Do you have a tortoise? If so, it is recommended to have a worm count carried out on your tortoise twice a year.
A worm count can be carried out by obtaining a faecal sample, which can be tested in practice. It is common for tortoises to have a low-level worm burden; however, when this increases, it can cause issues such as diarrhoea, a reduction in the absorption of nutrients and subsequently, weight loss. It is particularly important to control before hibernation, and after moving to a new enclosure, before meeting a new tortoise or if they stop eating or have diarrhoea.
If a positive test is returned, we would recommend booking in for worming treatment. Many wormers will only kill the live worms and not the eggs and, for this reason, we may advise on repeat doses and another faecal count at the end of the treatment.
Whilst your tortoise is undergoing worming treatment it is important to remove all substrate and replace with newspaper. Throughout this time, you should feed your tortoise with high fibre, high water content food. It would help if you did not feed them fruit, as sugar can lead to worms reproducing more rapidly.
For more information, please contact us.
