Good news and bad news about new tort

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laney

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Ok so good news is I got a beautiful girl tortoise today, she feels nice and heavy, big beautiful eyes and smooth shell, and she is definitely a she :)
Bad news is I got her home and soaked her and she is riddled with either worms or parasites! I don't know which as I've never seen before but there was an alarming amount and they were moving. Poor baby, I have put her in a viv with just paper and a little corner of coir which I will replace each day until she is clear. I feel so bad for her but don't want her to keep reinfecting herself.
I'm gona get a vet app as soon as I can but anyone know for sure what the little buggars are and anything else I can do for her?


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laney

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Poor baby, her little tummy must be in knots :(

The pic is just of some of the little fu**ers that came out, she done a pee first and there were some and then what was more like a poo but it was mainly a big ball of the bug things with a little poo. She has just had a car journey which I don't think will have helped but I wana help her now!!!! :( :(
 

luvpetz27

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OMG!!!! That poor thing! :(
I dont know what kind they are.
You should get a reply soon I hope.
I wish I could help you and her!
There are so many! I feel so bad for her!
Where did you purchase her
 

R114

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I've read on here something about feeding them pumpkin as a natural de-wormer. You might try googling that to check it out.
 

Jacqui

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The pumpkin will not remove a load like that. That will need treatment by a Vet. The pumpkin is more a preventative measure and how good of one it is is up for debate.


Any chance the person before you had started treatment?
 

mctlong

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Thats a hefty parasite load! The worms are life threatening if left untreated, so its a good thing she has you. You're doing the right thing by taking her to the vet. The vet will give you panacur or a similar medication which you can smear on your tort's food. It'll clear the worms right up. Your tort will live a long, healthy life.

Until the worms are gone, avoid high-sugar foods such as fruits and flowers. Feed high-fiber, dark leafy greens and provide lots of water. Good luck and keep us posted.


Where did you get the tortoise?


And Jacqui is right, pumpkin seeds are not sufficient in this case. You need a strong de-wormer from the vet. This is a larger than average parasite load that can kill a tortoise if not treated quickly and effectively. You don't want to take any chances.
 

laney

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mctlong said:
Thats a hefty parasite load! The worms are life threatening if left untreated, so its a good thing she has you. You're doing the right thing by taking her to the vet. The vet will give you panacur or a similar medication which you can smear on your tort's food. It'll clear the worms right up. Your tort will live a long, healthy life.

Until the worms are gone, avoid high-sugar foods such as fruits and flowers. Feed high-fiber, dark leafy greens and provide lots of water. Good luck and keep us posted.


Where did you get the tortoise?


And Jacqui is right, pumpkin seeds are not sufficient in this case. You need a strong de-wormer from the vet. This is a larger than average parasite load that can kill a tortoise if not treated quickly and effectively. You don't want to take any chances.




Thanks for help everyone.
I phoned to make an appointment with the vet and he has left the practice to go on to do further studying, I'm devastated as he was amazing with the torts and had ones of his own. So I've found another vet (going tomorrow morning) who is not specialised in exotics but apparently has a keen interest in them, pretty gutted as I would have rather taken her to someone I trusted but fingers crossed this vet is good. There are no specialists here!! :(
I got her the same place I got my other 2 and they have always been really reliable but I have never bought one this old. I phoned them today and said that she was full of either parasites and worms and I was always under the impression that their torts were screened for parasites/worms. The guy said that they were all wormed through their food originally but she could have been missed but the 30day free insurance should cover it. I didn't want to be pushy on the phone by asking for money to cover the vet bill but its going to cost me over £50 just to get the consultation and the screening and I think if I did use the insurance it would put the cost of her full cover up when I get it?! Hmm I will see how the vet goes and take it from there, I was kinda worried he would say take her back and I wouldn't wanna do that. They have always been really good in the past and I drive for 2hours to get to them, it's really unusual for the shop but in fairness the guy was appreciative that I informed him and told him the others she was in with would be bound to have infected each other, so he is going to check them.
My worry is when I go to the vet tomorrow I assume they can't give her anything until the tests are back?? And I want to help her ASAP don't wana wait incase she gets worse. She is otherwise great within herself and feels really nice and heavy, seemed to be eating etc.
Poor baby :(
 

Edna

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Yes, poor kid. She's got some unwelcome guests there.

