How to collect a fecal sample?

I have a vet appointment first thing in the morning tomorrow and I have no idea how to get the fecal sample properly. There's really not much online and some conflicting info. She only poops every 4 or 5 days in her cage and by the time I get home, her poops are too dried up to test, so I will have to give her a bath. My plan is to give her a bath in the morning, cross my fingers that she poops, scoop up the poop I hopefully have into a plastic bag, seal it so it's air tight, and bring it to the vet. I've heard you can't let it dry, but it should stay wet considering how fast I'll be bringing it to the vet. One thing I read said that you can't get samples out of baths, but it was on some random forum so I'm not to worried about it. (https://beardeddragonforum.com/threads/vet-visit.5366/ the comment is made by the user Germ further down in the forum) I'm looking for someone particularly who has a lot of experience with this.

I usually scoop it up with a piece of cardboard like the corner of a cereal box and put it in a ziploc. I store it in the fridge if i'm not going directly to the vet. Sometimes the trip to the vet itself gets them to go (from stress unfortunately) which is helpful for providing the freshest sample possible. If you can provide one that's 24hrs or so old or less that's usually sufficient based on my experience.

CooperDragon":ep06r409 said:

I usually scoop it up with a piece of cardboard like the corner of a cereal box and put it in a ziploc. I store it in the fridge if i'm not going directly to the vet. Sometimes the trip to the vet itself gets them to go (from stress unfortunately) which is helpful for providing the freshest sample possible. If you can provide one that's 24hrs or so old or less that's usually sufficient based on my experience.

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SHE POOPED THIS MORNING!!! I was so nervous that she wasn't going to go. I got the sample to the vet about an hour and a half after she pooped. She had high numbers of coccida and like flagellated protazoa or something? I've never heard of it but, on the exam notes, it says "many motile protozoa of several types 1-2/HPF (some flagellated, some ciliated), ~30 coccidia total, float = 2-3+ cocidia." So no idea what that means, but I got medications for the coccidia and the other thing. Well gotta sanitize her cage now :roll:

I'm glad you got a fresh sample. The flagellates are probably treated with metronidazole or ronidazole while the coccidia are probably treated with Ponazuril. Hopefully that all gets cleared up soon.

The key is keeping everything sanitized. Everything that comes in contact with poop should be cleaned and sanitized as soon as possible to prevent re-infection. The coccida won't be killed with bleach so you'll want to sanitize using either steam, ammonia, or F10 after the area has been cleaned.

CooperDragon":28b0d65f said:

I'm glad you got a fresh sample. The flagellates are probably treated with metronidazole or ronidazole while the coccidia are probably treated with Ponazuril. Hopefully that all gets cleared up soon.

The key is keeping everything sanitized. Everything that comes in contact with poop should be cleaned and sanitized as soon as possible to prevent re-infection. The coccida won't be killed with bleach so you'll want to sanitize using either steam, ammonia, or F10 after the area has been cleaned.

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I just got done sanitizing her cage I had a steam cleaner I already use at home to clean and it was very easy to clean her cage with. She almost never poops in her cage, only in her bath, so I threw out the only rock she ever pooped on and replaced it with another one in her cage (I rinsed it with boiling hot water to be safe) I have always steamed out her bath thoroughly after she poops in it, and will continue to do so. I have always used paper towels and I usually just replace all of the towels when she poops because, like I said above, she rarely poops in her cage. I will slowly add more things to her cage after she is completely clear of parasites because right now it's just one basking rock/staircase thing and a food and water bowl. Poor girls probably so bored in there :lol: Oh yea on a side note, CooperDragon, I wa struggling to find a good vet in my area (SLC) and you happened to recommend me to Parish Creek Veterinary Clinic. I was very impressed with it. The vet definitely knew her stuff and even took into consideration some very advanced issues I never would have thought of. She was very polite and helpful. It was like night and day compared to the last vet I tried. Thanks for the help! (They even made my beardie a cute little binder :lol

That sounds like a good routine. I'm glad to hear you had a good experience with Parrish Creek. I've seen a lot of their work with rescue dragons and they seem quite capable and trustworthy.