vets and getting a fecal.

[s1393]

have a post in behavior thread about how my little guy was acting after being moved into new viv but, now
im trying to find a vet to get a fecal done because i think he may have a parasite from the stress of the viv change, and so far no luck. every regular vet(dogs and cats etc) say they cant do one and the only exotic vet near me (which i do not like since my last beardie passed about a month after taking her there and they gave her a clean bill of health) said they would not do a fecal without doing a full exam of my dragon which i dont have the 100+ for that and then the added fee for the fecal.
so i guess my question is how do i find if there is another exotic vet around me - have googled and only thing i ever find is the one vet i mentioned. and i have called quite a few vets in area close by who have said no to doing a fecal. didnt realize there were so many vets not willing to help a possible sick animal.

 

[DoubleJ]

is there a zoo anywhere near you? They would have a herp vet you could contact.

 

[mccallumpiper]

you can do your own fecal. Rio reptiles had a kit for sale. Then you just need a chart to identify them. A lot of vets just charge wayy to much it makes me sick. I know beautiful dragons has a chart showing what parasite is what.

 

[DoubleJ]

I didnt realise you could do your own. Do you not need a microscope etc?

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Here is a thread on doing your own fecal testing.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=95992

There was a member here who was doing the fecal tests, you just had to mail the stool sample to her. It was fairly cheap. I will see if I can find her and if she is still doing them.

 

[s1393]

i wouldnt mind paying for them to do a fecal but the thing is none of them are even willing to do it except for the one exotic vet and they need to do a "full examination" which with my last bearded dragon was the assistant comes in weighs dragon then he comes in and handles dragon(fairly rough from the way it looks to me) and that is it. all that for like $98 and then they said it was another $28 for the fecal.

is there a zoo anywhere near you? They would have a herp vet you could contact.

yeah there is a zoo. and actually i was there just a couple hours ago and will be there tomorrow(for a wedding) maybe i can sneak away and find out something.

yes it would be a lot easier to just do one myself haha but microscopes dont come cheap.

 

[mccallumpiper]

The one kit from Rio reptiles comes with a kit I think the microscope goes to 100x. What I would do is get that kit then go to beautiful dragons and get that chart that identifies what is what. It will save you some money I know what you are saying my vet charges $35 for just a fecal.

 

[s1393]

alright guess ill look into that.
thanks for help.

 

[ziggy23]

Thank you for reminding me! We think we might buy all the stuff with our tax check next year or if we're lucky for christmas. We're worryworts, and doing our own fecals whenever we get paranoid would make us feel better even if we had to pay for a recheck with a vet to get medicine.

And we have kids, so it could be educational for them ( and fun). I can't wait until the boys are mature enough for my telescope, I mean their telescope. :lol:

 

[s1393]

What I would do is get that kit then go to beautiful dragons and get that chart that identifies what is what.

would you happen to have a the link to where the chart??
i looked all over beautiful dragons and couldnt find anything more than just the diy fecal float. no pic of what is what.

 

[nair88]

would you happen to have a the link to where the chart??
i looked all over beautiful dragons and couldnt find anything more than just the diy fecal float. no pic of what is what.

here's a link to the supplies page - http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Microscopes.html - the chart is at the bottom

 

[s1393]

thank you!

 

[imderanged]

That's really a shame none of the vets will do it, I just can't understand that! When I just mentioned that I had picked up some new reptiles to my Dog's vet he told me that they could send out samples to their lab for me if I needed them to. And the herp vet I just began using agreed to let me just bring a sample from my tortoise when I come back with my dragon for a recheck next week. They do it in-house. Honestly though, If you end up getting the kit & doing it yourself I think that would be pretty cool. I used to do fecal floats for dogs & cats as a tech. It was really interesting and not hard to do.

 

[s1393]

That's really a shame none of the vets will do it, I just can't understand that! When I just mentioned that I had picked up some new reptiles to my Dog's vet he told me that they could send out samples to their lab for me if I needed them to. And the herp vet I just began using agreed to let me just bring a sample from my tortoise when I come back with my dragon for a recheck next week. They do it in-house. Honestly though, If you end up getting the kit & doing it yourself I think that would be pretty cool. I used to do fecal floats for dogs & cats as a tech. It was really interesting and not hard to do.

yeah i found it ridiculous that they said they cant do only a fecal. found another herp vet in my area and i called and i was told the same thing that they cant do only a fecal they have to do a full fecal.
the only thing i can think of is that i didnt say anything about just bringing in a sample, so they are possibly thinking that im wanting to bring my dragon in and them get a sample from him then to do the fecal. i didnt think about this till after and now they are closed so im going to call them again tomorrow.

*edit* ordered the diy fecal float and the chart so 3-5 days to get all that here. still gonna try the vets one more time with myself bringing in stool sample cause im about 95% sure he has a parasite - to young to burm(just over 5months old) not eating, losing weight, will bask some but tends to stay on a cooler spot of basking spot(95ish where he sits tends to move from the 104 spot), almost always seems to have stress marks. really dont want to lose another beardie

 

[mccallumpiper]

I am going to order the kit as well. I found an old microscope my mom had from college it goes up to 700x zoom. I get annoyed by the same thing with the vets have to do a full exam and then a fecal. I dont get it especially if your beardie has been there before. Thats why its time to do our own. The one on rio reptiles even comes with a microscope for $25!