What antibiotics does your vet recommend?

[BP12]

Hello,

We live in an area close to the coast that has a high humidity level. We have taken our torts (6 of them) to several different vets for years with the same respiratory infection that comes back in at least 1 tort every year at this time.

The Torts have received clarithromycin, doxycycline, minocycline, and these don’t seem to fix the issues as fast as I would like.

What antibiotics do you guys use and recommend?

Thank you!

 

[zovick]

Hello,

We live in an area close to the coast that has a high humidity level. We have taken our torts (6 of them) to several different vets for years with the same respiratory infection that comes back in at least 1 tort every year at this time.

The Torts have received clarithromycin, doxycycline, minocycline, and these don’t seem to fix the issues as fast as I would like.

What antibiotics do you guys use and recommend?

Thank you!

I would use ceftazidime (Fortaz). It is more costly than the others you mentioned (or used to be), but really is the drug of choice for respiratory infections in tortoises.

 

[Tom]

Hello,

We live in an area close to the coast that has a high humidity level. We have taken our torts (6 of them) to several different vets for years with the same respiratory infection that comes back in at least 1 tort every year at this time.

The Torts have received clarithromycin, doxycycline, minocycline, and these don’t seem to fix the issues as fast as I would like.

What antibiotics do you guys use and recommend?

Thank you!

You should fix the environment so they don't get sick. If they keep getting sick year after year, you are not housing them correctly.

What species and how are you heating and housing them? We will help you fix the problem rather than futile attempts at treating the symptoms while the tortoises suffer.

To answer your question, my vet uses no antibiotics on my torts because they don't need it. This should only be a last resort if you can't fix it any other way. The only time I've ever used antibiotics on tortoises is when I was given one that was so sick from long term improper care that the correct heat and conditions couldn't cure it alone. I used to live near the coast and I worked in a pet store in Hermosa Beach where we dealt with this problem frequently. I have solutions, and antibiotics ain't one of them.

 

[ZenHerper]

What species of tortoise? How are they being housed in winter; the rest of the year?

What is the rationale to treat with antibiotics -- has it been determined (by culture) what type of microbe is present? If your vet is throwing antibiotic darts instead of evaluating WHY the infection(s) begin and recur, you will not experience relief.

Incidentally, antibiotics (especially repeated courses of strong ones) damage the immune system because they strip the natural floral culture in the digestive organs. Suppressed immune function = an inability to prevent/fight off low-grade infections.

 

[mark1]

Hello,

We live in an area close to the coast that has a high humidity level. We have taken our torts (6 of them) to several different vets for years with the same respiratory infection that comes back in at least 1 tort every year at this time.

The Torts have received clarithromycin, doxycycline, minocycline, and these don’t seem to fix the issues as fast as I would like.

What antibiotics do you guys use and recommend?

Thank you!

by the description of the symptoms and the antibiotics prescribed , sounds like your vets suspect a mycoplasma infection ? ceftazidime is a very safe antibiotic , it is a beta lactum antibiotic , they work by interfering with cell wall synthesis , mycoplasmas do not have cell walls , it may have some other action that would work on mycoplasma infections ? the antibiotics i do know work on mycoplasma infections are macrolides , fluoroquinolones and tetracyclines ..... clarithromycin i believe is a macrolide antibiotic , docycycline and minocycline are tetracycline antibiotics .......... perhaps the nasal flushes i've read Yvonne write about would speed recovery along ..... i assume your tortoises are outside ?
Nasal Discharge in Tortoises Thomas H. Boyer, DVM, DABVP (Reptile & Amphibian Practice) Pet Hospital of Penasquitos, San Diego, CA, USA
NASAL DISHARGE