Chameleon Necropsy

[KatiLemons]

I found this website last night that has awesome information on chameleons. I have only read 2 articles into the 2nd edtion of it and came across this article.

http://chameleonnews.com/02MayGreek.html

It is really creepy seeing those parasite pictures aswell. How much does a fecal exam cost at the vet? I don't even think that there is an exotic vet within 60 miles of me! Wonder if i can just take the fecal sample to the closes one which is about an hour away. Too much stress for a cham to go!

Now I'm hooked on this E zine. they really do have a TON of good information.

 

[robmd1]

I found this website last night that has awesome information on chameleons. I have only read 2 articles into the 2nd edtion of it and came across this article.

http://chameleonnews.com/02MayGreek.html

It is really creepy seeing those parasite pictures aswell. How much does a fecal exam cost at the vet? I don't even think that there is an exotic vet within 60 miles of me! Wonder if i can just take the fecal sample to the closes one which is about an hour away. Too much stress for a cham to go!

Now I'm hooked on this E zine. they really do have a TON of good information.

you can drive the poo an hr to a vet or buy a microscope an do your own.. even if a vet was close if ya have a few chams a microscope is a good investment.

 

[KatiLemons]

What am I looking for in the microscope. I mean obviously worms but what do they look like? Pieces of rice? Sounds like a good idea to buy a microscope. what is the minimum magnification I should look for?

 

[Action Jackson]

Dave posted this originally. Hope it helps.

Howdy Benny and Olimpia,

The little Celestron units with the built-in LCD screen are good enough to ID the usual worm eggs, coccidia, and other parasites that we often find in chameleons. They do ok at spotting the "swimmers" like flagellates, strongyloides, giardia etc. If you have the extra bucks, shop for a deal on the regular style, "knock-off" (these look like Nikon, Olympus units) models sold under the name "Amscope" and a few others. These units are the next notch-up and include better optics, finer X-Y stage control, more light, finer focusing, all-around beefier construction, have the capability to be upgraded with even better optics, and can have a low-cost USB video camera added. These run around $300 as a trinocular and a little less in a binocular configuration.

I’m going to cut/paste from one of my old posts. Most of the links to products etc. still work .

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Weldon
Funny, I just sent this to a keeper tonight and others in the past and I realized that I ought post it too .

Many of us have been happy with this trinocular microscope ($200-$300 depending on the luck of bidding. Check-out the recently Sold eBay list!):
http://shop.ebay.com/items/?_nkw=40X...COPE&_osacat=0
(Or do an eBay search for “40X-1600X DOCTOR VET LAB TRINOCULAR COMPOUND MICROSCOPE”)



I recommend a trinocular over binocular microscope because it is easier to slap a simple digital video camera onto the trinocular unit’s vertical mount rather than having to put the camera in place of one of the eyepieces (easy to do but limiting user friendliness). Don’t be fooled about magnification. The more you magnify the less light you get etc. Most often, we use the 10x eyepieces in combination with the 4x, 10x, 40x objectives to get 40x, 100x, 400x. We don’t use the 100x objective (10x combined with 100x = 1000x along with the use of special oil contacting between the lens and the slide cover) much since a bigger but blurry image doesn’t buy us much for detecting most parasites. You’ll see listings mentioning 1600x and 2000x. They get that by using a 16x or a 20x eyepiece and the 100x objective lens. These eyepieces don’t buy us much either. The 10x eyepieces are WF “Wide Field” which means that they are better for our use anyway.

There are a bunch of other nice things about these particular microscopes that I won’t go into but suffice it to say, they do what we need to do well enough that they are worth the money. Consider these microscopes to be “knock-offs” of (costing $1000’s) Nikon, Olympus etc. Their optics aren’t nearly as good but, like I said, for the price, they get the job done. It is likely that if you have never used high-end 'scopes then you'll think that you have now . These aren't $50 "kiddie" scopes.

As far as a digital video camera (USB interface) goes, it isn’t necessary to have one unless you want to document and share your parasite findings. They are fun to use though .

This one (same one I bought) is at a fair price of $124 + cheap shipping: http://shop.ebay.com/USB 1,3 M...yepiece&_naf=1
(Or do an eBay search for “USB 1,3 Mega Pixel Digital Microscope Camera Eyepiece”)

Several of us got it from this seller and have been happy. I also have an adapter for my Canon DSLR but it cost me over $300 just for the fancy adapter! It’s really nice though.

So once you have your microscope you’ll need slides and slide covers. Either buy them from the AmScope people when you buy your microscope (reduced shipping costs) or pick them up elsewhere.

50 slides and 100 covers:
http://shop.ebay.com/items/?_nkw=50+...LIPS&_osacat=0
(eBay search “50 BLANK MICROSCOPE SLIDES & 100PC SQUARE COVER SLIPS”)

Another 50 slides:
http://shop.ebay.com/items/?_nkw=50+...DGES&_osacat=0
(eBay search "50 BLANK MICROSCOPE SLIDES WITH GROUND EDGES)"
(50 BLANK MICROSCOPE SLIDES & 100 CIRCULAR COVER SLIPS)

I’ve also found slides and slide covers at some camera/telescope stores and you might find them at a hobby store too.

