Can a vet cause long-term stress to a tortoise?

Hello everyone,

Today I took my Hermann's tortoise to the vet for the third time.

The vet pulled her legs apart and poked her with a stick, and spent 10 minutes trying to get a cotton wad into her mouth and had to resort to careful aggression. After finishing the daunting task, she was already very stressed and walked so quickly across the examination table that it almost looked like she was galloping. The vet then proceeded to put the cotton part of a cotton wad up her cloaca and turned it side to side.

It looked painful but the doctor said it was standard procedure, and he doesn't seem like a hateful doctor so I took his word for it. My tortoise had gone through this procedure twice before.

My tortoise has opened up to me lately, and ever since the examination a couple of hours ago she's been afraid of any noise or shadow near her. I gave her a strawberry but after eating it she was afraid of me again.

My question is will she calm down within a few days? How can I relax her in situations like these? Should I avoid going to the doctor? I go to the doctor to do a checkup like this every half a year to make sure she's healthy because she has had issues with worms in the past.

Thank you for all your answers

I certainly wouldn't see that rough doctor again. If your tortoise is sick and you're needing a diagnosis, then a vet is in order. But if the tortoise is healthy there's no reason to take them in for a check up. And once you've had her de-wormed, if she doesn't go outside and eat off the ground, there's probably no need to get her de-wormed again either.

Yes, she'll eventually get back to the calm, trusting tortoise she used to be, but it may take a while.

Before a vet touches my they need to explain why. Get another vet. That rough treatment seems very unneccasary. Standard procefure doesn't cut it for me. I don't blame your for being scared. Welcome to the forum, I hope you enjoy your visits

There is no need for all of that. To check for worms all you need to do is bring a stool sample to the vet and leave the tortoise at home. If worms are present, they are treated with orally administered drugs at home.

There are certain diseases that a person might look for with a cloacal swab on a new import or if there is a suspected disease running through a colony, but there is no need for that twice a year for a general check up on a single healthy animal. If your tortoise didn't have this suspected disease the first time, and hasn't had any contact with other tortoises or other tortoises's stuff, then there is no possibility of infection and no reason to test again.

I can't image why the vet would need to swab the mouth of a healthy tortoise. No need for that.

I wouldn't go back there unless I had no other choice, but I wouldn't let the vet do any of that stuff again. In the future, if your tortoise is healthy and behaving normally, there is no need to go to the vet. If worms are a concern, take in a stool sample.

An inexperienced and heartless vet is an abomination onto your tortoise.

In the UK we send off for a worming kit from a laboratory and then send the poo back, they test and send you the result. I’m not sure if you have anything like that in the Netherlands...

I’m sure everyone has different thoughts about this- but for me, I would not do something so invasive for a routine check up. I’m sure most tortoises that live outside have/have had worms. A simple fecal specimen should be enough to evaluate them. Collecting a fecal would be much less invasive, just pick it up out of his enclosure and take it in to the veterinarian, no need to bother the tortoise. There are times when invasive procedures are necessary, I just would try to avoid doing them for routine procedures.

Tom said:

There is no need for all of that. To check for worms all you need to do is bring a stool sample to the vet and leave the tortoise at home. If worms are present, they are treated with orally administered drugs at home.

There are certain diseases that a person might look for with a cloacal swab on a new import or if there is a suspected disease running through a colony, but there is no need for that twice a year for a general check up on a single healthy animal. If your tortoise didn't have this suspected disease the first time, and hasn't had any contact with other tortoises or other tortoises's stuff, then there is no possibility of infection and no reason to test again.

I can't image why the vet would need to swab the mouth of a healthy tortoise. No need for that.

I wouldn't go back there unless I had no other choice, but I wouldn't let the vet do any of that stuff again. In the future, if your tortoise is healthy and behaving normally, there is no need to go to the vet. If worms are a concern, take in a stool sample.

Click to expand...

Just wondering how much that vet charged. Seems to me that vet was just doing that to justify the money asked for. A stool would be all that was needed.

puffinboots said:

Just wondering how much that vet charged. Seems to me that vet was just doing that to justify the money asked for. A stool would be all that was needed.

Click to expand...

Good point.