FECAL TEST? VETS OR SCAMMERS?

Tank & Scooter

Active Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2018
Messages
257
Location (City and/or State)
Los Angeles
How much do you guys pay for your fecal matter test and can I buy my own test? I live in Los Angeles and called a couple vets and they all charged 60$ or more.

I found one spot that said 20$ for fecal test, but he said he HAD TO DEWORM TORTOISE FIRST BEFORE FECAL TEST. That sounds sketchy to me. He said deworm was 20$. So 40$ for fecal test and deworm.

I have 3 torts i wanted to get tested, two 4 month old sulcata and one 8 month old. I know I can get fecal test for less than 200$ right?

20180605_130153.jpgScreenshot_20180603-194457.jpg20180602_151653.jpg
 

Jay Bagley

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2017
Messages
1,481
Location (City and/or State)
Michigan
My fecal test from my vet was $27. I guess I don't understand why the vet would want to deworm him first without knowing if he even has them. Our tort had pinworms, and the only reason we chose to deworm him was that the parasite count was extremely high. It was causing other issues, he became extremely lethargic, and had a loss of appetite. Get some more opinions, but I would not deworm unless it's necessary.
 
Last edited:

orv

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2014
Messages
383
Location (City and/or State)
Aguanga, CA
Last Summer we rescued two juvenile female CDTs from the CTTC at the Living Desert in California. I paid our local vet in Temecula to run fecal tests on them. They had been quaranteed for 60 days by the Living Desert. I further quaranteed them through hibernation this past winter. Their fecal exams proved negative for parasites. I paid $20 for each exam plus $30 for an office visit and physical examination. $70 for two torts and piece of mind.
 

Elijah

New Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2018
Messages
9
Location (City and/or State)
Los Angeles CA
37 is cheap for a poo test. No vet in Los Angeles would do a poo test for less than 100 bucks. My vet charges 150.
 

Chefdenoel10

Well-Known Member
Tortoise Club
5 Year Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2018
Messages
3,165
Location (City and/or State)
New Jersey
$150 to look at poop? Holy cow that is a lot of money for a fecal exam. At that price, you would think they have a team of NASA scientist looking at it.

and you should get a bottle of wine when they are through!!!! ?
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
Moderator
Tortoise Club
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jul 16, 2014
Messages
28,938
Location (City and/or State)
South Eastern Florida (U.S.A.)/Rock Hill S.C.
At one point, years ago, I bought a very fancy, Japanese microscope that I found at the flea market. I bought glass slides and I searched for parasites and eggs in poop with help from photos on the web.
Many times I found both.
Eventually I stopped worrying about it altogether when I found out that those tortoises were usually otherwise perfectly healthy.
Only once in all of my tortoise keeping did I need veterinarian intervention because of internal parasites. And it was a simple process.
Only treat if you see live worms in the poop and that tortoise seems sluggish or is not eating as much. A good tortoise vet knows this.
Be suspicious of any vet that tries to treat for parasites as a knee jerk reaction. Or worse...Wants to treat to PREVENT them.
Just having parasites isn't always a big deal.
In fact, it's more common than most people think.
 

Chefdenoel10

Well-Known Member
Tortoise Club
5 Year Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2018
Messages
3,165
Location (City and/or State)
New Jersey
At one point, years ago, I bought a very fancy, Japanese microscope that I found at the flea market. I bought glass slides and I searched for parasites and eggs in poop with help from photos on the web.
Many times I found both.
Eventually I stopped worrying about it altogether when I found out that those tortoises were usually otherwise perfectly healthy.
Only once in all of my tortoise keeping did I need veterinarian intervention because of internal parasites. And it was a simple process.
Only treat if you see live worms in the poop and that tortoise seems sluggish or is not eating as much. A good tortoise vet knows this.
Be suspicious of any vet that tries to treat for parasites as a knee jerk reaction. Or worse...Wants to treat to PREVENT them.
Just having parasites isn't always a big deal.
In fact, it's more common than most people think.

thank you for this post. It was told to me I was due for a fecal sample by the vet.
I hate to be gross but I do look at her poop.
Not up close or anything!! (when she does it) to see if I see worms.. and I don’t. She is a little lethargic and skips lunch a lot lately (but eats at dinner time).
so I wanted to think of everything. My next step was a fecal sample , but now if you say .... “don’t see poop? They probably are fine.”...... I am thinking twice..
 

Lokkje

Well-Known Member
Tortoise Club
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Aug 19, 2019
Messages
1,142
Location (City and/or State)
Phoenix
I used to do fecal exams on my horses. You use a salt solution to float parasite eggs and a set weight of feces. I don’t know the weight for tortoises. Strain the solids and either lay a slide on the surface of the salted fecal solution or decant the surface fluid with a pipette on to your slide after about 10 minutes. A good parasitology text will help to identify ova. I only looked at a desert tortoise’s feces once and found ova normally found in rattlesnakes. It was harmless but interesting. I’m sure an expensive vet is much more fancy.
 

New Posts

Top