Worms?

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hannah

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Hi, as a new Russian Tortoise owner of two( and my first ever Torts, can I call them that, "Torts"?! Lol) I have been reading a ton of stuff online of course. All sources seem to say most Russians are WC and it is safe to assume all WC Russians have worms and must be treated.
Is this something you have done, had them treated for worms or as my local exotic vet says, 'bring in a stool sample, mix a little of the poop of each of them to save you $ so we just do one sample test(?? really?) and if its positive them you'll need to bring both torts in for exam and treatment. At $50 a tort for exam, not counting the cost for the stool sample and for the medicine, its total is pretty high and I want to make sure this is how to do it.
I told him my online sources seemed to say it was safe to assume worms and to treat, but he countered there are various worms, etc and you have to know which ones you've got.
HOWEVER i was also told on toirtoise.org( i think was the source) that the standard medicine for all worms was....
Wormer Fenbendazole (Panacur) 50 mg/kg*

Wormer Oxfendazole (Synathic/Systamex 65 mg/kg



Thoughts on how to proceed? My natural inclination is to just follow those instructions, collect the samples( except collect one for each and label which was hers and which was his, if Im going to pay, who cares if it's for two samples and why pay the $50 for an exam for one of the turtles if only one really has the parasite?)
 

Crazy1

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Hanna, who are you using as a vet? I know you are in So. Cal but that is expensive. a fecal test should not cost that much and they can do it right there. If both torts are housed together if one has worms both will have worms.
 

Yvonne G

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There are different kinds of parasites (the kind you can see that actually look like worms, and the kind that you can't see like amoeba, etc, and the two de-wormers are what you would administer if your tortoise had both kinds. However, they usually don't have both kinds. The usual kind of parasite is the one killed off by the Panacur. They occasionally DO get the amoeba and no-see-um kinds, but generally speaking, its the Panacur kind. So, like Robyn says, take in a mixed stool sample from both of your tortoises (one sample for one test) to see what kinds of parasites they have...if any. Then, to save yourself some $$$, ask the vet to show you the dosage and how to administer, and do it yourself.

Yvonne
 
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