Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just heard about it for the first time reading this forum, I am guessing this is to check for internal parasites? Can someone tell me what procedure do you follow (step by step) and what equipment do you use to do this?

thanks soo much

OK, here goes:

1. Collect a fresh fecal sample

2. In a Fecalyzer, add some of the fecal sample and then add Fecasol Solution up to the top of the little arrow on the side of the Fecalyzer.

3. Add 5 drops of Lugol's Solution.

4. Agitate using the built in agitator in the Fecalyzer.

5. Fill the Fecalyzer up to the top of the Fecalyzer until it is just about to brim over the top (but not quite).

6. Carefully lay a clean cover slip on top of the Fecalyzer so it is in contact with the solution.

7. Wait 20 minutes

8. Place the cover slip (wet side down) on a clean slide

9. Examine under a microscope, first at 40x, then at 100x, then at 400x.

Most parasite ova such a Roundworms, Hookworms, Pinworms, etc., or oocysts from things like Coccidia can be seen at 400x. Tapeworm eggs can be difficult to locate in a differential flotation. I usually prepare a direct smear for those, and centrifuge the sample. If I suspect something like Crypto (which is very small), I use an entirely different technique called an Acid-Fast staining and use an Oil-immersion objective at 1,200x or 1,600x. If I'm looking for bacteria, I usually just Gram stain and 400x or 640x is usually sufficient magnification. Blood-borne parasite require yet another technique.

Old herper is correct in all his directions that he told you. I do it the same way...the only thing he failed to mention is the size of the fecal sample...a raisin size piece will do fine for Fecal Floatation.

Obviously the limiting factor for most people is the microscope. If you have access to one, the materials to do a fecal float are relatively cheap, and there is really no reason not to do it yourself if you have a large collection and a microscope. BTW, fecal floats can be done without a "fecalizer".
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...the oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it."
Aldo Leopold (1938)

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)

Yep, you sure can. All you need is some sort of a container that is just slightly smaller in diameter than the width of a cover slip. Actually a test tube will work. You can also make your own flotation solution, but it's kind of hard to get the specific gravity just right so that fecal solids won't float but parasite ova will.

Fecalizers will work okay. However, all parasitologist these days and a lot of veterinarians have moved to a centrifugation method using a saturated sugar solution 'cuz it provides a more accurate test (it is now considered the gold standard). I did a just a trial comparison myself of the two - the float tended to recover 'bout 1/10th the amount of eggs as a fecalizer. Also, some of the heavier eggs may not be seen on fecalizers d/t the lower SG of the solutions used.

Bottom line, if you find eggs on the fecalizer - great, you know what parasites you have. If you don't find them, they may be there but in small enough numbers that you aren't seeing them.
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Russ

I have access to a centrifuge, what is the procedure for using it for fecal floats? Is the sugar solution really better than Fecasol, and is it available commercially? I need all the help I can get with parasites, and if I have a centrifuge in my name then I would like to be able to use it!
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...the oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it."
Aldo Leopold (1938)

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)