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Re: russian tort/ridworm


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Posted by LauraO on June 11, 2001 at 13:35:49:

In Reply to: Re: russian tort/ridworm posted by Heather on June 10, 2001 at 19:35:26:

: : The standard doseage is 50mg/kg, so you need to be able to accurately measure the tort's weight with a calibrated gram scale. Then you need to check the concentration of active ingredient, which may be different depending on whether or not you use the paste or granules.

Some people use granules and sprinkle it on the food, but most competent vets will tell you that it is difficult to know whether or not your tort got the right amount that way. I tried paste on a tiny bit of food once, but my tort took one bite and ran right through his meal, getting most of the paste on his plastron.

Oral dosing is difficult and requires a bit of skill, lots of patience, and prefereably, someone to show you how the first time. I also learned from a great turtle rehabber, that because of the configuration of chelonian internal organs, a curved dosing tube should be used, and not a straight one. And the curve, if you were standing behind the turtle, holding him up in front of you with his back to yours, should be to the left.

Then there's opening that mouth. One time it took me 20 minutes to open one tort's mouth! I find a speculum works best. You have to be very careful not to use too much pressure or you can miss and hit the animal in the eye or damage the nose. I find that using some pressure, then letting go but keeping the speculum near the mouth, gives the tort a chance to take a deep breath and open his mouth, which is when I put the speculum in quickly, but carefully.

Sounds like a lot, right? I had somebody show me all this before I tried on my own. I suggest everybody do the same. Besides, you really have to get the whole health of the animal checked before administering medicine.


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