How often do you worm your tortoises?

[sarah]

Do you take poo samples to the vets and check for worms? how often do you do this?
What wormer do you use?

[sandy]

I only worm my tortoises when I see worms. As medicating them regularly cant be that good
for them. I try only to use medication as and when needed.

[sarah]

So you check your tortoises poo's regularly. Does a build up of worms affect them while they are hibernating? I have read somewhere that certain foods are natural wormers is this true?
What do you use when you worm them?

[sandy]

Some say carrots are a natural wormer, not sure if true. But the odd bit of carrot as part
of a varied diet wont hurt. But only once or twice a year. Dont want keepers thinking they
can feed it at any time<g>.
If torts get a build up of worms the actually expel them with the stools. Then its time to worm.
Tortoises slow down and stop eating if they do have an over load.

[nina]

I've heard that about carrots, and I've also heard that pumpkin has natural worming properties.

Nina

[saucysqueezy]

i thought i would keep on topic and bump this up

how do you check for worms and what should you be watching out for - we've read a few guides but it's better to know from people directly I think to get first hand experience

I worm annually in the summer as torts kept in enclosures reinfect themselves. I took part in a study for the Royal Veterinary College which showed that even tortoises that had been wormed earlier in the year still carried eggs. I was advised to worm them annualy for this reason. It would not be necessary if torts were in the wild as they would not be so likely to reinfect plus they would most likely eat natural vermifuge plants. I now feed my russians pumpkin each October and since doing this their faecal samples have shown very low concentration of worm eggs in the spring and they have appeared livelier after hibernation. Just my own observations aided by the veterinary study.
Sue

[piglet]

I also took part in this study, found it very beneficial for myself and the tortoises,
I worm 6 weeks after hibernation and around mid summer, i have my tortoises checked randomly through out the year and only on occasion is a high worm egg count seen.
I use pancur 2.5% - 10% depending on species and age
Darren

Hi Darren
So good to hear from someone else who has taken part in the study. If I remember correctly there were twenty of us taking part. I found Struan to be really helpful, even though he kept saying the reverse LOL. What I found fascinating was that Samson, who I consider to be one of my livelier torts had the highest count despite being wormed earlier that year. Mind you he is a grubber, eating slugs and decaying vegetation if he can find it, proving the likelihood of re-infestation. I worm mine mid summer, except the hatchlings which have been kept in smaller enclosures obviously, with stricter control over substrate change. I have not wormed the russians for two years but have given them pumpkin in October after having brought them in prior to wind down. As the pumpkin only appears to paralise worms, along with giving the gut a thorough clean out, it would not be so useful to do it outdoors in my opinion. Indoors I can keep a stricter control over substrate change. I don't feed any other food for a few days while the pumpkin is clearing the gut. As the russians are harder to worm than hermanns, spurs etc I shall continue to do this while they are reacting so well to the regime. The difference in their activity levels since doing this are amazing. I also used the 'treatment' on the leopards last autumn too.
I still have some systamex in date from the last lot I bought so will be using this to worm mine this year, but will go over to panacur next year, same as I use for the little ones.

[saucysqueezy]

where do you get the items to worm them from? We haven't had our torts long but with it being summer we thought better to worm them, they are just over a year old