No Ali she hasnt been tested since last spring . They didnt ask for a sample of poo ,they asked for a urine sample . It was only because the tort pooed whilst I was collecting her urine that I thought I may aswel get it checked at the same time . The yellow urine they think is fine in terms of content they said was fine.They want me to remove her dry food to see if this affects the colour. What puzzles me is for the last few years when my torts have been wormed the vet said I had to take them in the surgery as two required sedation to administer treatment . However today I am going to collect the treatment inorder to administer at home . Wonder why I couldnt do that the last few years ,would of saved animal stress and me money .

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alicia x

at least she has been diagnosed so treatment can start. I think you hit the nail on the head with your last sentence. there is very little proffit in a vets just selling medication. much better that they can make a few quid on un-necessary treatments. This is exactly why i have learnt to do all of my animals "treatments" myself. I will get my pet diagnosed by a vet, but then thats where it stops, unless its a very serious illness. I have learnt to inject, stomach tube, assist feed, inspect mouths, and dress wounds of all of my reps. In some cases it was a matter of having to, when a exotic vet wasnt available, in others it was a matter of them being useless!! And on one occasion i watched a vet literally gouge my baby leopards leg out so he could get a swab. The vet didnt ask me to do it, if he had, there wouldnt have been a puddle of blood and infected matter all over his table and a very scared, completely freaked out leopard tortoise.

i actually rung my local vets yesterday to see if i could drop of a fecal sample for ech of my reps + tested for parasites. Then asked if i could collect any relevant meds to treat them at home. But i am still being charged a consult, one for each species. this same vet gets all my business with the dogs. I dont doubt that there are some good vets around, but i am et to find one that doesnt care as much about his wallet as the animal he is treating.

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Thats terrible ! Ali I dont have to much confidence in the vet despite them being rep " specialists" . Not totally convinced they have my animals intrests at heart . I wish I had found this site earlier as I may not of lost a baby leopard at xmas I am sure I would of received more help on here than I received from my vet . Not sure what my bill is going to be I paid £50 for an x ray yesterday and will get the rest of the bill today I guess. The main thing is I get the meds.

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alicia x

At least like Ali said it is treatable - the thing is we will always take our tortoises to the vet when ever we are worried cos thats what we do !!!!

No matter what it costs we want the best care for them and you put your trust in the vet to deliver that care.

My first xray for Honey was £70.00 luckily the next 2 got cheaper. She is the only one I cant insure because she came to me with a respiratory infection !!!

Can I just point out to those who use carrot or pumpkin as a wormer, it doesn't have the same affect if you are feeding it with other food. It needs to be the only food fed for a couple of days

Is that a precautionary method then Shelley ? Would that be a good idea maybe once a year ?

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once a year ( bet ya cant guess when!!) mine get the insides of three pumpkins minus the seeds, spread over 4-5 days. they LOVE it, and it is a natural wormer But i wont say it should replace proper wormer and fecal testing.

I know what you mean about taking them to the vets "because thats what we do". you are right, but the best tort vet i ever had actually told me that other than sending samples away for testing, there was very little they could actually DO for a tortoise. Its fortunate that people like Ed and Terry seem to know more about some illnesses than our £40 a consult vets. I am in the process of talking to a local diagnostics lab to see if they would be prepared to take all of my (pets!) fecal samples at a rate of ( i think) £7 per sample. They will also take blood, mucous, swabs, anything! if i can set up a regular thing with them, i reckon i could save approx £900 a year. my vet charges me £40 for a swab culture just to tell me whether an infection needs to be treated with gram negative Abs. its ridiculous.

you know, I really wish i hadnt wasted my student loan on reading English because by now i would have enrolled at vet school and be studying this properly!

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I have every confidence in Ed and Terry's input and they are always quick to respond when you need them.

I have a friend whose husband has had his own surgery for 25 yrs but he will just send tortoises to a colleague of his around 20 miles away who specialises. He will check samples but that is about all. At least he is honest when he says it is not his speciality.

I am very lucky my vet is really good but they hate the car journey - they get really stressed which doesn't help them at all.

You have a good knowledge of your pets Ali and you obviously have a keen interest so maybe vet school would be something for the future!!

I didn't qualify as a nurse until I was 39 !!!!!

Yes people who use the carrot or pumpkin way to naturally worm their torts do it in the autumn... Obviously when the pumpkins are about! You feed it alone for a couple of days and it helps to remove the little monsters from their insides. If they only have a bit of pumpkin (or carrot) mixed with their normal weeds it just doesn't have the same affect on their insides..... Just make sure you are prepared for all that very soft poo though!

Is there a period in which the sample needs to get to the vet for testing for worms ?