If you are going to do Fecal Floats in addition to fecal smears then you’ll want the handy-dandy generic fecalyzers along with a gallon of generic Fecasol. I like the fecalyzers that DON’T have the green part but rather the ones made with a clear part inside. It isn’t the clearness but the physical usability of the clear (semi-transparent) ones. They are just easier to handle. Either one will do the job though. Any of them should cost less than about $1 each. Vets don’t re-use them but if you are very careful about how you handle/sterilize them you should be able to re-use them. I do. It’s not so much that you might contaminate another sample but more about how and where you clean them. You don’t want to contaminate your household sinks! Pure bleach kills some parasites while ammonia will kill others and strong hydrogen peroxide will kill others too. DON’T let any of those chemicals get mixed or (your) death may be the result .

Example of the green ones:
http://www.petsupplies4less.com/Feca...--pr--01400850

The clear ones:
http://www.synbiotics.com/Products/PDF_lib/96-0556a.pdf
(You don’t need the whole kit, just the cups)

http://www.atozvetsupply.com/Ovassay...-syb960556.htm

It may be easier for you to buy a few from your vet. I’d get between 1 and 10 of them.

Fecasol or its generic equal:
http://www.google.com/products?num=1...-8&sa=N&tab=wf

Flotation info:
http://cal.vet.upenn.edu/projects/dx...s/ovassay.html

Interesting parasite photos as well as good flotation techniques info.
http://www.pet-informed-veterinary-a...l#float-limits

Get this book:
"Understanding Reptile Parasites" By Roger J. Klingenberg D.V.M. 2nd Ed.
Be sure that it is the 2nd Edition. It has 200 pages. ISBN: 978-1-882770-90-8.

Here on our Chameleon Forums Bookstore site!! https://www.chameleonforums.com/books...ile-parasites/

or...

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1882770900?...89&camp=211189
Any questions, toss me an email . (I’m also available by phone if that works better for you.)

Example with the DSLR:

USB Digital Video 100x magnification:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BvzjySnL0s

 

[KatiLemons]

Oh wow! Thanks for the info. I found Understanding Reptile Parasites on abe books for 5 bucks!! and its the 2nd edition!

 

[chamtrainer]

Every bit of info on this thread is very informative!!!!

Props to the OP...the website you found was great! Can you find one like that about panther chameleons?

 

[KatiLemons]

Every bit of info on this thread is very informative!!!!

Props to the OP...the website you found was great! Can you find one like that about panther chameleons?

I think that this was in general for cham anatomy! I was so excited when I found that site.

 

[KatiLemons]

has anyone else found anything other info on necropsies?

 

[Riven]

Any vet can do a fecal, I would double check any meds or anything though that they prescribe just in case though.

 

[krknieriem]

And how do I explain this one to my fiance as a need and not a want...hmmm,

 

[melrito]

my cham vet will do fecal testing through the mail... if you don't want to drive there, it might be an option if yours offers that too (my cham vet is a 4 hour drive round trip)

 

[Dez]

This is the microscope I use

Celestron.. Cost $160 at amazon

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0014YNGCK/ref=oss_product

Awesome microscope that takes pictures and video.

Handy cause then you can save the picture and email or post it on here

 

[KatiLemons]

wow Dez, thanks for the recommentation!! Looks like a great deal!

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Props to the OP...the website you found was great! Can you find one like that about panther chameleons?

That website has a TON of wonderful articles on a huge variety of chameleon issues. Here's the archive of them all: http://chameleonnews.com/Reference.html

I peruse Chameleonnews.com pretty often for various topics and usually link to it when people ask for caresheets. Issues don't come out very often but the archives of old issues already has a smorgasbord of great articles on so many topics!

 

[Dez]

wow Dez, thanks for the recommentation!! Looks like a great deal!

"Understanding reptile parasites" book explains how to do a fecal floatation.. Its really pretty easy to do

You will also need

-Slides and covers
-a small bottle to put your sample in or a fecalyzer (a little bottle that smushes up the sample)

-Some fecasol liquid
-gloves
-an eye dropper or a syringe for putting the fecalsol in the bottle

..and the parasite book of course.

 

[antithesis123]

I'm bookmarking this thread. I have a pretty cool leica zoom 2000 that's 7 to 45 magnification (for dissection) but I've been looking for something like this celestron.. How cool! Great info in this thread too!

 

[bechsgaard]

unless you have gone through grade 12 biology i would not recomend using a microscope and doing it urself, you should go to a vet because if you find it urself (could mistake it for other bacteria) the vet will have to do another fecal himself to find out how much medicine that should be given to your cham. a fecal exam is only 30 bucks