Slin Dart Questions Answered

For all GH/Clen users, hope this helps, just passive info.

One cc is equal to one ml; the two terms can be used interchangeably. Most syringes are marked "cc" while medication strengths are marked as milligrams per milliliter (mg/ml). Your vet will calculate just how much medication you will administer with each injection; dosages are calculated based on the strength of the drug and the animal's weight and the often empirically-derived reptilian dose (animal weight x dosage x strength = one dose). For example, the recommended dose of the antibiotic Amikacin is 2.5-5mg per kg of body weight. Amikacin comes in 50 mg/ml vials. The vet must calculate not only the actual dose, but must also scale it to the animal's size, with larger animals getting less than smaller animals.

One cc syringes have markings showing tenths of a cc: .10 is one-tenth of a cc; 1.0 is one cc; these two measures are frequently confused. Some syringes do not show the decimal point and are marked 10, 20, 30 on up to 100. In this case, the 10 is one-tenth (.10) of a cc, and the 100 is one cc.

Some 1cc syringes are further divided, showing markings between the tenths (usually 5 short lines between the longer tenth lines). There are times when you will be required to administer .05 cc (not to be confused with .5 cc); even without the additional markings between the tenths, half ccs are easily visualized and drawn up. If you are required to pull up something less than a half cc, such as .32, then you would pull up the the first small line after the three-tenths (.30) line.

To fill a syringe, begin with the plunger pushed fully down. Insert the needle into the rubber cap of the vial of medication. Hold the vial upside down so that the syringe and needle are pointing towards the ceiling. Gently pull back the plunger to begin the flow of medication into the syringe. Draw slightly more than you need, then push the excess out by pushing the plunger back in; this will get rid of air bubbles that were drawn up from the vial. If you still see air bubbles in the syringe, hold it pointed toward the ceiling and flick or tap your finger against the side of the syringe; this forces the bubbles up toward the hub of the syringe and you can push the collected air out of the needle. If you need to draw up more medication to make the full dose, stick the needle back into the vial and draw what you need. When you are ready to administer the injection, make sure that the medication is flush up against and into the hub of the syringe. If the medication will not flow into the syringe, you will need to start with some air in the syringe. Before inserting needle into the bottle of fluid, draw back on the plunger to pull in .5 cc or so of air. After the needle is inserted into the fluid, push down on the plunger to transfer the air in the syringe into the bottle of fluid, then pull back and begin filling your syringe.

When you withdraw the needle, keep your finger on the entry point, then gently massage the area once the needle is out.