Antiprotozoans = BAD

[Talka]

Took my tort to a new vet today. They did a fecal test and found nothing. Called the first vet I saw (Riverview in Birmingham) and found out they used an antiprotozoan on my Sheldon.
It killed the worms and his natural flora. He hasn't gained any weight since the deworming and his appetite has been falling.

The problem is easy to fix, he apparently just has to sit in a bath with another tortoise's poop and that'll recolonize his gut.

Just be careful that your tort doesn't receive an antiprotozoan drug for a deworming.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

There are a number of other ways to re-introduce a 'good' flora to your animal's gut. And you are right they do need that good flora.

The ZooMed diets for tortoises, the 'grassland', and 'forest' diets both are inoculated with these, and are the most simple to get a hold of. There are other products out there for this purpose, but these are in a great many pet stores and so very easy to get.

Moisten the pellet and mix a small amount in with whatever is being eaten. It's not as quick as the killing off of the gut flora.

The feeding of another tortoises fecal works too, as you suggested, but then how do you know, really know, that the other tortoise does not have the worms? If one in a group has them, likely they all do.

Will

 

[shellysmom]

What about bena-bac powder? Done anyone know if that can be used for reptiles?

 

[yagyujubei]

Did he give it flagyl? (metronidazole). All drugs have side effects. This one is easy to fix. How long ago was he wormed? Most wormers will cause appetite loss for a time.

 

[Baoh]

There is nothing incorrect about the use of antiprotozoals when treating protozoan infections. They can also, depending on the drug in question, be useful in the event of therapeutic failures by other means when treating some helminthic infections. Restoration of intestinal microflora is easily achieved with proper exposure to and/or consumption of the feces of healthy tortoises, some soil ingestion, and/or the administration of a varied probiotic supplement. If using a supplement, I would go for something with a wide span of species and strains. The recolonization and subsequent re-balancing of recolonizing organisms is generally automatic thereafter and this will allow the new organisms to crowd out or out-compete less desirable organisms. While there is some reason to believe that a species match for fecal supplementation could perhaps be ideal, I have yet to actually observe it to be necessary in a real-world setting.

 

[Talka]

The feeding of another tortoises fecal works too, as you suggested, but then how do you know, really know, that the other tortoise does not have the worms?

Vet said he could get samples analyzed and make sure the tort would be safe. He's got great reviews for his work on reptiles and he used to work at the zoo so I'll go with whatever he says.

Sheldon did have metronidazole, a two week dose with a pause in between to allow the worm larvae to grow up and be susceptible to the second round of medicine. Maybe it was a bit much for my little guy.

I'll look for the grassland tortoise food this weekend and start feeding him that. Thanks for the tips guys. Makes me feel less helpless about this little situation.

 

[biochemnerd808]

I'm surprised the vet didn't just treat with fenbendazole? It gets all worms except for tapeworm (which aren't typically found in tortoises), and only has very low side effects (torts are a bit nauseated for a few days, and need extra water). Oh. I just read the rest of your post - you were treating for protozoans, too.

You can also drizzle small amounts of GOOD probiotic yoghurt over your tort's food. Also, Carolina Pet Supplies' TNT powder can be purchased with probiotics - not sure if I'm allowed to post a link here, but should be easy to google.

Good luck! 4 of our torts just got treated for worms, too, last week.

The feeding of another tortoises fecal works too, as you suggested, but then how do you know, really know, that the other tortoise does not have the worms?

Vet said he could get samples analyzed and make sure the tort would be safe. He's got great reviews for his work on reptiles and he used to work at the zoo so I'll go with whatever he says.

Sheldon did have metronidazole, a two week dose with a pause in between to allow the worm larvae to grow up and be susceptible to the second round of medicine. Maybe it was a bit much for my little guy.

I'll look for the grassland tortoise food this weekend and start feeding him that. Thanks for the tips guys. Makes me feel less helpless about this little situation.