vet visit with my new arrivals

[drache]

so I brought my 3 xenochrophis vittatus to the vet today
he feels the parasites will work themselves out through the skin
the one who hadn't eaten yet, is also the one with the worst skin lesions
the vet pumped some dog food into his stomach

then he said something that I need help with

it was something about some treatment for hole-in-the-head disease in discus containing a substance that also works as an appetite stimulant

so I called later to ask what he was talking about
i didn't talk to him, but the receptionist asked him for me, and he said "hexamed"

now I'm really confused

I spent the afternoon poring over my fish health books
I googled
I found it in Europe, as in chlorhexamed, the sore throat gargle
is that the same thing, or something different?
and how does it relate to to chlorhexedine?
I know endings mean a lot in the world of chemistry

can anyone here help me with that?

btw
Mikhaia named the snakes Cocoa (the female), Coffee and Caramel (the males)

[adamanteus]

I'm not really familiar with any of the chemicals you've cited there Rhea. I've never heard of an appetite stimulant being given to a snake before. Was the vet suggesting you seek out and use this medicine? I wonder why he didn't prescribe it for you.

[drache]

what he said was that this treatment, that is normally given to Discus fish when they have hole-in-the-head disease, also has been shown to act as a mild appetite stimulant
I'm fairly certain, that hole-in-the head disease is caused by lowered immune response due to stress and that it ends up being a bacterial infection. So I imagine the stuff must be some mild antibiotic.

The idiotic thing is that when he first mentioned the treatment I knew what he was talking about. I may just have to bug him again.

If my chemistry teacher hadn't been some WWII survivor, who was more interested in toxic warfare than teaching us the basics, I might have gone on to study bio sciences. Curse that damn war and all the others.

I any case . . . even if I don't figure it out it's not a big deal. He didn't think it was something I need to do, just something I could do.

[GarterGuy]

Ummm...actually hole-in-the-head disease is caused by a parasite (Hexamita) that actually burrows into the head of the fish (used to manage a pet store and also have had fish for over 25yrs.). You can get some secondary bacterial or fungal problems associated with it, but you don't normally use antibiotics to treat it.....usually Flagyl is used. Did some checking and Hexamed is a brand name (used to treat Hexamita...get it!) and it's actually just metronidazole (Flagyl) for fish. I worry about the vet's assesment of the lesions on the skin as being parasites that will "work themselves out".....I've seen imports come in before (especially small, semi-aquatic snakes) that had lesions on them and they were from the snakes being kept too moist and dirty and not associated with parasites at all. These snakes ususally improved with being kept on a nice dry substrate with a small water bowl available. Now I do have to say that I'm not a vet and wouldn't try to second guess a vet, but I also know there are LOTS of vets who will "treat" reptiles out there with out any real experiance or training in how to do so. So I give this as just educated advice. The lesions are most likely caused by the snakes being kept in overly damp, unsanitary conditions and should heal up with proper care and as far as parasites, usally these guys have flagellates and possibly nematodes that may need to be treated. Flagyl (metronidazole) is a good treatment for the flagellates and for the nematodes, Panacur (fenbendazole) works well.
Hope this helps and good luck with the new memebers of the family.
Roy

PS...You know I think I do remember somewhere that Flagyl does have an affect of being a slight appetite stimulant.

[drache]

of course it's me getting it all mixed up
and you just got me back on track

the nematodes are subcutaneous
they have an indirect life cycle
they release their eggs through blisters in the skin, that burst open
in captivity, there is no intermediate host
so treatment is not necessary

however, there are skin lesions associated with the blisters bursting
one of my snakes had one blister (now open) and a couple of lesions
the others had some recently healed lesions

the snake with the fresh lesions is also the skinny one who got the dose of dog food yesterday

thanks Roy