chameleoman
Avid Member
i FINALLY got my book about reptile parasites i want to start doing my own chams fecals so it will be easier!!!!
Wooo hooo
- Thread starter chameleoman
- Start date
Pilotman800
New Member
Nice!
Chameleon fecals can be very hard, though! Unless you've had a lot of practice, I would still get fecals done at a vet every so often.
Chameleon fecals can be very hard, though! Unless you've had a lot of practice, I would still get fecals done at a vet every so often.
VeiledChams
Avid Member
Whats the book?
Eltortu
Established Member
i FINALLY got my book about reptile parasites i want to start doing my own chams fecals so it will be easier!!!!
You don't need practice, just a very good microscope. Good luck.
xanthoman
Avid Member
fecal microscopy
certainly having a a better quality scope helps, thats not to say that there arent some viable quality scopes out there for fairly cheap (<$200 even maybe<$100), but imo, regardless of the quality of scope, you do need a fair amount of practice to get the hang of it. i dont think there is any question that the more you do the better you will become at all parts of the process.
for the beginner the process can be daunting, especially for somebody who has never had any previous microscopy experience. for starters, there a lot of stuff in there that looks like parasites but isnt. then there is the whole depth of field thing, much of the stuff will look entirely different at different levels of focus, this can be a real hard thing to interpret if your not quite sure of what youre looking for in the first place.
then there is the whole "Brownian Motion" thing, at microscopic levels even a tiny drop of water becomes like an entire ocean, complete with currents and everything. these currents can give things the appearance of swimming even though they are not. (not helpful)
then there is the issue of operating the scope itself, a fair amount of concentration is required. at higher levels of magnification your objective lense may be only a few thousands of an inch off of the slide cover and jamming it into the slide cover could conceivably damage your scope.
as a beginner, if you dont find what you are looking for or expected to find, then you begin to doubt your execution of the whole float process itself.
so, imo, it takes some experience to get the hang of.
imo, i feel a decent scope and the knowledge to use it is just prudent almost necessary, part of good cham husbandry, especially for anyone who has more than one cham. i mean really, how many keepers with more than one cham give all of their animals fecals as often as they should? (before everyone posts to say how often they give chams fecals , im sure there are those that do, but i think the reality is, there are probably more that dont fecal often enough)
how many times have we seen in the health clinic, somebody will post with a i think my cham is sick or dying post, most if not many of the replies will call for fecal float and the op will reply back and say that they dont have the $ right now, so they will have to do it in a week or two? plus not all vets do microscopy in house, some send out and in those cases, results can be a week or more in coming.
there is a certain security and piece of mind that comes from being fecal microscopy enabled. knowing that at the first display of problems, you can do a fecal without waiting, for almost free, and rule out the likely hood of pathology as an issue, or even do one just for the sake of curiosity.
do you already have a scope? if not, just pm or repost, and i would be glad to make some recomendations. hopefully within your budget. jmo
certainly having a a better quality scope helps, thats not to say that there arent some viable quality scopes out there for fairly cheap (<$200 even maybe<$100), but imo, regardless of the quality of scope, you do need a fair amount of practice to get the hang of it. i dont think there is any question that the more you do the better you will become at all parts of the process.
for the beginner the process can be daunting, especially for somebody who has never had any previous microscopy experience. for starters, there a lot of stuff in there that looks like parasites but isnt. then there is the whole depth of field thing, much of the stuff will look entirely different at different levels of focus, this can be a real hard thing to interpret if your not quite sure of what youre looking for in the first place.
then there is the whole "Brownian Motion" thing, at microscopic levels even a tiny drop of water becomes like an entire ocean, complete with currents and everything. these currents can give things the appearance of swimming even though they are not. (not helpful)
then there is the issue of operating the scope itself, a fair amount of concentration is required. at higher levels of magnification your objective lense may be only a few thousands of an inch off of the slide cover and jamming it into the slide cover could conceivably damage your scope.
as a beginner, if you dont find what you are looking for or expected to find, then you begin to doubt your execution of the whole float process itself.
so, imo, it takes some experience to get the hang of.
imo, i feel a decent scope and the knowledge to use it is just prudent almost necessary, part of good cham husbandry, especially for anyone who has more than one cham. i mean really, how many keepers with more than one cham give all of their animals fecals as often as they should? (before everyone posts to say how often they give chams fecals , im sure there are those that do, but i think the reality is, there are probably more that dont fecal often enough)
how many times have we seen in the health clinic, somebody will post with a i think my cham is sick or dying post, most if not many of the replies will call for fecal float and the op will reply back and say that they dont have the $ right now, so they will have to do it in a week or two? plus not all vets do microscopy in house, some send out and in those cases, results can be a week or more in coming.
there is a certain security and piece of mind that comes from being fecal microscopy enabled. knowing that at the first display of problems, you can do a fecal without waiting, for almost free, and rule out the likely hood of pathology as an issue, or even do one just for the sake of curiosity.
do you already have a scope? if not, just pm or repost, and i would be glad to make some recomendations. hopefully within your budget. jmo
