I only let him take a little. Not good to fatten him up on empty calories, and I wanted to leave him yearning for more. Be sure to rinse the syringe really thoroughly with warm water before it dries.

Next time, a little less struggle, almost no lost dosage, and I rewarded him again with a few sips of honey water. The remaining dosages went much easier:-)! I wish we had known this technique from the beginning.

Let me know how this works for you, and please share your own techniques for others!

txrepgirl
12-06-2009, 08:58 PM
This is how I gave some of our Teugs the meds or had to force feed them. I posted this video on here a while back.

http://www.youtube.com/user/txrepgirl#p/u/17/KpovPdBYU3c