Worms in poop! Help

genetic_code

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One of my female tortoise whom I got five months ago is pooping numerous worms along with normal fecal matter. One month ago I found two or three worms in her poop. I thought it might be because a food and is normal. 15 days ago I change their enclosure into a bigger one, the substrate I am using is soil with coco peat. I did notice a few white coloured insects in the soil which on reading I found that they were normal and not harmful to the tortoise.
Today I was giving them a soak and the female a lot of worms which were white in colour and were moving. I am not sure whether she was a wild caught tortoise or auto captive bred.
She is normal and look healthy otherwise.
What should I do now? How do I treat this condition? should I keep her with other tortoise is which I have or should I separate her?
Please help.

Attaching a picture of today's with worms which can be seen as white tiny creatures adherent to the the matter.IMG_20190920_125235.jpeg
 

genetic_code

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You need to buy Panacur horse de-wormer. You can get it at a feed store or online. Because de-wormers come in various strengths, giving out dosages online is not a good idea, so I will send you a PM with dosage information.
Thanku for your help :)
 

ZEROPILOT

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What about diatomaceous earth? (Damn what a hard word to spell!)
I think the jury is still out on if DE is effective in the gut.
I've read that it is.
But I don't know firsthand.
PANACUR on the other hand is mild, easy to obtain and effective against pinworm and roundworm.
And it's safe if you know the correct dosage for the size and weight of your tortoise.
DO NOT just guess.
 

JMM

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Diatomaceous earth is contraindicated for internal use. It is extremely abrasive and can damage the lungs if accidentally inhaled and can irritate and abrade the gut lining.
 

RV's mom

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One of my female tortoise whom I got five months ago is pooping numerous worms along with normal fecal matter. One month ago I found two or three worms in her poop. I thought it might be because a food and is normal. 15 days ago I change their enclosure into a bigger one, the substrate I am using is soil with coco peat. I did notice a few white coloured insects in the soil which on reading I found that they were normal and not harmful to the tortoise.
Today I was giving them a soak and the female a lot of worms which were white in colour and were moving. I am not sure whether she was a wild caught tortoise or auto captive bred.
She is normal and look healthy otherwise.
What should I do now? How do I treat this condition? should I keep her with other tortoise is which I have or should I separate her?
Please help.

Attaching a picture of today's with worms which can be seen as white tiny creatures adherent to the the matter.View attachment 280845
 

RV's mom

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I've read elsewhere that pumpkin seeds were good and a natural way to worm plant eating torts. I am not familiar with dietary needs of your babies, but if they are plant eaters, I would recommend a small pumpkin (I don't know if other hard squash work also) clean outside well, cut into manageable pieces and score almost all the way through. Microwave until soft and allow to cool. I use this as a winter staple with RV . With regards to the seeds, I put them in the blender with a small amount of water or some of the cooked pumkin and whirred them pretty fine and added to mazuri mix. RV wasn't thrilled with mazuri when I first tried it on her, so I used romaine lettuce as a wrap and stuffed it with the mix.

****In recent times, herbalists have discovered that the seeds of the pumpkin also work as an effective deworming agent against tapeworms and other intestinal parasites in dogs and humans. Pumpkin seeds contain the amino acid called cucurbitin, which paralyzes and eliminates the worms from the digestive tract. *****
(from a quick internet search).

I had no problems feeding this to RV. You might try this option prior to getting into expensive vet bills.

teri
 

Zuki

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@genetic_code
Hi, I wonder how your tort is doing?. I took my tort zuki to the vet for sight problems and he found parasites!!. he gave me 3 small bags of panacurt to offer him once a week. He is 57.4 pounds. The day after the first packet he didn't want to eat. After that he's been eating half of what he used to eat. He is on the second package. I don't know if it is a normal reaction to this medicine or maybe the antibiotics for the eyes which he finished the doses prescribed yesterday. Hopefully he will start eating more. I notice also a lack of movement. I'm thinking to do a new outside enclosure to put him in the opposite side where he used to be. Any info on how to build it. TIA.
 

ZEROPILOT

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@genetic_code
Hi, I wonder how your tort is doing?. I took my tort zuki to the vet for sight problems and he found parasites!!. he gave me 3 small bags of panacurt to offer him once a week. He is 57.4 pounds. The day after the first packet he didn't want to eat. After that he's been eating half of what he used to eat. He is on the second package. I don't know if it is a normal reaction to this medicine or maybe the antibiotics for the eyes which he finished the doses prescribed yesterday. Hopefully he will start eating more. I notice also a lack of movement. I'm thinking to do a new outside enclosure to put him in the opposite side where he used to be. Any info on how to build it. TIA.
The PANACUR kills most of the gut bacteria. Some of the effects of treatment are that the tortoise may be weak and unable to digest as well as normal.
As long as it was/is effective at eliminating the worms, or getting them down to a level than can be managed, the tortoise will start eating soon.
On a side note. It's a common practice to let a tortoise that has a weakened digestive system eat some poop from a healthy tortoise of the same species to get the sick tortoises gut flora started again.
But not to worry.... Yet.
They can go months without eating and not die. As long as they continue to drink.
 
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Zuki

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The PANACUR kills most of the gut bacteria. Some of the effects of treatment are that the tortoise may be weak and unable to digest as well as normal.
As long as it was/is effective at eliminating the worms, or getting them down to a level than can be managed, the tortoise will start eating soon.
On a side note. It's a common practice to let a tortoise that has a weakened digestive system eat some poop from a healthy tortoise of the same species to get the sick tortoises gut flora started again.
But not to worry.... Yet.
They can go months without eating and not die. As long as they continue to drink.
Thank you for your good advice, this morning he ate a plate of vegetables and fruits and he pooped. I gave him the panacur on Friday and is better than the first time. He used to eat three times a day and it's down to only one but at least he ate. No much walking, as you say could be weak or reaction to the vit A injection that he received. Again, thank you.
I appreciate your help
 

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