Your vet will be able to tell quickly, via a stool sample and float, what types of worms your tort has. He can then weigh your tort and determine the dose size. The wormer I use, Panacur) is inexpensive and available over the counter. When I bought my two adult Hermanns females, I took just stool samples and weights to the vet. She did the float, determined a dose, and told me to worm them on a schedule, followed by stool sample re-checks.
 

laney

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She went to the vet this morning and I couldn't take a stool sample with me but showed him a photo and he gave her panacur in a syringe down her throat although she was being so stubborn I have the other half away with me to give her later today when she has forgotten a little lol. She wouldn't open her mouth and he was using a special hook thing and said he was sure she had had this done before as she has marks on her beak where someone has been a bit rough with the hook.
I asked him about the paste and he said that this way would be more accurate for her. I took in stool samples from my other two torts, even though they are all separate and Harley and Yoshi haven't been showing signs of having I thought I may as well get them all checked.
Although otherwise he said she looked really healthy but said she was a fatty lol so a diet wouldn't go a miss hehe.
The only thing I thought was weird was when he said he thought she had a touch of spur in her as she clearly looks like a horsefield but has spurs!?!? Weird yes?
 

mctlong

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Glad to hear she's healthy (aside from the parasites). :)

laney said:
The only thing I thought was weird was when he said he thought she had a touch of spur in her as she clearly looks like a horsefield but has spurs!?!? Weird yes?

Yes, wierd. She's clearly a Russian, not a spur-thigh. They have some larger scales on their backsides that kinda resemble a spur, but its not a spur. Could he be referring to a hard nodule at the end of the tail? If so, you may have a young male.

If she refuses to open her mouth for her medicine, drop the liquid panacur on a leaf of her favorite food and feed it to her. Its far less traumatizing for the both of you. Just make sure she eats the whole leaf to get her full dose.
 

laney

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mctlong said:
Glad to hear she's healthy (aside from the parasites). :)

Yes, wierd. She's clearly a Russian, not a spur-thigh. They have some larger scales on their backsides that kinda resemble a spur, but its not a spur. Could he be referring to a hard nodule at the end of the tail? If so, you may have a young male.

If she refuses to open her mouth for her medicine, drop the liquid panacur on a leaf of her favorite food and feed it to her. Its far less traumatizing for the both of you. Just make sure she eats the whole leaf to get her full dose.

No it's definitely a little girl, it was the spikes at either side of her tail he was talking about, I hadn't noticed until he pointed them out but I just assume that they come as they get bigger as my other two that are smaller dont have.
I don't know her fave food yet but I'm away to try her with a little butternut squash and if she likes it I might put it on that. My worry is I didn't take extra meds away with me just have the exact amount left she needs so I'm worried to put on the food incase she turns her nose up at it..
Gonna go see to her now so fingers crossed for the little lady without a name.
 

laney

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I tried getting the last 0.25 in her mouth but she knew exactly what I was doing and wouldn't open up, it was stressing her out which won't help matters. I tried getting her to taste some butternut squash as my other 2 go nuts for it but she wouldn't take it so I have squirted the last of the liquid into a leaf and wrapped it up and put on her plate with nothing else so hopefully she will get hungry and eat it as there's nothing else, but she already cleared her plate this afternoon so might not eat now.
If she gets it more than 24hours later will it be less effective coz it wasn't the full amount? If she eats it tomorrow will it still work?
Not the best start to our new relationship :( wish she knew it was for her own good and I'm not just the evil person.
 

african cake queen

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hi, those nasty worms! hope she feels better soon. that was alot. she very cute. good you have her.
 

Laura

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A russian with parasites? Shocking! not really..
Im glad you got her to the vet.. she will need several treatments to kills the current ones and new ones that will be hatching in her gut.. ...
 

laney

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momo said:
hi, those nasty worms! hope she feels better soon. that was alot. she very cute. good you have her.

Thanks, can't wait until she is better and I can get into a proper routine with her.
Poor gal still has no name.
 

laney

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Spoke to vet today as the tort didn't fall for the wrapped in food trick, the little rascal obviously knows the smell of it as she managed to pick off all the external leaves leaving one inside ball (the one with all the panacur inside) lol it was a little funny when I found all she had left, I couldn't believe how smart she had been, I thought I had cleverly wrapped it = one nil to tort.
So I'm going down to get more meds and try it with a strawberry, it's not easy though as she won't eat if she sees anyone around, but I will get it in her I'm determined.
The vet checked my other twos poo for me and Harley is all clear but Yoshi had a couple of eggs so he is going to get the treatment to :( should be easy getting it into him as he eats like a baby bird. Only problem for him is his weight, he is only 65g so not sure how much he needs, he is too light for the vets chart but he said he will work it out for him. Anyone know what it should be for that weight?
 

luvpetz27

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Atleast Yoshi isn't packed with them! You are lucky!
Good luck with the meds!! :) :)
 

Terry Allan Hall

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R114 said:
I've read on here something about feeding them pumpkin as a natural de-wormer. You might try googling that to check it out.

Fresh (unsalted) pumpkin seeds, finely chopped and mixed with a little of the pumpkin "meat", will re-deworm her considerably. My torts get this once a month, and love it...and I love their worm-free condition.
 
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