Dr Usman, [29 Oct 2023 at 11:15:08]: Hello good afternoon Can anyone guide me about this pangolin, rescued yesterday Male, 12 kg. The eyes are a little bit watery. He is active, lung sounds normal, muzzle wet. He has a tick infestation (should we treat him?), as we have to release him back into a national park. Peter Rogers, [29 Oct 2023 at 12:13:23]: Good afternoon Dr Usman - I will get my colleague Dr Debbie English to contact you ASAP - she works a lot with pangolins and has extensive experience with them. Good luck 🍀 Dr Usman, [29 Oct 2023 at 16:07:47]: I am incredibly grateful for feedback by Debbie English. She advised to use oral Bravecto tablets in pangolins for ticks at the same dose as for dogs. Treatment with ivermectin/ permethrin was not recommended! Rob Jackson, [29 Oct 2023 at 16:39:52]: The eyes are often dirty and wet when we get rescue animals. I am more worried about dehydration and loss of condition. I insert drip and tube feed if necessary. I use Frontline Spray for parasites. One can crush up an oral dewormer into the tube feeding mixture. An observation that I have seen is that if they pass stools, then they have not been in captivity for too long. Never thought of Bravecto, thank you Dr Usman, [29 Oct 2023 at 16:50:39]: This pangolin is rescued from illegal captivity at someone’s house, is active and alert. We are monitoring body weight as well. Rob Jackson, [29 Oct 2023 at 20:51:27]: We monitor body weight as well, which should hopefully be increasing. We recently had a report about an illegal captive pangolin we treated, eating maggots and mealworms before if got to us. It may not be true. I understand that one can only tube feed with an anaesthetic. Have you or anyone heard this or had any success feeding, voluntary intake other than water or electrolytes? Debbie English, [30 Oct 2023 at 19:03:57]: Good afternoon, all. Dehydrated pangolins eyes are very often watery and sometimes almost slimy, in contrast to companion animals’ eyes that are sunken in and tacky. We use Bravecto and Milbemycin and tube that through an orogastric tube. Temminck's ground pangolins are extremely reluctant to feed voluntarily (numerous methods and types of feeding mixtures have been tried) - they will, however, drink water out of bowls etc. Asian pangolins are a lot easier in terms of feeding in captivity, but despite efforts we have not managed to get that right so we tube feed critical patients early in the rehabilitation process, and start phasing in walking to allow for natural foraging and feeding. Henry Labuschagne, [31 Oct 2023 at 08:38:02]: Would Oralade be a good option to tube feed? If not, please advise us on the ideal food to tube feed. Would this be an option? Debbie English, [31 Oct 2023 at 08:43:06]: We have a protocol we use so that they don't get a re-feeding syndrome and pancreatitis. Start with Oralade and gradually go over to a mixture of Nutribound/LOW FAT RC recovery liquid and RC kitten milk. Please do not feed anything else because these animals are prone to gastric upset and severe pancreatitis even on low fat diets. Henry Labuschagne, Yora makes dog and cat food from insect-based protein. I get good results with it for insectivorous animals. It is very palatable. I have never treated a pangolin though. Dr Usman, [31 Oct 2023 at 10:18:04]: I searched for Bravecto here, but it is not available right now. We want to release him soon because he is stressed and not feeding in captivity. The only option I have right now is Frontline spray. Should I use this? Debbie English, [31 Oct 2023 at 13:27:29]: You could use Frontline too
