First time tort owner.

[Lauraryan]

I have very recently acquired two 50ish year old Sulcatas- male and female. They have been housed for several years in some pretty grim conditions, mild pyramiding but otherwise surprising healthy looking. Although I am a first time tortoise owner, I have thoroughly researched Sulcatas and their care and feel pretty confident that they are now on track to getting healthy.

I live in central Louisiana, rural location. Their hide is cinder block with radiant heat bedded with cypress mulch. Their hide is cleaned and fluffed every day and poop picked out of enclosure daily. They have a shallow swale running through enclosure which can be soaked to hold about 3 inches of water as needed. With our rainy season it stays a little damp. They have some deep shade under several trees with a few areas of underbrush and areas of sun.

Couple of questions.

Their 1/3 acre enclosure is pretty well stocked with grass and clover. I had some reservations about the high protein of the clover. But it turns out these two were so grateful for a warm dark humid hide, they spent about 22 hours per day in there for the first week. So they sort of limited their own intake initially. Since then the weather has been unseasonably cold so they stay snug in the warm hide. On the few really hot days they're outside a lot.

I am supplementing their roughage by soaking Timothy cubes( for equine use) until they are soft and wet. Every 3-4 days I add a little fruit. They have free choice great quality Alicia hay which they pick at. Wow can they eat!

One question is --can I feed the beet pulp cubes soaked in water to tortoises for a change of pace?
Beet pulp : Guaranteed Analysis:
Protein: 7% (min.), Crude Fat: .30% (min.), Crude Fiber: 22% (max.), Moisture: 10% (max.).

2nd question:

They both have evidence of a heavy tape worm infestation in their stools. I am pretty sure thats not the only type of parasites they have. The recommended tort dewormer is Panacur which will not kill tapeworms. To get tapeworms I understand the drug of choice is Praziquantel which by all a[/font]ccounts is safe for torts. But I am only able to find it in combination with pyrantel (Strongid). Can these dewormers be given together and what is the dosage?
Vets around here are clueless for Chelonians and LSU herp vet is out of the country for awhile and I'd like to deworm them ASAP.

Thanks and apologies for the lengthly post
Laura

 

[tortadise]

Welcome! Have you had any vet do a fecal on them to determine exactly which parasites are present. The best advised way to treat parasites, protozoa, is to know exactly which ones you are dealing with. Some require different anti worming medicines than others. My suggestion would be to take a fresh fecal sample form each tortoise into any vet. They dont have to be an exotic or tortoise specialty vet to determine which parasites your dealing with. Good luck.

 

[Lauraryan]

Yes I guess I'll have to do that, I just thought I could treat the tapeworms now since I can see evidence of them. I would like to bring them by LSU to give them a complete lookover but can't do that until next month.

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome Good luck on the deworming. Just a heads up. I understand these two torts have been housed, I'm assuming together, for a very long time. Just keep in mind, that with their new surroundings and new home, the move, etc, they may now not get along. Just keep an eye out for bullying.

 

[Lauraryan]

Thanks for the welcome. So far so good. The males looks a little lethargic compared to female who follows me around and looks alert. He spends much more time in hide than she does. I actually have two hides , one smaller and they interchange between the two but he prefers the larger and warmer hide. She likes the solitude of the other one I think.

Is it normal for them ,every so often , to sound a little wheezy? Only heard that a few times over the past two weeks and usually while eating.

 

[mainey34]

Hello and welcome. I. Would keep. An eye on the wheezing. If you see discharge from thhe nose, you might want to call a vet.

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm wondering how you knew about the tape worms. I've seen "grains of rice" around the anus of my cat that had tape worm. Is that what you're seeing on the tortoise's stool? If you're very sure its tape worm, then I copied this from the Tortoise Trust site:

Tape worms: Droncit (praziquantal) 5mg/kg orally

For things like round worm, hook worm, etc. we use Panacur. And for the protozoa type parasites it's Flagyl.

 

[Lauraryan]

Thanks! I see long white flat worms in stool.