Weight loss, apx 6g

[alfiethetortoise]

Alfie has always been a bit on the light side. She eats well (spring mix, a little hay, dandilions, rose petals) and i give her some dried tortoise food twice a week - I am a bit reluctant to give it too much in case of pyramiding. Would it do her harm to be given her more dry food? This is the only thing that seems to make her put on more weight, she eats me out of spring mix and doesn't put on much. She isn't keen on squash, or carrot.

Ok, so i'll take some fresh poo into the vets tomorrow or tuesday (vet's closed today) . Does the poo need to be from that day? Does it matter if the poo is done in water (Alfie often only does it when being soaked). What happens if Alfie does have worms/protoza?

 

[Ozric]

Hi, its best if the sample is as fresh as possible so ideally from that day. Yes if Alfie does poo when having a soak you can just fish it out assuming its a firm one and place it in a little plastic bag.

There are treatments for worms that are effective. One of them is called pannacur but your vet can advise you. If treatment is needed we are usually advised to keep the tortoise on newspaper whilst being treated so that the animal is not re-infected from anything in the substrate. Your vet will explain if Alfie needs to be treated.

If weight is on the low side you might just try offering more food, or same size meals more often.

 

[alfiethetortoise]

Ok. *UPDATE*

I went to the vets today (it's been closed because of the snow) and she said that it's best to just treat Alfie for worms. She said she may not be able to see anything in the sample even if Alfie does have worms. I am to go back tomorrow (when she has read her tortoise book) without alfie, but with her measurements, so she can give the correct dosage. Does this seem right? Why would you treat a tortoise for worms if she doesn't even have any worms or porovol?

I can change the subsrate for newspaper when i start the treatment. Do i keep the newspaper untill the treatment is finished? Will the newspaper not stress the tortoise? She has 50/50 sand soil mix at the moment.

 

[Ozric]

I personally wouldn't get a tortoise treated for worms if it was gaining steady weight over a period of months and there was no evidence of infestation. Very short term weight changes are not significant if the overall trend is in the right direction. Some keepers will treat for worms on a kind of preventive basis but I personally would not do so. Wild tortoises often have a certain amount of worms and it could be described as natural for them to have some. Human beings have parasites on them all the time and we don't set out to eliminate every single living organism from our bodies.

 

[alfiethetortoise]

Ok.I thought it was a little odd, after all i wouldn't treat myself for something i didn't have. I weighed Alfie this morning and she is 134g so she is weight gaining. How much does worming cost? Alfie's substrate is due to be changed anyway, so perhaps ill consider the worming. I am a bit sceptical of the village vet, as every time i ask a question, she always needs to consult the tortoise book and often i ask a question half knowing the answer myself and i am not a vet...

 

[GBtortoises]

Ozric--You've read my mind!

Tortoises along with most other living organisms that I can think of have parasites of some type. Not all good. But internal parasites within the digestive system of many animals often aid that animal in proper digestion and elimination of wastes. Which is exactly the case with tortoises. The problem comes about when those parasites become too many in number and begin to do more harm than good. Parasites may flourish out of control in a tortoises digestive system for different reasons, most being stress related to where the animals control and immune system does not keep the parasites in check.

The reverse being when tortoises are overmedicated and the result ends up severely crippling or killing off the bacteria population which causes the tortoises digestive process to break down. Leading to further health problems.

"Periodic" worming serves no purpose since parasites simply reproduce-at a rate much more rapid than the frequency of the medication application. So it's an unnessary procedure.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.