Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My snapping turtle was dewormed today the only problem is the people i know say that what the vet used to deworm him kills turltes. he gave him Ivermectin does anyone know if this kills turtles cause if so looks like im gonna have a dead turtle please if anyone has any information on giving a snapping turtle that for deworming them please tell me. he only put a little tinny bit in and then he watered it down with water. if anyone can help me that would be great afraid i might have a dead turtle DRew

Well, I'm not going to second-guess your veterinarian...but....if it was in fact tapeworms that your turtle had, Droncit may have been a better choice. Ivermectin isn't too good for turtles. Watch him closely for signs of neurological problems.

I highly recommend suggesting that your veterinarian look up a few reptile medicine sources.

In the book, Understanding Reptile Parasites, by Dr. Klingenberg, he states that ivermectin is fatal in turtles because it crosses the blood brain barrier.

In the Biomedical and Surgical Aspects of Captive Reptile Husbandry, volume 1, by Dr. Frye, the only mention of ivermectin includes a statement in caps, DO NOT USE IN CHELONIANS.

Do not beat yourself up over this, if you second-guessed everything that the veterinarian did, you would quickly get booted out of the door. There are many sites on the Internet that have Reptile friendly veterinarians listed. Try to find one on that list and go there instead. In order to keep this person from doing any more damage, I would highly recommend printing out the sources I listed and giving them to the vet.
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