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WHAT I WANT TO KNOW IS WHY DO THEY COME IN SO HEAVY WITH PARASITES? WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MAIN CAUSES? MAYBE NATURAL CONDTIONS?

Hi there

I am from Malaysia , I have M.emys emys in my collection My torts are collected in two ways
a) Bought from wet markets
Almost always 100% heavily loaded with parasites
b) Collected from wild
Evident of parasite but not heavy on most specimen

From information gathered those bought from wet markets have being in capture for more than a few days to maybe weeks.
Most were given little or no food since capture.

So from Wild to pet shop in US ,Europe ,Japan ...... must have being weeks to months since capture .
The starving torts may have eaten the waste (parasite n eggs mix in) for survival therefore double loaded the parasite in gut

Just my 2 cents worth

Cheers
SAM

Manouria tortoises appear to be especially senstive to parasites. At least 50% of imports, no matter how "healthy and feeding" will die within a year or so. Lesson is to spend a bit more and buy ONLY captive bred torts - you'll save yourself headaches and $$ in the long run. Leave the tortoises in their rain forests.....

The parasites don't have a house if the tortoise dies. In the wild, every reptile has some parasite load. The immune and gastro intestinal systems limit the numbers of parasites within the body. Unfortunately, the capability of self-riddance decreases as the animal's health declines. Thus, a sick turtle, will see parasites increase, and get sicker, and the ball gets rolling. Stress, dehydration, and anorexia; in addition to any communicable diseases associated with crowded conditions in sub-par husbandry all lower a reptile's ability to control it's parasite load.

Ian