Stingray quarantine help

[West1]

Fair enough! I knew MFK would come threw. Thanks Miles and everyone else who helped.

I just want to be ready than panic when I get him. How long should I feed them PraziPro for?

Never mind. I just researched it

 

[Miles]

I was worried about this set of retics having parasites too.. but after talking over it with my LFS expert (she breeds L46, etc).. she said that it is better to get the animal acclimated, and eating before treatment. Only treat upon arrival if it refuses food.

It is more stressful to treat right upon transfer, and if the ray DOES have parasites (it may or may not), then you should get it eating vigorously on live foods like black worms, and then wean it over to something that you can administer medication to, like earthworms.. Just let it settle in and get used to your aquarium before you start treating it.. They can live for a LONG time even riddled with parasites, if they are getting nutrition, they just won't grow or put on weight like they are suppose to..

Baths and Soaking Food is 10x less effective than ingestion.. Bathing with some meds can cause stress and kill biofilter, when the ingestion method directly treats the issue.

PS.. It's not a true Histrix remember

 

[West1]

I was worried about this set of retics having parasites too.. but after talking over it with my LFS expert (she breeds L46, etc).. she said that it is better to get the animal acclimated, and eating before treatment. Only treat upon arrival if it refuses food.

It is more stressful to treat right upon transfer, and if the ray DOES have parasites (it may or may not), then you should get it eating vigorously on live foods like black worms, and then wean it over to something that you can administer medication to, like earthworms.. Just let it settle in and get used to your aquarium before you start treating it.. They can live for a LONG time even riddled with parasites, if they are getting nutrition, they just won't grow or put on weight like they are suppose to..

Baths and Soaking Food is 10x less effective than ingestion.. Bathing with some meds can cause stress and kill biofilter, when the ingestion method directly treats the issue.

PS.. It's not a true Histrix remember

Thanks! What do you mean by "administer meds to"? You mean stick the meds (amount recm. from bottle) inside the black worms?

If indeed I can't get a true histrix, then what kind of Ray can I get for my 2' wide tank?

 

[amazongirl]

I actually have to disagree strongly on this one. Quarantine is always a good idea. You never know what a wild ray- or even one that has been in a pet shop or wholesaler exposed to who know what could introduce to the rest of your collection. Quarantine will keep any potential outbreak confined to the new arrival.

There are many types of ways to handle a quarantine. You can do an observational Q and just keep the ray isolated- we usually do a month but a week is better than nothing. If you see something pop up you can treat accordingly. You could also treat for certian issues as a precaution. Praziquantel bath will treat for flukes (but remember the life cycle of this parasite- the prazi will just knock off adult flukes). A redose in 10-14 days is a good idea. You can screen fecal samples for nemotodes- probably not an option for most people or feed with a dewormer- we typically use panacure. Again- you need to be aware of the parasite's life cycle to knock it out. A repeat treatment in a couple weeks is a good idea.

HTH

 

[Miles]

I wasn't implying QT as not an option.

If he were to place it in a 60g tank or a sand box, what would you recommend he do for treatment without being able to fully diagnose it?

I was implying that he reduce any stressful situations, get the ray eating healthfully, and then as precaution treat the ray through ingestion of mild parasite meds.. Bad idea?

Thanks for your time!!

(ps she knows alot folks!)

 

[amazongirl]

If he were to place it in a 60g tank or a sand box, what would you recommend he do for treatment without being able to fully diagnose it?
Treating for flukes is pretty easy on the ray- a prazi bath. I'd probably do that. You could look for signs like heavy breathing, irritation of the gills- perhaps the ray looking like it is trying to 'scratch' by the gills. Bacterial gill disease, stress and many other things can cause rapid breathing so seeing this is not a diagnosis of flukes.For nemotodes you may see a skinny ray that doesn't put on weight even though it is eating well. Also- feces may not look right. Again, other things can cause this but nemotodes might be a good first guess. We usually treat for these 2 items as part of our quarantine for rays (unless we can get a good fecal sample- then we look for nemotodes under a microscope and only treat if we some).HTH

 

[West1]

If he were to place it in a 60g tank or a sand box, what would you recommend he do for treatment without being able to fully diagnose it?
Treating for flukes is pretty easy on the ray- a prazi bath. I'd probably do that. You could look for signs like heavy breathing, irritation of the gills- perhaps the ray looking like it is trying to 'scratch' by the gills. Bacterial gill disease, stress and many other things can cause rapid breathing so seeing this is not a diagnosis of flukes.For nemotodes you may see a skinny ray that doesn't put on weight even though it is eating well. Also- feces may not look right. Again, other things can cause this but nemotodes might be a good first guess. We usually treat for these 2 items as part of our quarantine for rays (unless we can get a good fecal sample- then we look for nemotodes under a microscope and only treat if we some).HTH

Thanks for the wonderful info