fecal exams

Yvonne G

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@SueieM :


When a tortoise lives in a small enclosure/habitat, the chances of him becoming infested with parasites are greater than if he were living in a very large enclosure. Should you have a vet do a fecal exam? It couldn't hurt. It's much better to have the exam than to just treat for parasites willy nilly. Any vet can look through a microscope and see parasites or their eggs, it doesn't have to be a reptile vet.
 
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SueieM

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I just saw your reply. Thank you. So I guess I should just take some poop to my dog's vet and ask them to look for any parasites. I will do that. Do you know if he is positive for them, I would think that it could affect his growth rate, correct? He's not small, small but I would think that for his age, which is approximated because I don't know how long those people had him for, that he'd be a bit larger than he is compared to some I see on this forum who are 7 or 8 years old and they are very large at 25- 30 lbs. or sometimes even bigger than that. Isn't there such a thing as them getting too big too fast also? Isn't slow, steady growth the best for them? I'd say mine is probable 15 - 20 lbs. not sure I have to weigh him. He lives in my back yard during spring, summer, and part of fall, then he goes down to my basement in the winter or once it gets to below 60 degrees. Actually, I've already had to put him in the house the last 3 nights or so due to temps going down below 60 already here at night in MA. I do have bird feeders and lots of squirrels, and a dog, etc. around the yard though so would that introduce him to more parasite exposure - - I would say probably YES, right?
 

Yvonne G

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A dog vet can tell you if the sample has parasites, but he probably won't give you the de-wormer without seeing the animal. I've always thought that they can pick up parasites from bird or rodent droppings, but I recently read a post here where the parasites aren't interspecies, so now I'm not sure anymore.

If the vet tells you he sees parasites or parasite eggs, then I can give you the dosage and brand of de-wormer in a PM.

In my opinion, it doesn't matter if a tortoise grows slowly or fast. If he eats well, he grows accordingly. I don't withhold food.
 

SueieM

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Somerset, MA
A dog vet can tell you if the sample has parasites, but he probably won't give you the de-wormer without seeing the animal. I've always thought that they can pick up parasites from bird or rodent droppings, but I recently read a post here where the parasites aren't interspecies, so now I'm not sure anymore.

If the vet tells you he sees parasites or parasite eggs, then I can give you the dosage and brand of de-wormer in a PM.

In my opinion, it doesn't matter if a tortoise grows slowly or fast. If he eats well, he grows accordingly. I don't withhold food.
OK, thanks. I'll get his poop tested soon and I will let you know the result. The only reason I mentioned about how fast or slow he;s growing is only because I'm wondering if maybe I've done something wrong in not testing him already for parasites and if he does have them and has had them for who knows how long, if that would somehow impair his growth. I let him eat how ever much he wants. He roams all of the yard eating grass and I have some hibiscus trees I'm always picking flowers off of for him, and I also give him his romaine, and other greens in the summer but not as much as I need to in the winter. I sprinkle that TNT that I buy from a place on line (can't think of the name of the place right now), but its got all kinds of crushed dried flowers, and natural and stuff in it that's good for them which I sprinkle on the greens. I give him a treat of watermellon or apple or non citrus fruit but only occassionally. He loves the flowers and the lettuce most. I still soak him in the baby pool we got for him in the summer and in the tub in the winter. He still won't go in water by himself. I also hose him down on hot summer days which he seems to enjoy. I've never seen anything in his poop that shouldn't be there but to be on the safe side I'm going to have it tested. If it is positive, I'll let you know and I appreciate you telling me what I'll need to do from there. Thanks so much for your help, and your time. Sue
 

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