Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My Russian tort had worms and amoebas over the summer and just had a follow-up visit to the vet, where they determined he still has amoebas. I would think this would be obvious to them considering they only gave him panacur, in powder form. Now, though, they are giving him another round of panacur, this time as a liquid. Is there supposed to be some added benefit to panacur in liquid form as opposed to powder? I am at school right now so I'm not home to talk to the vet myself (although I am planning to call her tomorrow in light of this new development). Ed, if you read this, I know you answered my post awhile back about amoebas and you said that amoebacide comes in two forms, injection and oral doses. What was the name of the amoebacide again? How much would the injection cost? He doesn't seem to be suffering any ill effects from the amoebas, but I assume this could change. Should I be worried about this vet's course of treatment/judgement? Can anyone in the southeast Wisconsin area recommend a good herp vet??

Most people use Metronidazole but I've been told it doesn't get the cysts. This is only available in liquid or tablet. This is the one I use when treating amoebiasis.

The other drug I mentioned is Chloroquine. It is the only amoebicidal drug that I've come across that is injectable. It's most common use is to treat malaria.

It is also reported to be ineffective against cysts.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Where exactly do the cysts form, and do amoebas always cause cysts or is this a stage where they become dangerous? I haven't been able to find a lot of lit. about amoebas in tortoises. Is there a way to check for the cysts? If the treatment is successful in removing the amoebas, but there are still cysts, will the tortoise be okay? Thanks so much for your help.

The cysts I'm talking about is a kind of hard shell stage in the development of the amoebas.

The idea is to keep treating the animal until all the amoeba is erraticated which I'm told is really tough. I'm still muddling through trying to fully understand this.

It's really confusing because they say that the tortoise can live just fine with amoebas but at the same time there is growing evidence that it can kill the animal.

I know I've lost animals to this.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Wow... this is really upsetting. How long does it take for the amoebas to reach a hard shell stage? And how long does it take for them to kill the animal? Are there any symptoms that the animal is going downhill, and if there are does this indicate that it is too late? So far my tortoise is his usual self but he's had the amoebas for a couple months now (that I know about... he could have gotten them much earlier). Where do they even come from? My vet doesn't seem to understand them at all if she is trying to treat them with dewormer.

"Can anyone in the southeast Wisconsin area recommend a good herp vet??"
I don't know of any in south east WI, but here are a couple across the border in northern IL. They both attend Chicago Herp Society meetings from time to time and have experience with tortoises.
Good luck,
jbly

Stephen Barten
Vernon Hills Animal Hospital
1260 Butterfield Rd
Mundelein, IL 60060
847-367-4070
www.vhanimalhospital.com

Gery A Herrmann
Mundelein Animal Hospital
1133 West Maple Ave.
Mundelein, IL 60060
847-566-5750

Thanks! They are only about an hour away from where I live.

Try this link (it is a Word doc):

Reptilian Amoebiasis