Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i think i need to go get a poop check on my three blizz babies. there poop was good but last night my best pooper had a really runny poop and smelled really bad(worse than normal). i have a few vets intown and i'm going to ask the guy at the pet shop where to go but thought i would see how much it would pry cost me. i have class all day so i can't get around to going to the pet shop. thanks.

It usually cost about $15 ea for a fecal float, I would just have them do a group float if they came from the same store/breeder... but if you are seeing runny stools you may have a protozoan problem, in which case you should also get a direct smear done.

Good luck.
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-Ross Payan - www.LeosAnonymous.com

Leos Anonymous

Ball Pythons, Red Striped Leos, and Screaming Fat-Tails

yeah it's really watery it looks solid to start but as it dries it flattens out a lot and smells really bad. thanks for that price when i first thought about it i was thinking it would pry end up being like 100 dollars. hehe. i have a problem with exageration

I have paid close to that as vets around here require an office visit to see the animal, and they charge a bunch for that, though the fecal itself is relatively inexpensive.

I have 10 leopard Geckos and wanted to do fecal just to make sure there healty, but I have no reptile vets in my area ! I live in New Orleans, Louisiana ! The other thing was how much it would cost for 10 diffrent fecal floats ! Is there anyway I can learn to do them myself ?

Thanks,
Nick
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Leopard Geckos

1.0 Tangerine
0.3.3 Hi-Yellow
1.1 Tremper Albino
0.1 Patternless het. Albino

Hopefully 1.2 Super Hypo Tangerine Baldy Carrot-tail from Kirks Herps !

It is very easy to do your own fecal floats... all you need is a decent microscope, some slides and slide covers. You will also need a fecal floatation solution... you can make a homeade saturated sugar solution or buy some Fecasol from a vet supply store.

If you do not have the ability to do them yourself I would simply get them to run all the fecal samples in the same float. If one of your geckos has worms you will want to deworm them all.
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-Ross Payan - www.LeosAnonymous.com

Leos Anonymous

Ball Pythons, Red Striped Leos, and Screaming Fat-Tails

Some test tubes and some type of stain would help.
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-Ross Payan - www.LeosAnonymous.com

Leos Anonymous

Ball Pythons, Red Striped Leos, and Screaming Fat-Tails

What do worms, or parasites or whatever look like ? What size microscope ?

Thanks,
Nick
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Leopard Geckos

1.0 Tangerine
0.3.3 Hi-Yellow
1.1 Tremper Albino
0.1 Patternless het. Albino

Hopefully 1.2 Super Hypo Tangerine Baldy Carrot-tail from Kirks Herps !

For pics of parasites, nematode eggs, etc... do a search in the old herp health forum archives.

I would also buy "Understanding Reptile Parasites" by Roger J. Klingenberg D.V.M. They go over the basics of performing fecal floats and smears, and tell you all about the different microscopes you can use. They also have pics of nematode eggs, protozoans, etc... and they discuss all the basic parasites you will run into.

The book says you can do your own fecals with a monocular, non-movable stage, mirror reflector microscope with 10x and 40x ovjectives. Though a microscope with a light source and mechanical stage would make the job much easier.

Good luck.
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-Ross Payan - www.LeosAnonymous.com

Leos Anonymous

Ball Pythons, Red Striped Leos, and Screaming Fat-Tails

Starling is right that the fecals can get up there... you might end up having to do an office visit if you have never brought any of your reptiles in to that vet before, so they can establish a patient history. Even so an office visit will run only $40 or so, and if your gex are sick you will need to pay for meds.

Call around and get prices... don't just show up to the first vet you see. All vets should be able to perform a fecal flotation on reptiles, just as easily as they can on a dog or cat.

The only problem they may run into is identifying the parasite egg on hand, but they have books for that. If not you can find pictures of common reptile parasite eggs all over the net.

But like I said... the runny smelly stool sounds like it could also be a protozoan infection or maybe bacterial, so get a direct smear done as well.

And when you go to the vet, make sure they don't talk you into tons of extra things like bloodwork, etc...

Good luck.
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-Ross Payan - www.LeosAnonymous.com

Leos Anonymous

Ball Pythons, Red Striped Leos, and Screaming Fat-Tails

well i'm trying to get by as cheap as possible i've talked to the pet store owner that has been a huge help to me and he gave me the vet that he uses. and don't worry about me getting sucked into more stuff like blood work i'm a poor college kid..in fact i'm in class right now. lol i'd better run