Long-term protozoa, metronidazole does not work

jockma

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My redfoot has been struggling with protozoa for years now. It waxes and wanes, but mostly I keep it in check by not feeding fruit or other wet/sugary foods. I also give him some TNT with probiotics.

He's very active and he's at a good weight, but his poop is never normal. It's always soft (at best) or runny and awful (at worst).

He was on several rounds of metronidazole a year or so ago and all it did was give him scour. Didn't touch the parasites. The only thing that seemed to really help was feeding him some healthy tort poop, but I don't have access to any right now.

What else can I do? Are there alternatives to metronidazole he can take? He can't be in a regular enclosure with substrate until this is sorted and I can't bear to give him such a miserable life.
 

newCH

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Your poor little guy ! Sounds like you are managing his condition well. How did you obtain the healthy donor poo before ?
Do you have a donor redfoot in your care ? I guess you would have to be careful not to transmit the protozoa to the healthy tort ?
Sorry so many questions....
 

jockma

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No, he is my only tortoise, the healthy poop before was sourced by the vet. I moved away from that area and can't bring him back to that vet, so I have no access to more healthy donor poop.
 

mark1

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ask your vet about other possible issues that would require something like panacur or an anticoccidial drug ,like sulfadimethoxine .........
 

jockma

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I moved away from that area and the herp vets near my current home aren't great, honestly. Apparently in other countries they sometimes use ronidazole and dimetridazole, but not in the US.

A different vet blindly prescribed Panacur at first and it did not help.
 

o.singer1972

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My redfoot has been struggling with protozoa for years now. It waxes and wanes, but mostly I keep it in check by not feeding fruit or other wet/sugary foods. I also give him some TNT with probiotics.

He's very active and he's at a good weight, but his poop is never normal. It's always soft (at best) or runny and awful (at worst).

He was on several rounds of metronidazole a year or so ago and all it did was give him scour. Didn't touch the parasites. The only thing that seemed to really help was feeding him some healthy tort poop, but I don't have access to any right now.

What else can I do? Are there alternatives to metronidazole he can take? He can't be in a regular enclosure with substrate until this is sorted and I can't bear to give him such a miserable life.

Papaya seeds get rid of it. They like Papayas anyways. I assume while in the amazon they don't have a chef to clean fruits from seeds. They eat Papaya
and possibly consume little seeds that keeps them clear from protozoa and other intestinal parasites.... Just a thought...Often we forget where they come from and try these pseudo western society remedies and methods whether in nutrition, husbandry needs or treatment of ailments. Does it makes sense ?? Also Papaya leaf and Graviola Leaf support digestive function. You can Garnish Tort food with Oregano leaves. The far-reaching health benefits of oregano range from its anti-microbial, anti-parasitic, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties. It is said that very high doses of oil distilled from Oregano plants can cause a build-up of toxic quantities of thymol in the kidneys and liver. If it is mixed with some sweet yummy banana they will eat it. Another thought....Best to you and your tort :)
 

o.singer1972

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I thought Flagyl was for protozoa????


Flagyl for sure -a Conventional med or what I wrote (alternative)

Cheers Yvonne


Also realize the Flagyl is not to effective. Please see screenshot of article Yvonne. It might be Cryptosporidium, a genus of protozoan parasites , that is why Flagyl not working
 

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o.singer1972

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Papaya seeds get rid of it. They like Papayas anyways. I assume while in the amazon they don't have a chef to clean fruits from seeds. They eat Papaya
and possibly consume little seeds that keeps them clear from protozoa and other intestinal parasites.... Just a thought...Often we forget where they come from and try these pseudo western society remedies and methods whether in nutrition, husbandry needs or treatment of ailments. Does it makes sense ?? Also Papaya leaf and Graviola Leaf support digestive function. You can Garnish Tort food with Oregano leaves. The far-reaching health benefits of oregano range from its anti-microbial, anti-parasitic, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties. It is said that very high doses of oil distilled from Oregano plants can cause a build-up of toxic quantities of thymol in the kidneys and liver. If it is mixed with some sweet yummy banana they will eat it. Another thought....Best to you and your tort :)


Yvonne , reading your question you stated :" Are there alternatives to metronidazole ?". My Response is the alternative. I have been rescuing Redfoots and Other Torts for 3 decades now. I never had issues with parasites. I add anti parasitic natural agents to their food. Good protective defense & Tx.
 
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mastershake

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have they done a pcr test to check for the genome of which ones they are?
 

jockma

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have they done a pcr test to check for the genome of which ones they are?
I'm not sure if they went that in-depth into it but they identified some species and they all should be treated with metronidazole but it just wasn't working. There was one kind of rare amoeba that we used iodoquinol (sp?) to take care of, IIRC the iodoquinol worked for the amoeba specifically but not the rest. He was in good condition when I moved away from that vet's area (decent but slightly soft poops), so I haven't had his poop checked recently...I'm honestly not sure if this is a recurrent protozoa issue or if his gut flora is just out of whack. He did have scour, after all. Also, his poop DOES get better and worse periodically, whereas before when he had a severe parasite load it was just constant gooey diarrhea with undigested food bits. It's now fully digested, just not formed properly.

Anyways...If it's a gut flora issue, all I need is healthy donor poo.

Anybody in the Los Angeles area have a redfoot with nice poops?
 

mastershake

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i ask because if they have something like crypto that would be why its not working also poo will not help that either. but it requires a pcr test to know for sure
 

jockma

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Hm, my guy is pretty fat and happy besides the soft poops, so I'm not sure if crypto could be the culprit. I always assumed that was a very serious condition. I haven't really heard anything about crypto in tortoises, though.
 

Diane Berner

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When my redfoot is having problems with runny poop I give her Benebac for a couple days mixed in banana and cooked sweet potato. It doesn't get rid of whatever protozoa are the problem but it does help with diahrrea
 

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