DMT w/possible parasite/worm infestation

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  • Shana Stearn
    February 9, 2009 at 12:31 pm #22371

    Hi- question about my DMT. I’m involve in rescue, rehab, and education about herps, and also all kinds of programs involving wild birds. I’m based in Eureka, CA. old, and have hand rehabbed & raised her for the last 1 1/2 yrs. Thursday night when I had him in his feeding tank, I noticed a long whitish-yellow “string” coming out of his clochia. For the next two hours I removed it from him & his feeding tank. I’m thinking it’s the remains of some kind of parasite, probably tapeworm, but need ya’lls help in diagnosing & treating it. It has continued over the weekend, but to a lesser extent. and continuous, and became more mucousy at the end, with a blob of clear-looking “mucous” at the very end. It never moved like a live worm, and I save the specimen in the frig. She’s also lethargic, not eating much, and her stool is loose & mucousy also. or who might be a good person to take a look at it, and get more information in the area?

    karen testa
    February 9, 2009 at 1:16 pm #22373

    HI Shana, seems like you are having a bout with tapeworm, put the ‘worm piece’ in a ziploc with some water and bring it to a qualified herp vet (keep in refrig until you go). if you need names, i will email them to you. just let me know. never try to pull them out of the turtle as it can do harm to the turtle. after you get prescribed a dewormer(anthihelminthic), you should thoroughly clean the tank well with organic apple cider vinegar and i would stay away from any live food which gives a high instance of parasites. (worms arent as bad , just make sure you get them from a reputable source and not a bait shop as they store/feed in manure and copper sulfate and the worms absorb this) do not get metronidazole as it is not effective on tapeworm.also, do not get piperazie or ivermectin which is deadly to turtles. you turtle really needs a vet as it is not treatable at home. good luck and keep us posted

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