• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

Deworming Tortoises?

JG1153

JG1153

Member
Joined
May 11, 2008
Messages
245
Reaction score
21
Points
18
Age
44
Location
Central Texas
Hi I keep snakes so I know very little about Chelonians but I have a friend that has a couple of small leopard tortoises and she's wondering what she can use to de-worm tortoises. she hasn't seen any evidence of parasites but she wants to do some preventative treatments. I know not to use Ivermectin but other than that I don't know if there's anything else that shouldn't be used on Chelonians. Anyway any info (kinds of meds, dosages, techniques,etc.) would be greatly appreciated. Thanks


Juan
 
Invermectin is good but they destroy all the good bacteria in the digestive tract as well. If that happens you have to get asome probiotic foods in order to replenish that bacteria to aid in digesting.
Carolinapetsupply.com sells some probiotics made only for tortoises. as well as some meds that help aid digesttion and removal or worms and other parasites.
 
Yeah, like I said I don't know much about chelonians but I do know using Ivermectin on them is a big no no. I appreciate Jonathan's (whytepizza) attempt to help but his information is definitely not to be trusted.
 
Well, i have used Ivermectin on tortoises before with no bad side affects, but my 15 years of experience does not compare with some other peoples.
I currently use Panacure but it does not elliminate all types of internal parasites and is usually given via a tube so it's very stressful for the animal.
Lavamisole is a good substitute for Invermectin and has the same effectiveness but allows for room for error in dosing, unlike Inermectin which is the only time Invermectine is fatal.
There are other options but none of them i am sure of, but i can research it a little more. Lanamisole is also available as a generic called Tramisol.
With any of these treatments it is dependent on weight and size of your tour and should only be determined by a vet.
 
Yeah I'm not trying to say Jonathan doesn't know what he's talking about. I apologize Jonathan if that's the way I came off. perhaps I should have worded my last post differently. I'm just going by what I've read on reptile medicine books, formularies and most internet sites and they say Ivermectin is not to be used on chelonians as it tends to be lethal, but as I've said I'm not really a turtle person so my knowledge on the matter of tortoise/turtle medicine is not really that great.
 
JG1153 said:
Yeah I'm not trying to say Jonathan doesn't know what he's talking about. I apologize Jonathan if that's the way I came off. perhaps I should have worded my last post differently. I'm just going by what I've read on reptile medicine books, formularies and most internet sites and they say Ivermectin is not to be used on chelonians as it tends to be lethal, but as I've said I'm not really a turtle person so my knowledge on the matter of tortoise/turtle medicine is not really that great.
Click to expand...

Not to worry, you are 100% correct. I just wanted to clarify my statement before because the medicine can cause damage or become lethal. I'm also sorry if i came off as harsh in my last post. No harm meant.
 
Yea if it's just a prophylactic deworming, I'd go with the lower end of the panacur (or safeguard) dose and do it once, then repeat in 2 weeks, or you can just do one dose if youve never had an issue. Panacur/safeguard will kill the common stuff, but not protozoas. If you have a good tortoise vet, maybe you could drop off samples for them once a year or so?
 
Back
Top