Sexing questions

You need a pretty powerful one to be able to see flagellates such as giardia or the oocysts of coccidia(and be able to tell the difference between those and cryptosporidium). Those cost around $1200-$1500, plus all of the equipment and medications(some you would only be able to get from a veterinarian anyway).

"pretty powerful" is somewhat subjective. I was hoping more for a specific number of magnifications - to see if what i have access to at these labs are going to do the job or not.

If you have any idea, please let me know :) thanks.

I think 100x is what we use, but 40x would probably be sufficient. You want something with an Oil Immersion lens to see the teensies.

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Originally Posted by Morphie

Hey IcyGirl, you should post the contact info for that vet. I live near boston and would love to meet a recommended exotics vet. Until now, i've been trying to meet all of their needs (thankfully without issue so far) myself since i've been afraid of having an experience like the one you're describing.

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The best herp vet around is Dr. Greg Mertz. He is known as the "Odd Pet Vet" because he mainly deals with herps, birds, small animals, and various other critters. He has two locations, one in Needham at the Chestnut Animal Hospital - I believe he is there Thursday evenings but you might want to check. The other location is in Weymouth. I have not seen him with my snake, but I went to him several times with my bearded dragon, and he is very knowledgeable and all around a nice guy who will make you feel comfortable. His number is 781-251-9131.

There is one other vet I have been recommended to in the area whose name is Dr. Jacqueline Warner at the Medfield Vet Clinic. Haven't personally gone to her, but I hear that she is also quite experienced in treating exotics. Their number is 508-359-1920.


Also, some good news: Lab results for the fecal came back negative. Yay!! :D And the vet also mentioned on the phone message, that the method of "counting scales" that she mentioned had to do with probing the snakes. Well, duh! :rolleyes:

Oh and I was wondering, does anyone know of a lab where you can send the fecal samples directly by mail, for a lesser price? And if so how would one go about preparing it?

Our diagnostic lab is the TVMDL and they do alot of the diagnostic work for A&M I think.

As far as a fecal goes, I would ask the vet. You could always ship it to him prepared in some formalin or just in a ziploc bag with moist paper towel. Usually costs me around $4 to ship a small package like that overnight.

I usually do a fecal on all of my group every 6 months to a year. I think I've only come up with partially digested pinworm eggs before, and those were from the mice, so no biggie.