Re: What's wrong with it?

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Posted by ULf Edqvist on December 28, 1998 at 15:11:45:

In Reply to: What's wrong with it? posted by Ian on December 27, 1998 at 18:12:01:

: Recently my greek tortoise has been defecating out all of her food
: undigested. I can see the pieces of greens and the carrots, etc. This doesn't smell
: at all. Also I think she lost A little weight since last thursday. She has been to the vet several
: times and cleared of all her problems. The last thing she had was entoemeba, which I cleared out
: with the medicatioon the vet gave me, the last dose being last Thursday. She also gets

Your tortoise's benificial gut flora has in all likelyhood been harmed by the antiprotozal drug (usually Flagyl or some other Metronidazole prep). A term often used for this condition is Sterile gut syndrome,(not being a 100% accurate description, but you get the idea).

There are a number of ways to deal with it:

1. Obtain a small amount of fecal matter from a _genetically close_ (sibling?), _healthy_ individual and feed it to your tortoise, thereby 'reseeding' the gut with appropriate organisms. This usually works extremly well, but the problem is getting the material - it has to be from a close enough tortoise, and hit should be screened for parasites.

2. Feed your tortoise small amounts of LIVE Youghurt - non-flavored. This will introduce some organisms that will be beneficial, but not 'the whole package' as in solution no: 1.

3. Feed some 'concentrated youghurt bacteria' - ask at a health food shop. Lactobacillus sp. should work fine. Safe, but not very efficient.

3. Use 'Benebac' or some similar medication, specifically aimed at reseeding guts in animals. This is probably the safest and most efficient way if you don't have access to safe fecal matter.

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Re: What's wrong with it? Ian 12/29/98 (0)

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: : Recently my greek tortoise has been defecating out all of her food : : undigested. I can see the pieces of greens and the carrots, etc. This doesn't smell : : at all. Also I think she lost A little weight since last thursday. She has been to the vet several : : times and cleared of all her problems. The last thing she had was entoemeba, which I cleared out : : with the medicatioon the vet gave me, the last dose being last Thursday. She also gets : Your tortoise's benificial gut flora has in all likelyhood been harmed by the antiprotozal drug (usually Flagyl or some other Metronidazole prep). A term often used for this condition is Sterile gut syndrome,(not being a 100% accurate description, but you get the idea). : There are a number of ways to deal with it: : 1. Obtain a small amount of fecal matter from a _genetically close_ (sibling?), _healthy_ individual and feed it to your tortoise, thereby 'reseeding' the gut with appropriate organisms. This usually works extremly well, but the problem is getting the material - it has to be from a close enough tortoise, and hit should be screened for parasites. : 2. Feed your tortoise small amounts of LIVE Youghurt - non-flavored. This will introduce some organisms that will be beneficial, but not 'the whole package' as in solution no: 1. : 3. Feed some 'concentrated youghurt bacteria' - ask at a health food shop. Lactobacillus sp. should work fine. Safe, but not very efficient. : 3. Use 'Benebac' or some similar medication, specifically aimed at reseeding guts in animals. This is probably the safest and most efficient way if you don't have access to safe fecal matter.

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