What do you do to worm your tort?

Some people de-worm their tortoises twice a year...spring and fall. I don't de-worm them unless I've had a stool sample checked and it shows parasites. I use a horse de-wormer - Panacur. It comes in a tube. There's a forumula that you use, the tortoise's weight per cc of de-wormer. But its not good practice to post formulas on open forums like this because each type of de-wormer comes in different strengths. It might be possible for someone to use my formula with a stronger de-wormer and poison their tortoise.

So if you suspect a heavy parasite load, take a stool sample to the vet and get the de-wormer from him. After the first time, you can do it yourself, but get the vet to help you the first time.

Thankyou very much for your help. I can't get a stool sample as he hasn't passed any or eaten in a month I have tried everything and worms is sort of my last resort

Oh, Claire...that doesn't sound too good. Have you done the baby food or vitamin water soaks?

Yes, no luck with anything am continuing trying, so worried about him

Little history and living conditions for your tort and species and age/size ??

We need a whole lot more information. Not eating can be a myriad of different things.......

Here's the thread where Claire was asking for help on the not eating thing:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-5624...z29maSp8mY

Thanks so much for posting the link couldn't work out how to do it in the original post

This animal is more than likely shutting down for the year. No sense in trying anything but letting it do its thing. Your going to cause more harm than good in trying to fix a perceived problem, that really isn't a problem........

EricIvins Wrote:This animal is more than likely shutting down for the year. No sense in trying anything but letting it do its thing. Your going to cause more harm than good in trying to fix a perceived problem, that really isn't a problem........

So you think I should hibernate him? How would I go about doing it? I am a complete beginner when it comes to hibernation.. If he is trying to hibernate then that's great as at the moment I'm so worried he is sick and I'm gonna lose him

Hibernation can be a bit tricky and scary the first time. It really depends I think on the overall health of your tortoise. My guys are slowing down now but will still eat when given food.

I won't hibernate until late November though and they will wake up in March so not withholding food completely at this point.

The scary part is if you hibernate a sick tortoise they could just never come out of hibernation. Have you been to a vet at all? Realistically raising your temps a bit and leaving on longer may pull him out of the funk but parasites generally have never caused mine to stop eating, they just lose weight as they can't absorb as readily. In theory if its bad enough then it could get to the point of not eating but if parasite load is possibly that high I would definitely not suggest hibernating.

If the temps and light stimulate eating again then likely it's just a winding down phase. I use the refrigerator method that is outlined here; http://russiantortoise.net/hibernation_journey.htm

Good luck!

(10-19-2012 05:28 AM)tinkerbell1189 Wrote:  do to worm your tort?

Yes!