Mycoplasma, night time heat and adoption

Yvonne G

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Well, Maggie, we musta' gotten it from someplace. Maybe Dr. Boyer's treatment isn't new, but his paper is new.
 

Kapidolo Farms

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Thanks for the more recent narrative.

Yes cured, in about 80% of the cases.

There is a south African tortoise guy Dirk Barnard on Facebook's 'Cape tortoise group' group that has done a similar thing with a nebulizer. He reports reasonable success as well.

This seems to be an updated/revised version of Dr. Boyer's treatment from the 2013 Proceedings of the Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians:


Combines a single session of in-clinic lavage (minus steroid) under anesthesia with at-home treatments.
 

Kapidolo Farms

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If it's not worked for 20 years, then maybe your tortoise falls into the group this does not work with, or you are a vet tech that has not succeeded yet. Fancyass truckdrivers. LOL.

Well, I read all that and the funny thing is...That is EXACTLY how I have been treating this tortoise for years. His name is and has been "Abcess Nose" for about 20 years. Daily for years I did a nasal flushing, un-plugging his nares, soaking in antibiotics and injecting antibiotics for freakin years, and to see some fancyass Vet comes onto the scene and describes my care to this tortoise for over 20 years. Guess I shoulda been a Vet...
 

Kapidolo Farms

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If you read the #2 post, it has a text that references published literature from 2014, which is after 2013, the year of the published narrative noted by @ZenHerper in a post above.

So, the most recent account is the one I refenced. It is not a peer reviewed manuscript, it is simply a narrative based on further writtings. I see Boyer a few times a year for one reason or another, He is not fancyass. He is a carefully worded clinician that actually listens.

I have had two tortoises treated for suspected mycoplasma, both seemed to have been cure. I tested them by allowing the night time temp to drop to 50F for a few month the winter of 2019/2020, no recurrence of any nasal discharge.




It can be cured.
 

HinoaSan

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It’s interesting, I’m looking at the testing lab that was mentioned in Dr. Boyer’s article and the tests themselves aren’t expensive.

https://labs.vetmed.ufl.edu/wordpre...and-Submission-information-for-Mycoplasma.pdf

https://labs.vetmed.ufl.edu/available-tests/tortoise-mycoplasma-testing/

But I’m guessing the special packing + overnight shipping + blood draw required (only serum or plasma, no whole blood) might be what adds up and causes his clients to “balk at the cost”? Wish I lived in Florida. ?

I’m still curious about it though and will see if I can find out the total cost. I’m also going to reach out to some rescues and see if they can help me find the Hermann’s a home that doesn’t have any other reptiles (so that infection wouldn’t be a concern, if he in fact has mycoplasma).
 

HinoaSan

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Thought I’d post an update in case any newbies like me find this info helpful now or in the future. I should mention that I took my notes hurriedly, so if there are any errors in the info below it’s likely my fault.

I had the vet’s office send me all of my Hermann’s records and discovered that my vet didn’t actually test for mycoplasma. Rather he prescribed the antibiotics based on the symptoms and recommended testing if symptoms didn’t improve. Which makes sense so I’m not mad or anything.

So I contacted Dr. Boyer to get more info about the ELISA test that he mentioned in his paper and we had a phone appointment today. He was really nice and helpful. I asked about the ELISA test and he said that it’s only for gopher tortoises (and I think one other desert tortoise) and not for a Hermann’s tortoise. He said for a Hermann’s the test would be the PCR test which involves a nasal sinus flush. However, since my Hermann’s doesn’t have any nasal discharge currently it can’t be done. Also, since my Hermann’s exhibited signs a year ago it’s possible that he built up antibodies to the point where he would get a false negative. I *think* he said that it’s possible that the antibiotics resolved the situation, but I’m not 100% sure about that.

I asked if the symptoms (sneezing and, according to the vet records, nasal discharge, though I don’t remember that) means that my Hermann’s most likely had mycoplasma. He said not necessarily, it could have also been herpes.

Also I *think* he said that the ELISA test can have false negatives and isn’t used as much anymore, but I can’t be sure about that.

I asked about the part of his article that mentioned clients “balk” at the cost, but how I noticed the ELISA test themselves weren’t expensive. He said the high cost was a combination of the treatment itself, overnight shipping, etc.

So needless to say I am really bummed because I was hoping that I could get my Hermann’s tested and know definitely whether he has mycoplasma or not, so that I could tell the rescues that I contact. I’m still going to contact rescues and see if any of them can help find him a home where he will be an only tortoise or a home that has other tortoises but the owners are fine with the cleaning and separation protocols required to keep potential mycoplasma from spreading. Anywho, that’s the update. I'm going to go drown my feelings in junk food.
 

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