Ben Potgieter, [12 Mar 2024 at 12:32:41]: Can anyone help me with ostrich dart dosages? Dennis Bosscha, [13 Mar 2024 at 08:31:10]: Morning Ben. I tried a couple of ostrich with the BAM protocol Henry put on the group. It worked, but they were easily stimulated and a bit of a mission to catch, but as soon as you had the head in your hands, they were very stable and easy to work with. I also tried a couple with 4mg of Etorphine with 30mg azaperone. They ran like a dog that got a vitamin B shot in the bum, but in less than 5 min they were recumbent and we could load them. I will be honest - I was a bit nervous with the opioid dose, so tried to load and reverse as quickly as I could. I am not sure how stable they are on the dosage if one needed to do a procedure. Chris Smith, [13 Mar 2024 at 09:23:05]: Morning Ben. We had some good success in quite a large number of ostrich with a combo of Thianil, medetomidine and azaperone. Adult females: 2 mg Thianil + 16 mg medetomidine + 16 mg azaperone Adult males: 3 mg Thianil + 20 mg medetomidine + 20 mg azaperone They generally went down on their own around 8 minutes. If they did not, we made a shepherds hook that we gently hooked around the neck to get control of the head to place a sock - they would then drop after this. They remained in sternal recumbency once reversed with atipamezole and naltrexone. They were all fairly relaxed though and done from the ground with 1cc and 2cc Pneudarts. HO Reuter, [05 Jun 2024 at 20:56:25]: Hi Chris and others, What dosage of atipamezole / yohimbine do you use for reversal of the 16-20 mg medetomidine? Chris Smith, [06 Jun 2024 at 20:09:21]: Evening HO. Depending on the depth of immobilisation, we have been working between 0.5mg-1mg atipamezole per 1mg medetomidine and 2ml yohimbine for adults. They are generally quite relaxed travelling with this reversal too, but usually are standing and heads up. I think the azaperone helps as well. HO Reuter, [06 Jun 2024 at 20:40:45]: Thanks Chris! I did a few with 1.5-2ml BAM yesterday, but got better results with Thianil 2 mg + medetomidine 20 mg + azaperone 20mg today. The video clip was when handling them too early on BAM. Ostrich out on her feet with sagging head, but the moment we caught her she was wide awake. Seems BAM needs a bit more patience? Chris Smith, [06 Jun 2024 at 20:50:40]: We also struggled with BAM many times, HO. We did try giving more time, but always then felt that they were already metabolising the drugs when we tried to handle them.
