Pinworm Photos

Wanted to give a special shout out and "thanks" to Dave Weldon for helping me pick my upgraded microscope.... I had been using a single eye piece one the past few years, and using it more and more with tortoises, it was giving me a headache. He lined me up with the same LCD screen one that I think you guys were using at the last So Cal meeting, and it works great. The memory card slot is the best part about it, besides looking at a screen instead of through the eyeholes. I grabbed these photos yesterday of some pinworms in an Indian Star tortoise I knew was guilty of carrying something (I was looking for something else, but found pinworms). Photos turned out nice, I figured I'd make them public. Taken at 100X and 400X.

Very nice! Thanks for sharing... I don't think I want to know how much that was.

Thats a cool little scope. Lisa really liked it so we may pick one up. So much easier and takes up almost no room at all.

Syn said:

Very nice! Thanks for sharing... I don't think I want to know how much that was.

Click to expand...

Not much at all!

http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-443..._2?ie=UTF8&s=industrial&qid=1265154956&sr=8-2

I wish we would have got the one with the screen...

I rather have an Indian star tortoise.

I think I spent as much on my old ghetto scope as this one... $191 shipped. I knew more than anything, I wanted to be able to take photos in case I saw something I couldn't ID, I could save the photos and send to someone who might know. This works great for that; the card goes right into the side of the screen.

nightcrawler said:

I rather have an Indian star tortoise.

Click to expand...

They are sexy beasts, that's for sure.

chamelisa said:

Not much at all!

http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-443..._2?ie=UTF8&s=industrial&qid=1265154956&sr=8-2

Click to expand...

Wow! That is a LOT less than I was expecting. I just remember when I loved microscopes when I was little, asking my parents for juuust the right one, and them telling me it was $2,000.. Then again that was almost 10 years ago!

I would love to see more of your slides please put more when you come across something interesting =]

celestron

i have been researching microscopes for some time now and have also been considering upgrading to the celestron 44340 (i am assuming that is the one you have because i saw it in use on a previous post by summoner 12 taken at a sbck meeting), i would be curious to know what you paid if you dont mind my asking? the cheapest price (new) i have found so far is $179.99+ free shipping, i think it offers the biggest bang for the buck

Syn said:

Wow! That is a LOT less than I was expecting. I just remember when I loved microscopes when I was little, asking my parents for juuust the right one, and them telling me it was $2,000.. Then again that was almost 10 years ago!

Click to expand...

Aren't you still little?

The price of a microscope is completely dependent on the glass. Sorta like cameras..... nice glass=$$$$$$.


"What cost $2000 in 1998 would cost $2630.41 in 2008."

summoner12 said:

Aren't you still little?

Click to expand...

I haven't grown for 5 years, I meant little, literally. Either way I don't see why it matters or how it's relevant to the topic other than to point out my age.

Syn said:

Wow! That is a LOT less than I was expecting. I just remember when I loved microscopes when I was little, asking my parents for just the right one, and them telling me it was $2,000.. Then again that was almost 10 years ago!

Click to expand...

you can stiil get microscopes for $2000. or even $20,000 and above for that matter, but i dont think most chamers want or need a $2000. microscope. ebay has a good selection of really nice microscopes under $300. as you can see the $200 microscope does just fine with lcd viewing screen, built in camera and everything

,

I assume there is some compromise in glass quality in the LCD type microscope because of all the nice electronic gadgetry? Gotta make up for the cost of the toys somewhere....

summoner12 said:

I assume there is some compromise in glass quality in the LCD type microscope because of all the nice electronic gadgetry? Gotta make up for the cost of the toys somewhere....

Click to expand...

I agree to an extent.... Technology always gets cheaper with time, and on this one, the two eye pieces aren't there at all, which I figure makes up some of the cost of the LCD screen. I spent $800 on my camera because I wanted a nice one, and it shows. But in this case, for an occasional fecal check, it would have been completely unneeded. A clearer photo wouldn't have changed anything, and I was impressed by how good the pictures looked that I got from it.

For me, it came down to "if I can replace my old scope and stay around the $200 range, I will do it." I could, so I did and I am glad I did. It came with a nice rigid case also, as well as a half dozen sample slides (housefly leg, etc). That wasn't small enough for me, so I slaughtered a fruit fly first thing and threw it in there.

any links on performing your own fecal exam to check for parasites, etc.?

Howdy All,

When this LCD microscope first came out on the market it wasn't much lower in cost than the "fancier" trinocular ones, even after adding a 1.3MP video camera. Now that it is down almost to half the intro price, that makes it a pretty good deal for the average chameleon keeper's needs . 40X, 100X and 400X final magnification along with survivable optical resolution means that we can identify the usual suspects. When you need to see the tiny details of a parasite to make full identification, it can often require finer resolution (not just magnification) than either of these microscope's optics can deliver. There is a reason why a single 100X objective lens can easily cost more than the cost of these two microscopes combined .

I think there are probably a 100 keepers who might shell-out ~$200 for a useable LCD microscope and maybe 10 who would go for the fancier ~$350 setup .

xanthoman said:

you can stiil get microscopes for $2000. or even $20,000 and above for that matter, but i dont think most chamers want or need a $2000. microscope. ebay has a good selection of really nice microscopes under $300. as you can see the $200 microscope does just fine with lcd viewing screen, built in camera and everything

,

Click to expand...

Yeah, I have 'scope that cost `85K. I don't get to take it home though. Bummers.

xanthoman said:

you can stiil get microscopes for $2000. or even $20,000 and above for that matter, but i dont think most chamers want or need a $2000. microscope. ebay has a good selection of really nice microscopes under $300. as you can see the $200 microscope does just fine with lcd viewing screen, built in camera and everything

,

Click to expand...

Yeah, of course, but I was thinking because it could go 400x it would have cost more. I am not up to date on things like this, unfortunately.

I am seriously thinking about getting one of these now, just to save money on fecals (of course I would have a lot of serious reading to do), but if anything I could always post the pictures on here!

Checking back today, this scope's price has dropped. It's now $179 shipped. Just an FYI.

http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-443..._1?ie=UTF8&s=industrial&qid=1267049136&sr=8-1