Melafix?

[benjamin]

Well my caudo has an appointment at my vet now, they need to now he exists and is infected to give him the medication. He's registered on their computer as a common lizard (Lacerta vivapera) lol, the woman who registered him obviously didn't understand A) that newts aren't lizards, and B) Common lizard as a specific species of lizard. The vet's gonna be pretty surprized when my mom turns up with a newt. So my mom's pretty paranoid about the infection so she made me go and ask the pet store (I know bad advice) about what they used on their newts. The gave me something called melafix that claims it stops tissue errosion. It's herbal so I doubt it would harm him but my question is will it work? Anybody who has had experience with this please help.

 

[benjamin]

Here's the wound just so you can see he still eats but squints in pain while doing so.

 

[shaun]

Hey Ben - I've heard mixed reactions concerning melafix. A lot of people think it's great, but others consider it ineffective or potentially toxic. I recently attempted to treat one of my t. taliangensis with salt/melafix baths, and as far as I can tell the infection is improving much more rapidly than it was when I was treating it with hydrogen peroxide and polysporin.

 

[leanne]

Melafix claims to be an all natural antibacterial remedy---it is basically composed of tea tree oil. I put it in the water to treat my eastern newt's white spot (which appeared out of nowhere one day), and it disappeared within a week. Don't know if this was the Melafix or not, though.

 

[michael]

I had bad luck with melafix with axolotls and good luck with Furan 2

 

[hayden]

Ben, I have used melafix with no problems....

Leanne, I noticed something like that on my red-spotteds a few times but It goes away in a week on its own everytime..

 

[rose]

Hi, in my experience, the only times that Melafix has really helped with tissue erosion was when the water quality was also improved. In the end, I figured that the Melafix didn't hurt, but it was really the water quality that helped.

 

[leanne]

Hayden, it's a strange phenomenon, isn't it? I don't freak out about it any more, though, since like you said it goes away in a week or so (and this happened a few times where I did not use the Melafix). I have looked for Furan 2 at pet shops, but you will have to special order it from thatfishplace.com or such---haven't tried it, but sounds like it might be a better bet.

 

[pamela]

I use Melafix, and have had excellent results. It is an antibacterial derived from the Melaleuca (Tea Tree plant). The dosage need only be very small. It might just be a "secondary help" besides the use of topical antibiotics as it keeps the bacteria levels low in the water. Good luck.

 

[edward]

I am leery of using any tea tree extracts as it is
1) liver toxic
2) passes readily though the skin.

This makes it a possibility that liver damage can occur but not be noted for a significant period of time as you cannot effectively control the dosage (due to the skin permeability). Additionally no theraputic levels have been determined via clinical trials.

Ed

 

[pamela]

Hello Ed,

Although I use Melafix, I have taken your note seriously. Thank you.