Worms

[ironhide & franklin]

Had my tortoises for a week and found worms in poop so worried. I'm planning on going to the vet tomorrow. Is there anything I should do in the mean time? I put the poop in a ziploc bag and put it in the fridge so they can test it. Has anyone had this problem before? And how'd it go? Uhg so bummed!

 

[JoesMum]

Hello and welcome.

All your vet needs is a fresh poop sample to diagnose. The tricky part is getting the medication in the tort. They must both be treated.

Please make sure you see a vet who specialises in torts. If any mention of vitamin A injections is made then pick up your torts and run for the hills - that vet knows nothing about tortoises.

Where did you get your torts from? It's not unusual for wild caught torts (sold by most US pet stores) to have a gut load of worms.

Do you know that Russians should not be kept as a pair? They are very territorial, regardless of gender, and another tortoise is simply competition for food and space. Bullying can be physical with blood drawn, but the more dangerous is probably the hard-to-spot mental bullying where one simply fails to thrive and then goes into a sharp decline. They should be kept entirely separately as they are not social and don't need or want a friend. See this:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...together-a-lesson-learned-the-hard-way.94114/

Please also read the care sheets written by species experts working hard to correct the outdated information widely available on the internet and from pet stores and, sadly, from some vets and breeders too.

Beginner Mistakes
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Russian Tortoise Care
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

Photos of your torts, their enclosure and lighting will help us to help you get everything perfect

 

[Yvonne G]

Not to worry...a completely normal and easily fixed problem. If I remember correctly, you have Russian tortoises. Russian tortoises come into this country very dirty (read germ infested). They are gathered up in great numbers and piled on top of each other in crowded containers where they poop and pee on each other and have to sit with dead, dying and sick tortoises. It is to be expected, living in such close quarters, that they would be parasite ridden.

You can expect to be given a dose of de-wormer to take home and administer in 10 days (after the initial dose at the vet's office). It's no big deal. Relax.

 

[ironhide & franklin]

Ok thank you!!