Erik Verryne, [28 Oct 2022 at 21:27:43]: Some feedback. I notched 7 white rhinos calves between the ages of 26 months and 32 months from the ground at a feeding point the last few days. I used Thianil 0.5mg + medetomidine 4-5 mg +15mg azaperone and Hyalase in 2cc Motsumi darts with screw-in needles. Most calves went down within 5 minutes or stopped after 6-8 minutes. There is a slight difference between 4 and 5 mg medetomidine. With 4mg they did not go down easily but walked away from the cows and I then used my vehicle to block them. Blindfolding is easy and one can work with them while head pressing against the wheel of the vehicle. They feel the notching and try and swing their heads away. With 5mg medetomidine, they go down. Breathing is slow but deep and steady. Peripheral blood pressure is low but oxygenation appears to be good. For reversal, I used naltrexone 20mg and atipamezole 20mg iv. They were up within 2-3 minutes but remain groggy for a while. David Pretorius, [28 Oct 2022 at 21:32:11]: Why not butorphanol and medetomidine? Are you specifically looking for faster downtime? Erik Verryne, [28 Oct 2022 at 21:35:42]: I used butorphanol/medetomidine on a previous occasion. Down time was a bit slower. My butorphanol was a bit low and I battled with the bigger calves. I felt like playing around this time since I had a few cheeky cows to get out of the way. Andreas Gaugler, [16 Oct 2022 at 20:21:57]: I need some advice please I need to move a white rhino cow and her one year old calf. Do I dart the cow first and then the calf? Can anyone provide me with HH dosages for the cow and the year old calf please? Do I load the cow and the calf separately? HO Reuter, [17 Oct 2022 at 06:53:15]: Good morning Andreas, as you suggest, dart cow with 2 mg etorphine, 10 mg medetomidine and 20 mg azaperone, and calf about 2 minutes later with 0.4 mg etorphine, 2 mg medetomidine and 5 mg azaperone. Load them separately into individual crates. At release, let cow out of crate first and then calf as soon as cow is out of her crate. Hendrik Hansen, [17 Oct 2022 at 07:08:03]: Agree 100%, but on the cow I use Thianil same dose as etorphine and dart the calf only when the cow starts showing effect. This is usually a bit longer than 2 min. Andreas Gaugler, [17 Oct 2022 at 09:46:39]: How do you reverse the immobilising drugs and what dose of reversal for an 8 hr road trip ( from dart to offload 8 hr)? Hendrik Hansen, [17 Oct 2022 at 13:43:16]: Give diprenorphine at the normal dose, and atipamezole / yohimbine mix (2mg atipamezole per 1 ml yohimbine) at a rate of 0.5 mg atipamezole per mg medetomidine used. This will give you a great tranquilising effect for a 8hr trip - no pushing and no fighting on the road.
