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Indian/Sri Lankan Star Tortoise (G. elegans)
Burmese Star Tortoise Other Starred Tortoises Angulate Tortoise Misc. Pages
Never use ivermectin dewormer on tortoises. It's toxic for them! |
DIY Fecal Exams in Tortoises (and other animals)
Supplies for a fecal float test for parasites - microscope, slides, cover slips, test tubes, and floatation medium. This one is a digital trinocular microscope with an attached USB camera on top (off picture). Internal parasites Internal parasites are one of the most common medical problems in captive tortoises, especially if tortoises are stressed, live in crowded enclosures, or are kept in poorly cleaned environments. Many tortoise keepers perform periodic microscopic evaluations of their tortoises' feces to detect the presence of parasites. Two common methods for performing fecal exams at home are the direct smear and the fecal floatation. For more accurate results, it's best to use a combination of both techniques. Screening DIY fecal exams are great for early detection and routine screening for parasites. Frequent home screenings increase the change of detecting parasites that may only be seen intermittently in the poop. DIY fecal exams also work well as pre-screenings. In other words, a positive finding will alert you to take your tortoise to a reptile veterinarian. If three or more subsequent DIY fecal floats and smears are negative over a period of several weeks, your tortoise is probably free of common parasites or has a low parasite load. If you do find something suspicious, it's always smart to verify the findings with your veterinarian. Vet & medications If you are a new tortoise keeper, always consult your veterinarian for the correct medication and dosing. Some deworming medications, like Panacur (fenbendazole, FBZ) used for nematodes (worms), are available over-the-counter, but many others need a prescription. Never use ivermectin dewormer, e.g. Heartgard for dogs or cats, on tortoises or turtles. It's toxic and deadly for them! If you can't figure out what parasites you found in your tortoise's poop, take photos and show them to your veterinarian. It's also a good idea to take a fresh fecal sample with you for a thorough, professional lab analysis. Beneficial organisms Not everything you see moving under the microscope is pathogenic (disease causing). Tortoises have many beneficial bacteria present in their bowels to help break down food. This bacterial action is further helped by "good parasites". Routine deworming may disrupt this essential process. For example, Nyctotherus, a ciliated protozoan, is considered an important part of the intestinal microflora. The 2008 book 'Zoo As with most areas of tortoise care, there's not always a consensus of opinion among tortoise experts and keepers about parasite treatment. Many keepers feel that tortoises should not be dewormed unless a fecal exam shows a heavy enough parasite load and/or the tortoise exhibits symptoms. Others think that routine deworming is a necessity for captive tortoises to help keep the parasite burdens low. Microscopes Celestron 44330 I often use the optical and digital Celestron 44330 biologic microscope for quick fecal exams. It can be used by itself with the eyepiece as an optical microscope, or it can be hooked up to a computer to view the images digitally on the screen. The eyepiece is 20x and the objective lenses allow 5x (100 power), 10x (200 power), and 20x (400 power) magnification. The 2 MP digital camera and attached USB 2.0 cable come with the microscope.
The price of the Celestron 44330 varies by the seller. Some of the lowest prices I've seen for this small, portable microscope are by these sellers on amazon I don't like looking through tiny eyepieces, so I mostly view my slides on the computer screen. That's why I like to buy microscopes with digital cameras. :O) The Celestron 4430 microscope is small, lightweight, and portable. It is very easy to use, even for a beginner or a kid. Just prepare the fecal slide, choose the magnification, and focus. Or attach the camera and view the slides live on the video screen. The two photos on the right show computer screens with live video of fecal float slides using the Celestron microscope and attached camera (200x and 400x magnification). Even though the Celestron 4430 microscope is quite simple and moderately priced, it's fine as a basic screening tool for detecting common parasites in the poop of reptiles and other animals (dogs, cats, goats, birds etc.) at 100x to 400x magnification. The Celestron 44330 microscope comes with a CD-ROM for Windows, but it also works as plug-and-play on Mac's and on PC's running Ubuntu (a Linux-based operating system). I have used this microscope on all three systems. On a Windows PC, I installed the ArcSoft software that came with the microscope. On a Mac, I viewed the microscopic images with Mac's Photo Booth. On an Ubuntu PC, I used the free Cheese web cam software. In addition to live viewing, these software programs also allow you photograph and record video of your discoveries. Trinocular microscopes A higher precision microscope with a 1000x magnification capability and special stains (coloring with dyes) may be required to indentify some of the smallest protozoan parasites. For the My other microscope is a 40x-1600x digital trinocular microscope Microscope imagers If you already have an optical microscope, you can buy a digital imager for it. Digital imagers allow you to view microscope slides on your computer screen and photograph/record your findings.
The Celestron 44421 imager is very low-priced and adapts to most types of microscopes. I've tested it on my trinocular microscope and it works just fine. For the price and quality, some users have rated it as a 'best buy' microscope imager. Note: Digital imagers are not stand-alone cameras. They need to be connected to a microscope to view and capture images and video. Gross examination First, perform a gross examination of the poop. In other words, inspect the poop with your eyes for color, texture, and consistency. Is the poop dark and solid (pic), in other words, normal? Any diarrhea? Diarrhea can be caused by parasites or a wrong diet. Does it contain mucus or blood? Both can be signs of parasites. If you see adult worms in the poop, it's obvious the tortoise has intestinal parasites. However, not seeing any worms does not mean the tortoise is parasite free. Usually, intestinal parasites are diagnosed by finding worm eggs, larvae, or protozoan parasites under the microscope. They are invisible to the naked eye. Fecal smear exam A direct fecal smear can be used to detect mobile protozoan parasites (e.g. Giardia) in the trophozoite stage (motile feeding stage). Use a poop sample that's less than one hour old. In an older poop sample, trophozoites will degenerate and became non-identifiable. Just put a very small bit of fresh poop onto a slide and add a drop of distilled water or saline. Saline solution Fecal smear is a simple test to perform, but it may give a false negative, especially with low parasite levels, because only a tiny piece of poop is used. Fecal float exam Performing a fecal float involves more steps than the direct smear. In addition to the microscope, glass slides, and cover slips, you'll need a floatation fluid and test tubes. Plus gloves and disinfecting wipes. The fecal float test is used to detect parasite eggs, larvae, oocysts, and cysts in poop. The higher specific gravity of the floatation fluid causes them to concentrate on the surface (and attach to the cover slip) due to their lighter density. Consequently, parasites are easier to track down under the microscope because there are more of them in the sample. Floatation medium Fecasol (sodium nitrate) by Vetoquinol and its generic version Fecamed are commonly used solutions for floatation technique I fill small, plastic dispensing bottles Vials & kits You can use a small vial for the poop sample, but using a fecal floatation system kit Slides & cover slips Microscope glass slides Steps in fecal float
Books Using a microscope is fun, but it takes some practice to recognize and identify what you are looking at! :O) These books provide help in parasite identification.
Glossary
Links There are many pages on the web about performing fecal float tests on animal poop and identifying microscopic parasites, but it's hard to find tortoise specific info online. Fecal exams - tortoises
Internal parasites - tortoises
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and Wild Animal Medicine Current Therapy' by 
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sharpest image, a total magnification of 1000x and above requires the use of immersion oil on slides and an objective lens specifically designed for it.
For 2010, Celestron released an updated version of their digital imager. The 
fecal analyses. They are typically sold in one gallon bottles for $12-$30 depending on the brand and seller.
