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References:
Frye, F. L., 1991. Biomedical and Surgical Aspects of Captive Reptile Husbandry, second ed. Krieger Publishing, Inc., Melbourne, FL.
Leapin' Lizards Marcia Rybak; Chicago Herptoculture Society
Stephen L. Barten, D.V.M; Vernon Hills Animal Hospital Mundelein, IL
Reprinted from League of Florida Herptoculture Societies, June 1993
Frye, F. L., 1991. Biomedical and Surgical Aspects of Captive Reptile Husbandry, second ed. Krieger Publishing, Inc., Melbourne, FL.
Leapin' Lizards Marcia Rybak; Chicago Herptoculture Society
Stephen L. Barten, D.V.M; Vernon Hills Animal Hospital Mundelein, IL
Reprinted from League of Florida Herptoculture Societies, June 1993
A dose is the amount of medicine to be administered at one time. It is expressed in terms of milligrams of medicine to be given per kilogram of body weight
of the animal. With this information there are still four variables that you must know when medicating your animal. These are the accurate weight of each
patient converted to kilograms, the concentration of medicine being used, the interval between doses, and the duration of treatment. Although this sounds
complicated, there is a simple formula you can use to arrive at the exact single dosage for the reptile you want to treat.
The first step is to convert the weight of your reptile to kilograms. For small reptiles you will probably measure the weight in grams or ounces. Convert
grams to kilograms by dividing by 1000 or moving the decimal 3 places to the left. A ball python weighing 876 grams weighs 0.876 kilograms. There are 28
grams in an ounce, so to convert ounces to kilograms, multiply the ounces by 0.028. For bigger reptiles, a pound equals 0.454 kilograms, so multiply
pounds by 0.454 to get kilograms.
In the past it was common practice to subtract half of the body weight when calculating a dose for a turtle to account for the weight of the shell. This should
not be done because the shell is living tissue. Doses for turtles should be calculated based on total body weight.
The second step is to understand how strong the medicine is that you are using. This is known as the concentration and is usually expressed in mg/ml
(milligrams per milliliter) and should be clearly written on the bottle. Occasionally the concentration may be stated in mg/cc (milligrams per cubic
centimeter), but ml and cc are different names for the same unit of measurement. This is important to know because while most bottles are marked in ml,
all syringes used to administer the actual dose are marked in cc. If a concentration is stated in per cent, multiply the per cent by 10 to get the
concentration in mg/ml. For instance, Baytril comes a s 2.27% solution. Multiply 2.27 by 10, and there are 22.7 mg/ml.
To arrive at the correct dosage, multiply the dose times the weight of the reptile and divide by the concentration. Here' an example. Suppose the ball
python mentioned above has parasites and needs to be treated with fenbendazole which is concentrated at 100 mg/ml. The prescribed dose for ball
pythons is 25 mg/kg administered orally once and repeated 3 times at 2 week intervals or until a negative fecal is obtained. The formula to calculate the
dosage works as follows:
In this case you would round 0.219 cc up to 0.22 cc and administer the dose. It is crucial that you convert dose, weight, and concentration to these units of
measurement. If you multiply a dose in mg/kg by a weight in grams or ounces, your calculated dose will be wrong and you might overdose or underdose
the patient. The same holds true if you divide the dose x weight by a concentration in any units other than mg/ml. Always double check your calculations.
The frequency and duration of the medication can be found in the references or can be obtained from your veterinarian.
of the animal. With this information there are still four variables that you must know when medicating your animal. These are the accurate weight of each
patient converted to kilograms, the concentration of medicine being used, the interval between doses, and the duration of treatment. Although this sounds
complicated, there is a simple formula you can use to arrive at the exact single dosage for the reptile you want to treat.
The first step is to convert the weight of your reptile to kilograms. For small reptiles you will probably measure the weight in grams or ounces. Convert
grams to kilograms by dividing by 1000 or moving the decimal 3 places to the left. A ball python weighing 876 grams weighs 0.876 kilograms. There are 28
grams in an ounce, so to convert ounces to kilograms, multiply the ounces by 0.028. For bigger reptiles, a pound equals 0.454 kilograms, so multiply
pounds by 0.454 to get kilograms.
In the past it was common practice to subtract half of the body weight when calculating a dose for a turtle to account for the weight of the shell. This should
not be done because the shell is living tissue. Doses for turtles should be calculated based on total body weight.
The second step is to understand how strong the medicine is that you are using. This is known as the concentration and is usually expressed in mg/ml
(milligrams per milliliter) and should be clearly written on the bottle. Occasionally the concentration may be stated in mg/cc (milligrams per cubic
centimeter), but ml and cc are different names for the same unit of measurement. This is important to know because while most bottles are marked in ml,
all syringes used to administer the actual dose are marked in cc. If a concentration is stated in per cent, multiply the per cent by 10 to get the
concentration in mg/ml. For instance, Baytril comes a s 2.27% solution. Multiply 2.27 by 10, and there are 22.7 mg/ml.
To arrive at the correct dosage, multiply the dose times the weight of the reptile and divide by the concentration. Here' an example. Suppose the ball
python mentioned above has parasites and needs to be treated with fenbendazole which is concentrated at 100 mg/ml. The prescribed dose for ball
pythons is 25 mg/kg administered orally once and repeated 3 times at 2 week intervals or until a negative fecal is obtained. The formula to calculate the
dosage works as follows:
In this case you would round 0.219 cc up to 0.22 cc and administer the dose. It is crucial that you convert dose, weight, and concentration to these units of
measurement. If you multiply a dose in mg/kg by a weight in grams or ounces, your calculated dose will be wrong and you might overdose or underdose
the patient. The same holds true if you divide the dose x weight by a concentration in any units other than mg/ml. Always double check your calculations.
The frequency and duration of the medication can be found in the references or can be obtained from your veterinarian.
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