Eolastear
New Member
Hello Everyone,
I am new to the forum and also new to tortoise ownership. I am hoping to get some experienced feedback to my current situation. Hopefully I can receive that feedback respectfully and without being ridiculed. I just genuinely want to make sure i am doing the right things. Here it goes.
My family purchased a Russian tortoise about 2 weeks ago from PetsMart. Knowing what I do know, in hindsight I may have tried to find a local breeder. But as it stands Bailey, that's his name, is now part of the family. Right now Bailey is a juvenile, no more than 5 inches. He is currently being housed in a large plastic tub that is 36"L x 24"W x 14"H. This is not his permanent home. We have two Zoo Med tortoise houses in bound which we will be combining for his future residence. In his current enclosure he has a hide, access to a shallow water dish he fits in and a baking area. The banking side is heated by a MVB bulb, the 160w Solar Glo. Current temp on basking side fluctuates between 95 to 101 depending on ambient temp in room. The cool side of his enclosure fluctuates between 75 and 80. His current diet consists of herb salad mix + dandelion greens + endive + an herbal tortoise hay from tortoise supply that has all kinds of dried herbs and flowers and broad leaf greens in it. I also sprinkle RepCal with D3 on his food daily. Lastly, the room he is in also houses my sugar gliders so the ambient humidity is kept between 60% and 70% thanks to a humidifier.
Shortly after Bailey came home with us he was taken to our vet for his first check up. Everything came back good except his fecal which tested positive for pinworms. The test showed a result of >= 30 (Many). Bailey was prescribed Strongid. He was administered .2 cc for 3 days and I was told to repeat in 3 weeks. He finished his 3 day treatment this past Monday. After his first treatment, last Saturday, I tried to replace his substrate with newspaper for the duration of his deworming. Bailey became highly agitated and stressed. He would not sit still and was just in a panic. I grew worried so I decided to put substrate down for him. Since we started the treatment we soak him daily so he can hydrate and poop outside his enclosure. It wasnt until this Friday, 4 days after his last dose, that I started seeing nematodes in his stool, albeit they looked dead or at least paralyzed. They weren't moving. But there was a lot of them. It was like that again this morning. I took the opportunity this morning while he soaked to change his substrate again.
My first question is this. Is it normal for the nematodes to be appearing in his stool still after 4 days since last dose of Strongid? If so, how long should I expect to see them continue to appear? I have never wormed a tortoise so I am not fully aware of how the process goes. Does anyone have experience with Strongid? If so can you share any tips to the treatment?
My second question, is there anything anyone would change about what I have explained thus far. Keeping in mind he will be getting moved to a larger enclosure within the next 2 weeks. He is alone eating readily in case anyone is wondering.
Thanks in advance.
I am new to the forum and also new to tortoise ownership. I am hoping to get some experienced feedback to my current situation. Hopefully I can receive that feedback respectfully and without being ridiculed. I just genuinely want to make sure i am doing the right things. Here it goes.
My family purchased a Russian tortoise about 2 weeks ago from PetsMart. Knowing what I do know, in hindsight I may have tried to find a local breeder. But as it stands Bailey, that's his name, is now part of the family. Right now Bailey is a juvenile, no more than 5 inches. He is currently being housed in a large plastic tub that is 36"L x 24"W x 14"H. This is not his permanent home. We have two Zoo Med tortoise houses in bound which we will be combining for his future residence. In his current enclosure he has a hide, access to a shallow water dish he fits in and a baking area. The banking side is heated by a MVB bulb, the 160w Solar Glo. Current temp on basking side fluctuates between 95 to 101 depending on ambient temp in room. The cool side of his enclosure fluctuates between 75 and 80. His current diet consists of herb salad mix + dandelion greens + endive + an herbal tortoise hay from tortoise supply that has all kinds of dried herbs and flowers and broad leaf greens in it. I also sprinkle RepCal with D3 on his food daily. Lastly, the room he is in also houses my sugar gliders so the ambient humidity is kept between 60% and 70% thanks to a humidifier.
Shortly after Bailey came home with us he was taken to our vet for his first check up. Everything came back good except his fecal which tested positive for pinworms. The test showed a result of >= 30 (Many). Bailey was prescribed Strongid. He was administered .2 cc for 3 days and I was told to repeat in 3 weeks. He finished his 3 day treatment this past Monday. After his first treatment, last Saturday, I tried to replace his substrate with newspaper for the duration of his deworming. Bailey became highly agitated and stressed. He would not sit still and was just in a panic. I grew worried so I decided to put substrate down for him. Since we started the treatment we soak him daily so he can hydrate and poop outside his enclosure. It wasnt until this Friday, 4 days after his last dose, that I started seeing nematodes in his stool, albeit they looked dead or at least paralyzed. They weren't moving. But there was a lot of them. It was like that again this morning. I took the opportunity this morning while he soaked to change his substrate again.
My first question is this. Is it normal for the nematodes to be appearing in his stool still after 4 days since last dose of Strongid? If so, how long should I expect to see them continue to appear? I have never wormed a tortoise so I am not fully aware of how the process goes. Does anyone have experience with Strongid? If so can you share any tips to the treatment?
My second question, is there anything anyone would change about what I have explained thus far. Keeping in mind he will be getting moved to a larger enclosure within the next 2 weeks. He is alone eating readily in case anyone is wondering.
Thanks in advance.
