Dewormer

wellington

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I don't deworm my tortoises except for feeding raw pumpkin. It's a natural dewormer.
Other then that, you should have them checked for works before giving any medicines so you know what kind they have before treating.
 

ZEROPILOT

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The Panacur that I've used and purchased.(With guide lines from my vet) I've found in different forms and in different strengths.
So dosing would be difficult without the percentage strength, size and weight of the animal. etc. all factored in. And a diagnosis that it is what is required.
 

wellington

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pumpkin is not a natural dewormer pumpkin seed ground up is a natural dewormer. that requires massive amounts of the seed because there's a tiny little bit of chemical in the seed
I guess it depends on where one is reading the info from. Many places I have read both seeds (raw) and flesh and one or the other. Seeds being most used as you can buy them (raw) any time of the year. The first place I heard about feeding pumpkin was tfo years ago. I do feed both, as I feed the whole thing.
 

SarahChelonoidis

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I have heard the pumpkin dewormer claim, but I have not ever been able to find any evidence to support it or even a proposed method of action. I suspect this might be an old wives tale.
 

Kapidolo Farms

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Here is a paper with much relevant information (Giannetto-2007). You can get dosing rates from using the drug of choice and "merck" in a google search. I prefer oral gavage as a dose method. Another is to make a 'burrito' that includes the dose and hand feeding it to the animal.

Most dosing is given as gm/kg or ml/kg. A Kilogram is 1000 grams. So just weigh the tortoise on a scale that reads these units out and doseing becomes much simpler to do, instead of sorting out conversion ratios. Often the packaging will offer both ml/kg and gm/kg so you can portion the drug out via a scale or a syringe. You can but syringes at most any pharmacy.

If all that is not acceptable most vets should be able to sort out the dose, especially if you bring them relevant technical literature, like the printout from the Merck webpage and the drug in it's original packaging.

If the Merck guide suggests 1 gram per kilogram and you have a 10.3 kilogram tortoise them you would use 10.3 grams of the compound. Super easy to do the math that way. Don't worry about "how much does the shell weight" etc. The chance the bowels are full or empty is a bigger wild card than worrying about the shell. These drugs have wide margin of error and there have been semi quantitative studies of their toxicology in tortoises. (Neiffer-2005).
 

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dmmj

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only the pumpkin seeds contain the chemical that can be used as a dewormer the Name Escapes me at the moment the flesh contains no such chemical. And you have to grind the seeds up and you have to use a lot of seeds, a LOT of seeds. And since they are'nt really aren't designed to eat seeds
I avoid feeding it just in general.
 

Kapidolo Farms

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only the pumpkin seeds contain the chemical that can be used as a dewormer the Name Escapes me at the moment the flesh contains no such chemical. And you have to grind the seeds up and you have to use a lot of seeds, a LOT of seeds. And since they are'nt really aren't designed to eat seeds
I avoid feeding it just in general.

au contraire, they are all seed eaters. However regarding the quantity of seeds required for the 'pumpkin' cure you are dead on right, or at least I agree.
 

Kapidolo Farms

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I have heard the pumpkin dewormer claim, but I have not ever been able to find any evidence to support it or even a proposed method of action. I suspect this might be an old wives tale.

https://sites.google.com/site/tortoiselibrary/health-and-medical/pumpkin-as-a-dewormer so close it could have bit you. Really this associated web site is a gold mine of info that has been vetted. Lots of laughs Sarah. you know I'm just funning you with my snappy response, I spelled out LOL.
 

Stuart S.

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So just because I haven't had to deal with this yet..should I deworm my tortoise only when issues arrive or on a scheduled routine?
 

ZEROPILOT

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So just because I haven't had to deal with this yet..should I deworm my tortoise only when issues arrive or on a scheduled routine?
Only when your tortoise(S) have worms, and in numbers large enough to present an issue.
Lots of tortoises live with a certain level of parasites in captivity and in the wild.
Treatment is not always required.
Sorry @rearlpettway to deviate off of your post.
 

Meganolvt

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Some worms amd parasites are normal and needed, some aren't, which is why a fecal exam should be done AT THE VET and medications dosed and dispensed AT A VET. It is so frustrating to us in the vet world when people try to pick meds and figure out dosing for meds when they have no idea what they are doing or why, or how to do math (%, mg/mL, g/kg, etc). Please people, go to the vet until you really REALLY understand what you are doing. Panacur does have a wide margin, but many drugs don't, and suggesting that people medicate their pets themselves with no professional guidance can start a very slippery slope. I'll never understand why people insist on trusting a website that anyone in the world could have written over a person who has spent their life being a doctor.
 
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