Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all I was just wondering, what kind of cost was involved in fecal screenings? Im relatively confident all my animals are in good health but I would like to do routine fecals just as a precaution every couple of months if it isnt too cost prohibitive. I havy a very small collection so its not like I would have to get 20 or 30 done (more like 2 or 3) Also my nearest reptile vet is about an hour away how fresh does the feces need to be? Thanks for any help you can offer.

>>Hey all I was just wondering, what kind of cost was involved in fecal screenings? Im relatively confident all my animals are in good health but I would like to do routine fecals just as a precaution every couple of months if it isnt too cost prohibitive. I havy a very small collection so its not like I would have to get 20 or 30 done (more like 2 or 3) Also my nearest reptile vet is about an hour away how fresh does the feces need to be? Thanks for any help you can offer.
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www.AlphaDragonZ.com

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edited sig file 1/29/05 [phw]

I work in a exotic animal hospital as a vet tech ( I'm the one who looks at all of the poop) Its better if we can get a fresh sample, but with reptiles its difficult because you cannot use a fecal loop as you can with mammals. Make sure you keep the sample moist (don't let it dry out or get a dry sample) and you can put it in a ziplock baggie and stick it into your fridge and label it. It would be fine for a few days until you can get it there.
When we look at fecal samples we are normally only going to see eggs, and in some rare cases fully developed larva. The more poop you have the better the fecal flotation will be. We also do a fecal smear too. My clinic charges around 10 bucks a shot, but we do give discounts to people with alot (3 or more). You can also have your vet send the samples off to a lab so they can be 100 percent sure (but this is about 20-30 bucks).

Me bein the poop queen I am have learned to tell the difference between most species of intestinal parsite as well as mites and nematodes so we don't normally need to send off the samples. Regardless of the species, its normally treated the same way no matter what the species anyway, I just have an unatural fascination with looking at poo under a scope.
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4 Whites Treefrogs (Gleep, Gloop, Gazoo, and Mrs. Chubs)
1 Red Eyed Treefrog
2 Bearded Dragons (Butterfinger, B.B.)
2 Argentine Horned Frogs (Endeavor, Mcfatfat)
2 Betta Splendins
12 assorted freswater fish (and growing)
2 Koi (peppermint, mr. winkie)

If you have a microscope you can screen poop very easily. All you need to do is get a test tube with water in it, put some poop into the test tube and shake it up for about 5-10mins. take a droplet of the water and put it onto a slide, shove it under the scope, and look for parasite eggs. you will find many sites out there that can show you what parasite eggs look like.
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gav.

Or maybe it would be easier to not spend 200 bucks on a microscope and have someone else look at it at your vets office....
Plus we can treat them there too, we have the correct dose of dewormers
Not bein mean, but vets have a tendancy to know what they are doing more as apposed to a website.
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4 Whites Treefrogs (Gleep, Gloop, Gazoo, and Mrs. Chubs)
1 Red Eyed Treefrog
2 Bearded Dragons (Butterfinger, B.B.)
2 Argentine Horned Frogs (Endeavor, Mcfatfat)
2 Betta Splendins
12 assorted freswater fish (and growing)
2 Koi (peppermint, mr. winkie)