Deworming torts?

[marcy4hope]

I am getting ready to deworm my 2 tortoises. I saw teeny tiny worms in my sulcatas poo. Probably tapes, although I'd read that tapes are rare in tortoises. I work for a vet, so have a ready supply of most dewormers, although they are for cattle and we have to dose them down for small animals.

Just wondering what you guys use when deworming torts? Any and all info on deworming torts is appreciated. I know a lot about deworming dogs, cats, and cattle, but not torts. I'll probably use albendazole this time, just since we don't have any oxfendazole on hand in a low enough strength and we have no fenbendazole right now. But, I'll be talking to the vet this morning about seeing if we can get the oxfendazole dosed low enough to use.

Also - do you use probiotics when deworming your torts? I have some tnt with probiotics, but although in the past my tortoises used to love it, this newest batch i bought must not be mixed quite the same because my tortoises will not go near it. If i sprinkle it on the feed, the won't eat it at all. I have heard of Bene-Bac for reptiles and was contemplating ordering some of that from our distributor today. Any opinions on it? I've also seen that yogurt can be used in a pinch, but wondering what opinion is on that if necessary?

Lastly - My torts are indoors most of the time at this point and only outside during good weather. I'm assuming I need to totally change the substrate indoors until they are completely dewormed. My sulcata is 1850 grams, 9 inches. My leopard is around 300 grams, 4 inches.

Thanks!!

 

[deadheadvet]

Is this what your vet recommends to his clients? Just deworm without having a fecal analysis done first? Shame on you. You work in a vet's office and you're ready to reach for medication that may not be necessary. What you are describing might be pinworms that are not harmful to tortoises at all. But you just want to shove medication down the tortoise's throat without even knowing what it has. We are here to teach and educate. You all seem to think that it is ok to just dispense medication all the time. Doing tests is a necessity to understand what you are dealing with. Get the fecal done first, then find out if a dewormer is needed. Fenbendazole would be better choice than what you mentioned.

 

[marcy4hope]

Is this what your vet recommends to his clients? Just deworm without having a fecal analysis done first? Shame on you. You work in a vet's office and you're ready to reach for medication that may not be necessary. What you are describing might be pinworms that are not harmful to tortoises at all. But you just want to shove medication down the tortoise's throat without even knowing what it has. We are here to teach and educate. You all seem to think that it is ok to just dispense medication all the time. Doing tests is a necessity to understand what you are dealing with. Get the fecal done first, then find out if a dewormer is needed. Fenbendazole would be better choice than what you mentioned.

deadheadvet - is that how you speak to your clients? i hope you have a better bedside manner in your clinic than you do on this forum! i asked for suggestions and you tore in to me instead. just fyi - i live in a remote area and the vet i work for is a LARGE animal vet. we don't see small animals. i'm hours away from a small animal vet and no, we don't do fecals because we are too busy pulling calves, doing bse's, pulling coggins, and teaching clients how to vaccinate their horses and cattle. i appreciate what little information you did give me about the pinworms and i will check that out. but, nicely suggesting i have a fecal done instead of lashing out at me would have helped me much more. i haven't posted on this forum for a few months now and this is one of the reasons. i'm not an idiot like you make me out to be. and i certainly hope you don't treat your clients like this.

 

[lkwagner]

Is this what your vet recommends to his clients? Just deworm without having a fecal analysis done first? Shame on you. You work in a vet's office and you're ready to reach for medication that may not be necessary. What you are describing might be pinworms that are not harmful to tortoises at all. But you just want to shove medication down the tortoise's throat without even knowing what it has. We are here to teach and educate. You all seem to think that it is ok to just dispense medication all the time. Doing tests is a necessity to understand what you are dealing with. Get the fecal done first, then find out if a dewormer is needed. Fenbendazole would be better choice than what you mentioned.

deadheadvet - is that how you speak to your clients? i hope you have a better bedside manner in your clinic than you do on this forum! i asked for suggestions and you tore in to me instead. just fyi - i live in a remote area and the vet i work for is a LARGE animal vet. we don't see small animals. i'm hours away from a small animal vet and no, we don't do fecals because we are too busy pulling calves, doing bse's, pulling coggins, and teaching clients how to vaccinate their horses and cattle. i appreciate what little information you did give me about the pinworms and i will check that out. but, nicely suggesting i have a fecal done instead of lashing out at me would have helped me much more. i haven't posted on this forum for a few months now and this is one of the reasons. i'm not an idiot like you make me out to be. and i certainly hope you don't treat your clients like this.

I completely agree, that was no way to speak to her. She wanted suggestions not a scolding.

 

[deadheadvet]

We treat clients with respect. Not just give meds without consequences which is what you're implying. Remote or not is no excuse for doing the right thing and I'm not going to apologize for being blunt. You don't like it tough. Put your big girl boots on and deal with it. You have one of the big benefits of working for a vet. Take advantage of it. Large animal or not it has its perks. Send the sample out to the lab for analysis and do what's best for your Sulcata. Good luck.

 

[kimber_lee_314]

I do agree that this response was rather harsh! We are here to help other turtle/tortoise keepers, not chastise them. Even if we don't agree (which we often don't!) we can be respectful and kind when replying.

I can tell you what I do - I also work very closely with my vet. I use panacur (fenbendazole) paste. I have no experience with albendazole or oxfendazole so I can't help you there. I use 50 mg/kg and repeat in 2 weeks. This works for me. I don't deworm regularly, but if my tortoises are showing any sign of worms, I deworm them just as a precaution. This website is helpful for me.

http://www.anapsid.org/resources/rxdose.html

I do not use probiotics so I can't answer that either, but yes, I would change all the substrate and then do it again in 2 weeks.

Good luck!

 

[EricIvins]

I don't think that response was harsh at all! The right thing(s) need to be done before any medication is shoved down any animals throat. This would include Fecal(s) ( A fecal should be run every other day for 30 days to get a big picture of what is actually going on ), along with PCR Panels and other Labs that would be necessary to treat the animal correctly. If someone can't take that reality, then they shouldn't be on the interwebs to begin with.......