Anybody do their own fecals?

[PeanutbuttER]

Anybody do their own fecal exams? Seems like it's pretty straightforward to do if you've got a microscope and some mineral oil or something to dilute the poop out in.

 

[chadk]

No, but here is a site I was going to use if I wanted to try:
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Fecaltest.html

 

[dmmj]

that is just wrong, sick, and disgusting how can you say that, oh wait you are talking about torts, never mind ignore last comment. No I don't I have my vet do it.

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In case anyone was wondering I was only kidding around

 

[Fireluv007]

No, but here is a site I was going to use if I wanted to try:
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Fecaltest.html

That's so tempting! With the amount of animals we've got, not even including the reptiles... this would help a lot!
I'm not a fan of preventative worming, which most people will do for livestock, so we get fecal tests done on the horse and alpacas every 4 months. That stuff adds up!

 

[tortoisenerd]

If I had more than one tort I would seriously consider it. A great simple read is Understanding Reptile Parasites. My local library was able to order it from me from another library (Interlibrary Loan). After my tort had two parasites in the first 6 months I had him, I wanted more info. Also not a fan of preventative worming--so much more can be going on than worms anyways.

 

[TylerStewart]

I do my own checks.... I really forced myself to learn how when I was doing chameleons, which are much less tolerant of a parasite than tortoises are (it will usually kill a chameleon in captivity). It's not a real hard thing to learn how to do, and requires maybe a few hundred bucks in equipment for the basics which is quickly paid off if you get regular fecal checks done. Like was said, the "Understanding Reptile Parasites" book(s) are a great way to get an understanding of the process. At the Las Vegas Reptile Expo in October there is a class being taught that will show you a hands on process, even by testing your own animals if you want. If anyone wants in, let me know and I can get you in the info.

 

[Tom]

Sounds like a sh**ty job to me.

 

[matt41gb]

I do my own fecals at work. I use Sheather's fecal solution, spin it in a centrifuge for 10 min, then float for another 10 min with the cover slide on top. When I'm done, I'll pick the cover slide straight up and place it on the slide. I've found this method works very well at bringing the ova to the surface. If you do a direct don't use mineral oil. Use saline solution, it's much more transparent than mineral oil and less dense.

-Matt

 

[ashleighnicol]

Anybody do their own fecal exams? Seems like it's pretty straightforward to do if you've got a microscope and some mineral oil or something to dilute the poop out in.

Yes, I've done it several times, however, I'm also a Phd student in Microbiology and worked for two years as an intern in a vet office. It is relatively simple- for most parasites you just need a microscope, slides, PBS solution and a little know-how. Unfortunately, if you do detect a problem, unless you are a veterinarian you may not be able to get access to the medication you would need for treatment anyway. I only did it in the past to check and see if the coccidia medication my tortoise had been prescribed was working.

 

[TylerStewart]

Some of the medications (Panacur, which is a major one) are available from a feed store or many places online. The more difficult ones to get are Albon (for coccidia) or Flagyl, and a few others. My vet will get it to me without an appointment but only because she knows what I'm doing and not being shady about it. Panacur will knock out many of the more common tortoise parasites, though, and is easy to get, so it's still a process worth learning.

 

[PeanutbuttER]

Thanks for all the input guys. I do some research on campus in a molecular biology lab and we work with nematodes and it got me thinking one day about how since I look at worms under a microscope anyway there's no real reason why I couldn't do my own fecals. We float our worms in mineral oil when we do things like microinjections so I was thinking mineral oil would be fine for fecals as well just as a media to dilute the worms onto. Are the fecal solutions like Sheathers expensive or relatively cheap in comparison to something like mineral oil?

I'll look into the library and see if I can't find that book. It would make for a good read.