Prescribed drug called Telazol?

Mantissa3

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Has anybody ever had a reptile vet administer Telazol to your tortoise?

If so, would you please respond and let me know how it went, why it was given, if there were side effects, etc, etc?

Thank you in advance!
Karen
 

zovick

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Has anybody ever had a reptile vet administer Telazol to your tortoise?

If so, would you please respond and let me know how it went, why it was given, if there were side effects, etc, etc?

Thank you in advance!
Karen

Hi,

Telazol is an anesthetic combined with a good muscle relaxant. It is very useful in treating tortoises because it immobilizes the muscles. The tortoise will not be able pull its legs and head into the shell, so doing any procedures on those areas is made very easy. It is also sometimes used for animals which are being tube fed through the mouth when a stomach tube is not in place in the neck. It is relatively short acting, but you must be careful after it has been given to be sure the tortoise is not near any water dish or under a heat lamp as it may be unable to lift its head out of water (could drown) and also unable to move out of the heat from the lamp for a while (could be cooked). I have used it myself, and the effects seemed to last about an hour or so on Spider Tortoises.

Why does your vet want or need to use Telazol on the tortoise?
 

Mantissa3

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10 Year Member!
Joined
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San Francisco Bay Area
Hi,

Telazol is an anesthetic combined with a good muscle relaxant. It is very useful in treating tortoises because it immobilizes the muscles. The tortoise will not be able pull its legs and head into the shell, so doing any procedures on those areas is made very easy. It is also sometimes used for animals which are being tube fed through the mouth when a stomach tube is not in place in the neck. It is relatively short acting, but you must be careful after it has been given to be sure the tortoise is not near any water dish or under a heat lamp as it may be unable to lift its head out of water (could drown) and also unable to move out of the heat from the lamp for a while (could be cooked). I have used it myself, and the effects seemed to last about an hour or so on Spider Tortoises.

Why does your vet want or need to use Telazol on the tortoise?


Thank you so much for this response- I posted late, and let the Vet go ahead and use it, and it worked out GREAT!!!

I have a very, very small 4-year old+ redfoot that has dwarfism and was nearly dead when I brought him to live with me.

His veins are so tiny, and he's been so very traumatized by humans that he absolutely will not let any procedures be done to him.

I noticed some swelling around his tail that the Vet thought may be edema, so we wanted to palpitate the region, do a visual check by extending the phallus, and then draw some blood from his tiny little veins.

This drug was wonderful. About 1 hour after the mild dose was given, and the exam and blood draw was complete, he ate like a horse and ran around the yard for a while, digging and eating grass.

(The "swelling" turned out to be the little guy "coming into his manhood" as the Vet said, and the bloodwork just this minute came back clean for everything she could possibly check it for!)

I appreciate your response very much, thanks for taking the time.
 

zovick

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10 Year Member!
Joined
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Thank you so much for this response- I posted late, and let the Vet go ahead and use it, and it worked out GREAT!!!

I have a very, very small 4-year old+ redfoot that has dwarfism and was nearly dead when I brought him to live with me.

His veins are so tiny, and he's been so very traumatized by humans that he absolutely will not let any procedures be done to him.

I noticed some swelling around his tail that the Vet thought may be edema, so we wanted to palpitate the region, do a visual check by extending the phallus, and then draw some blood from his tiny little veins.

This drug was wonderful. About 1 hour after the mild dose was given, and the exam and blood draw was complete, he ate like a horse and ran around the yard for a while, digging and eating grass.

(The "swelling" turned out to be the little guy "coming into his manhood" as the Vet said, and the bloodwork just this minute came back clean for everything she could possibly check it for!)

I appreciate your response very much, thanks for taking the time.

Glad to hear it worked out so well for you and your tortoise. I never had a problem when I was using it on my animals either.
 

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