# Shotgun wormer??



## sunkisseddragons (Jun 19, 2009)

Hi there,
I have two tortoises-a CA desert Tortoise who is 13 years old and a new Sulcata-2 years old.

They both have free -range of my yard and eat the St Augustine grass on occasion.

I have heard that I should take the "Shotgun" approach to worming them every year to keep the parasite level down because they are eating grass.

Is this true?

I've never wormed my DT. My sulley is also CB and didn't think I needed to worry about that. 

Thanks
Elisa
Sun Kissed Dragons

www.sunkisseddragons.com


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## Maggie Cummings (Jun 19, 2009)

I have 25 or so chelonia and I have never wormed any of them. I feed them butternut squash and that does the deal just fine. Try that first, worming a tortoise is an iffy project and not really necessary... the squash takes care of any live parasites and eggs too...I microwave it until it's soft, let it cool and feed...


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## Millerlite (Jun 19, 2009)

I dont know how tortoise get so much parasites, but squash seems to help, and only time i would ever worm my tortoises if i knew they really needed it, if they were getting weak, or stopped eating, Honestly though i dont know if they would get to that point if you feed them a good diet.... I dont know.. some people do worm theres yearly though, its just can be risky.


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## sunkisseddragons (Jun 19, 2009)

Good!
Does anyone know why exactly butternut squash takes care of parasites and it that a remedy for all herbacious reptiles?


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## Yvonne G (Jun 19, 2009)

In the wild, they wander over quite a large area to graze and chances of ingesting parasite-laden poop are slim. However, in a captive situation, they don't have a large area and consequently they might come back into contact with parasite-poop. And it just escalates from there. Also, outside, bird droppings might have parasite eggs in them, and the birds poop on the grass the tortoise eats. 

Everything I've read about the anthelmintic properties of pumpkin or squash all refer to the seeds being the anthelmintic, not the flesh of the fruit. But I can't convince anyone here on the forum of that. I guess you'll just have to be the judge.

Yvonne


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## chadk (Jun 19, 2009)

stress and high suger foods (fruits and some veggies) can cause the normal levels of parasites to bloom. The pumpkin and squash won't cure them, just help keep the number down I think... And should be fed very sparingly to dessert type torts.


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## Maggie Cummings (Jun 20, 2009)

Squash is fine for desert type tortoises. sorry Chad sweetie... 
Gopherus agassizii, Sulcata, Leopard and many others are opportunistic feeders meaning that they will eat whatever they come in contact with. While a total diet of squash or anything else total, for that matter wouldn't be good, used once a week for management of parasites hurts nothing. I pass right over care sheets that tell me what I can or should feed my tortoises. They will eat anything put in front of them and squash hurts nothing...
I have never used a wormer and my animals don't ever have parasites...I blame it on the squash...


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