Koopa's Respiratory Infection and Pin worms

Ashelly

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My 3 year old leopard tortoise, Koopa, is sick. He has been sick for a few months. He is wheezing and occasionally bubbles with come out of his nose. He is very sedentary and spending most of his time under the heat light or in sleeping in his cave. His enclosure is custom built. It's 5ft long and 4 foot wide with a special hideaway that he can sleep in. I replaced my heat bulb with a brand new one in case that was the problem. When I soak him he does nothing. Just sits there curled up in his shell. I thought that he was being picked on by his two cage mates who are perfectly healthy. So I decided to downsize my collection. I have re-homed all of them except Koopa. I took him to an exotic vet clinic and was given an antibiotic to inject for 3 weeks for his respiratory infection. He seemed to do better at first but the wheezing has come back. The vet also diagnosed him with pin worms. Since he is a leopard, giving him oral meds is nearly impossible by force. And he does not hand feed from me. So I gave him a tomato with panacur in it and hoped for the best. I guess I am at a loss. The vet I took him too is so expensive that I am not too excited to take him back there. Any advice on what to try next? ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1463072748.483098.jpgImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1463072767.199600.jpgImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1463072789.668766.jpg
 

JoesMum

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Do you know the temperatures that your are keeping Cooper at? With infections like this, they are nearly always not being kept warm enough.

You need to get a temperature gun thermometer and measure the 4 important temperatures: Directly under the basking lamp, warm side, cool side and overnight minimum.

Pictures of Cooper's enclosure will help us spot any other problems.

As for feeding panacur, bribery is pretty much the only way that I can see! If it takes tomato, then it takes tomato.
 

ZEROPILOT

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The RI could weaken him and allow the Pinworms to become a bigger issue. They are not uncommon but can be handled by healthy tortoises and the numbers of them stay small.
I would not administer the antibiotics and Panacur together.
Get the infection under control and hopefully the pin worms will stay in check.
The antibiotics will hinder food digestion.
Your tortoise may stop eating for a few days. But you must administer the full dose of the antibiotic or it might become resistant and get harder to kill.
It's o.k. that you don't see immediate improvement.
 

Kasia

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The RI could weaken him and allow the Pinworms to become a bigger issue. They are not uncommon but can be handled by healthy tortoises and the numbers of them stay small.
I would not administer the antibiotics and Panacur together.
Get the infection under control and hopefully the pin worms will stay in check.
The antibiotics will hinder food digestion.
Your tortoise may stop eating for a few days. But you must administer the full dose of the antibiotic or it might become resistant and get harder to kill.
It's o.k. that you don't see immediate improvement.
I would say the opposite. The RI is due the parasite infestation and it's secondary. Vet should administer meds directly to the stomach through a tube. That is stressful to an animal but it works. Mine Nini was a very difficult patient sometimes administration lasted up to 30 minutes because It was impossible to get his head just enough out of the shell.
Worth to read thread
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/ernie.136677/

Good luck
 

Ashelly

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Thanks for all the great advice. You all really got the wheels turning. I think the first thing to do is to turn up the heat. The basking spot is okay but I think I need an additional source of heat at the other end of the cage. It drops too low at night for him. So another form of heat might really boost his immune system. Hopefully that will help.
I think I am also going to also try some other food to put the panacur in and see if he takes it. Any suggestions on what other food would be tempting for a leopard?
 

Kasia

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Thanks for all the great advice. You all really got the wheels turning. I think the first thing to do is to turn up the heat. The basking spot is okay but I think I need an additional source of heat at the other end of the cage. It drops too low at night for him. So another form of heat might really boost his immune system. Hopefully that will help.
I think I am also going to also try some other food to put the panacur in and see if he takes it. Any suggestions on what other food would be tempting for a leopard?
radachio :) bananas, watermelon, cucumber :)
 

dmmj

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mine love hibiscus flowers& grape leaves
 
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