Fecal testing

[Mother of Egor]

We have had our RT, Egor, for about two weeks now. We feel he has acclimated well to his new life with us (he's about a year or so old from what we were told). He recently got the swing of things when he started to defecate during his soaks (yay!) but I decided to take a look and found something quite disturbing. There are definitely little tiny worms that are barely visible... or maybe this is part of his poop.

I have read the advice on fecal testing a new tort and was planning on doing this anyway, but I have no idea where to begin with finding a vet. I live in Lincoln, Nebraska. Does anyone live around here that has a good vet for exotics?

PS Sorry, I did not take the time to take a close up of his poop... gross!

 

[Dizisdalife]

Welcome to the Forum. I have copied the following information from our Vet List. Of course I haven't any personal experience with this office. If you decide on a different Vet and like the results perhaps you can add that information to the list.

David Schmitt, DVM
A-4 Animal Hospital
2780 South Street
Lincoln, NE 68502
Tel: (402) 475-2282

 

[Jodie]

Fecal testing and parasite treatment is fairly easy. Interview the vet, and don't blindly trust any of them. Members here can verify any meds prescribed. No shots in back legs, and no vitamin A shots. Those are the common errors.
If worms are visible you likely need to treat. Good luck.

 

[Pearly]

Welcome to the forum. Good luck with the vet. Let us know how it went

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Worms visible in the poo are always a sign of a heavy parasite load. Normally only eggs are passed. Are you sure that you saw worms and not some kind of fiberous material from food?
Most tortoises have a certain level of parasites and I haven't found any two vets yet that seems to agree on what exactly is normal.
I have used Panacur in the past. It seems well tolerated in my tortoises and is easy to administer in tortoises that are eating food. I just smear it on the food item and watch that only THAT tort eats the item.
You'll need a vet to give you the correct ratio/dose for your tortoise. Also the administering schedule as it is usually so many days of treatment with days or weeks in between...
I prefer the paste to the liquid or the powder. It's just my preference. I can see that the paste gets eaten and not wasted.
Yes. Please. Don't allow the vet to inject anything.

 

[Mother of Egor]

Like I said, I have been very concerned with making sure I have a healthy tort and it is very possible that it was fiberous material. I will call a vet later today. Since I am new to wonderful world of tortoises, I will probably only want the vet to confirm parasites or not and a clean bill of health (hopefully!).

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I was just trying to give you a heads up that most tortoises have a certain number of parasites and it seems like a knee jerk reaction by vets to treat for them.
I completely understand what you are doing and I agree with you. I also like to know that they are well.
Just don't despair if the tests are positive.
You'll be fine.

 

[Mother of Egor]

Hey everyone, thanks for all your advice. I just got back from the vet (recommended above), and Egor got a clean bill of health from the physical. He's got good lungs, bright eyes, and weighs almost 400g! The lab was backed up, so they'll be calling me with the fecal test results.

 

[Mother of Egor]

Welcome to the Forum. I have copied the following information from our Vet List. Of course I haven't any personal experience with this office. If you decide on a different Vet and like the results perhaps you can add that information to the list.

David Schmitt, DVM
A-4 Animal Hospital
2780 South Street
Lincoln, NE 68502
Tel: (402) 475-2282

Good recommendation, this vet knew what he was talking about. He asked lots of questions, gave a thorough exam, and overall is a nice guy.

 

[Mother of Egor]

Fecal testing and parasite treatment is fairly easy. Interview the vet, and don't blindly trust any of them. Members here can verify any meds prescribed. No shots in back legs, and no vitamin A shots. Those are the common errors.
If worms are visible you likely need to treat. Good luck.

The vet simply examined Egor and gave me the thumbs up. He spent some time asking me about his enclosure, diet, etc.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

It sounds like you found a good tort vet. That's very good news.

 

[tortdad]

awesome. After the initial well visit check for a new tortoise you should get annual fecal checks. Most vets will allow you to just bring a poop sample in for checking. My vet charges $25 or $30 for just a fecal check and not a animal visit.

 

[dmmj]

I love a vet that ask questions looks like you found a good one. finding a good vet is like finding a pot of gold rare but worth it when you do.