How to do Fecal Testing on your own Reptiles

To start off, I bought-

Microscope  (on Amazon) ~$85 (free shipping)

From Beautiful Dragons:

a box of microscope cover slips  $8

a box of microscope slides $10

a 8 oz bottle of Fecasol $12

20 fecal testers $20

and the awesome Parasite ID Chart $8

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It costs about $1/test to run a fecal float test. That's WAY cheaper than $45 at my vet's office.

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Note #1- You can buy a microscope from Beautiful Dragons too but it's more expensive.

Note #2- You can probably buy cheaper supplies, but I like supporting Beautiful Dragons.

Note #3- You can also buy a lot of other awesome supplies from her store like meds to treat coccidia & pinworms, calcium supplements, syringes, food, etc. If you are into rescuing reptiles, then check out her store. Her prices are good and she's a quick shipper.

Fecal Testing

I've been checking a lot of poop lately and found a way to take a pic of the slide in my microscope.

The red is circled around pinworm eggs which tend to be green in color. The blue is circled around tiny, clear coccidia eggs.

Here again is another fecal test with a lot of green pinworm eggs (circled in green). Air bubbles are in yellow.

I bought all my fecal testing supplies online through BeautifulDragons.com  I bought my microscope on Amazon to save money. Each test (sample cup, Fecasol, glass slide, and glass cover) costs about $1 each and is well worth the money if you do a lot of rescues.

Fecal Samples

About a year into rescuing, I got a microscope and supplies to do fecal float tests. I know-- weird, but very cool. 

Now I'm able to do quick fecal tests on my rescues who appear to have parasite overloads. Lots of experience and a sensitive nose has been the best guide for parasites though. Parasitic poop stinks! And it's runny & sticky. 

Normal poop is solid and has a distinct white urate (looks like chalk). Half of the poop below is good & solid. The other half is unformed and blob-like (due to feeding this guy baby food). 

When I get a new beardie I usually wait a week or two to conduct a fecal test. Most poop issues correct themselves with good diet, proper temperatures, and clean enclosures. I can a beardie with a parasitic overload on day 1 that has a clean fecal sample two weeks later. 

My vet doesn't treat parasites if the beardie is asymptotic since the majority  of beardies have a small amount parasites without an issue. 

Symptoms include- diarrhea, strong & foul odor, weight loss, lack of appetite, lethargy, etc. If there are coccidia & pinworm eggs, a week of dewormer is given. 

My big boy Max always has a few pinworm eggs. It doesn't bother him so I don't worry about it. 

Here's a screenshot of some digested food from Spike the 3rd's fecal sample. I found no eggs at all which leaves me wondering why he keeps bleeding when he poops. Time to chat with my vet.