Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Took my Russian to the vet today and confirmed the need to be dewormed. My vet prescribed Panacur and said that it must be ingested. Let's just say that the poor little tortoise wasn't very cooperative in taking the first dose. I have several more doese to go, any suggestions on how to effectively deliver the Panacur?

db

Dear db, I have little experience except as follows. Using dosage in Highfields book, I carefully weighed the apple flavored Panacur paste after weighing the tortoise and put the paste on a grape leaf or lettuce leaf, rolled it up and hand fed it to my Russians and Leopards. I was fortunate the tortoises were all vigorous feeders. Some "squished out the mouth", so the dosages were not real precise, but the administration was not stressful unlike others. Panacur seems to offer a wide range of dosage and still be effective and safe in my limited experience. I was amazed at the obvious effect on the tortoises, which expelled a lot of round worms. I repeated the dosage 10 days later. You may need to tube administer with a catheter, and you will need a vet or experienced person to show you. My tortoises were outwardly healthy and feeding well, but obviously had a belly full of worms which were expelled. Good luck, Vic H.
P.s. Worm eggs may infest the soil, so try to interrupt the cycle while you clean the tortoises out. Ask your vet about it, it depends on what type worms your animals are dealing with.

Thanks for the advise Vic. I have everything that I need accept for an effective way to deliver the dose.

My male is being treated for a respiratory infection at the same time. He does eat, but he is very shy about it. My vet and I tried to get him to open his mouth, which he did, but then sqished most of the panacur out. I don't want to add any more stress than necessary to get him better.

My female is a chow hound so I will try your method when I feed them tomorrow.

db