How do you get a tortoise to eat dewormer?

SLawless04

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2016
Messages
13
Location (City and/or State)
Connecticut
Hi everyone,

My Russian tortoise, whom I recently rescued, is loaded with pinworms. His attending Veterinarian has given me the dosing information using fenbendazole paste (safeguard/panacur) but I can not get him to eat the full dose. I have even tried using a needle and syringe to inject the paste into the the center of romaine lettuce leaves (one of his favorite foods) but he won't take more than one bite.

Has anyone had any luck convincing their tortoise to eat a full dose of such a dewormer?
 
M

Maggie Cummings

Guest
My Vet puts the same medicine in the cloaca, not mouth. Seems to work out fine. I got rid of pinworms that way.......
 

Gillian M

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2014
Messages
15,417
Location (City and/or State)
Jordan
Welcome to the forum!

I would try something sweet with it.;)
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,390
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
I've always grabbed the animal behind his jaws, forced the mouth open and squirted the dewormer on the back of the tongue. It takes three hands.
 

SLawless04

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2016
Messages
13
Location (City and/or State)
Connecticut
You could try smearing it on a strawberry. Never seen a tort turn down a strawberry.
My only concern with this is that fenbendazole works by inhibiting the uptake of glucose, and strawberries are very high in fructose, so it could be like taking two steps forward and one step back.
 

SLawless04

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2016
Messages
13
Location (City and/or State)
Connecticut
My Vet puts the same medicine in the cloaca, not mouth. Seems to work out fine. I got rid of pinworms that way.......
I talked to his vet about this, but her and I spent a bit of time researching and this would not likely address any pinworms in the upper GI tract. A lot of the articles were on VIN, so I can't share them, but this one from Reptiles Magazine focuses on that: http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Rep...es-Nematode-Parasites-Treatment-Fenbendazole/
 

SLawless04

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2016
Messages
13
Location (City and/or State)
Connecticut
Good news is I was able to infuse some escarole with the dewormer and he ate all of it. I soaked him the other day and HUNDREDS of pinworms came out when he defecated in the water. Most of them were dead but some were still moving :eek:. Now I just need to hope he eats the dewormer again...
Thank you everyone for your input so far!!
 
Top