Worming techniques

[turtlelady80]

I need to know what people recommend for worming their tortoises safely and effectively. And can you worm a tortoise that doesn't necessarily have worms?
I have a lot of different species of torts. Most captive born, some wild caught (unfortunately) and I havent wormed any of them other than feeding pumpkin.

 

[Len B]

A few years ago I received a supposedly LTC mee, during shipping it passed a mess of worms in the bag, she was way underweight but would eat, she preferred Christmas cactus, but would also eat several different plants from the araceae family. I had read that the crystals in araceae plants were thought to help remove internal parasites from certain tortoises,mainly tortoises from the manouria family, Something Worked, she became a very heavy and healthy tortoise, I regularly feed colocasia and alocasia to all my manouria, Never had another tortoise with known worms so only one example of de-worming this way, Not even sure the araceae had any benefit, it could have just been the better diet and less stress for her.

 

[cfwinged1]

I read a article in tortoise library.coms that is pumpkinseeds, mustard seeds, crushed garlic n ginger. It said it has to be done a couple times close then again every few months

 

[MooingTricycle]

Has anybody ever used diatomaceous earth with torts? just a question!! I use food grade stuff with my chickens that helps keep pests down.

 

[Mgridgaway]

I've heard from many sources that ground up pumpkin seeds (to my knowledge, pumpkin meat does nothing) have no actual de-worming properties. I've also heard about diatomaceous earth, but have never heard about any tort related success stories. This is not to say that they don't exist.

Honestly, I think the safest way to deworm a tortoise is to take it to a proper vet, get a fecal, and get accurate dosages from them if they need to be wormed. With proper training I'm sure you could learn to do this process yourself, but I'm not going to risk overdosing my tort unless I have experience with worming meds.

 

[Madkins007]

I have an article in the library about worming with pumpkin, but as stated in the article, there is no clinical evidence that it works.

 

[Itort]

A few years ago I received a supposedly LTC mee, during shipping it passed a mess of worms in the bag, she was way underweight but would eat, she preferred Christmas cactus, but would also eat several different plants from the araceae family. I had read that the crystals in araceae plants were thought to help remove internal parasites from certain tortoises,mainly tortoises from the manouria family, Something Worked, she became a very heavy and healthy tortoise, I regularly feed colocasia and alocasia to all my manouria, Never had another tortoise with known worms so only one example of de-worming this way, Not even sure the araceae had any benefit, it could have just been the better diet and less stress for her.

I read the same Hoybye-Mortensen's treatse on Manouria emys emys. Glad to hear it may work but won't recommend for other species.

 

[EricIvins]

You shouldn't even think about worming anything untless you have a reason to do so.........This is not "preventative maintenence"........If you have an issue, you take the animal to a Vet, and strategically treat the animal with the right medication and dosage........Dosage and medication are going to vary with any given situation........

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Wild Russian tortoises are thought to deworm themselves by eating plants like buttercups and poppies, which contain enough toxic alkaloids to kill sheep.

Opinions vary on the best way and time to deworm. I have never dewormed, and hopefully will never need to. In my view, prophylactic deworming is not necessary, and may be harmful to the tortoise's natural gut flora. Mild worm infestations can probably dealt with using home remedies, i.e. certain plants. I think only a very ill tortoise, overwhelmed with worms, should be given veterinarian-prescribed medication.

As Ben Franklin said, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Parasites tend to be acquired via coprophagy (eating poop), but if tortoises get a varied diet, are not crowded, and do not come into contact with other species, they are much less likely to pick up worms. And if they already have them, they are more likely to shed them over time and gradually lower their parasite load naturally.