Self Diagonising Coccidia and other parasites in birds?

[Nrg800]

Hey, I'm not particually looking to become a vet later in life, but I would love to be somewhat capable in vertrinary sciences, and, well, looking at bird poo to see if they have any parasites would be very useful, and I was just wondering if any of the resident vets could help me in how to diagnose it myself with a microscope, I've heard of fecal floatation, but I can't see that working briliantly with birds, so yeah. Just wondering what's generally used by bird-vets to diagnose paraistes, and whether I can emulate them at home.

Thank you!
~Nathan

[jusdeb]

There are books and internet sites that can help .
I myself would love to be able to do my own poop tests on my birds however the cost of a decent microscope stops me in my tracks . Alas I just have to trust in correct husbandry and prevention and hope my birds dont pick up any funky stuff .

[Danny]

Here's a littke something I prepared earlier
http://www.birdkeeper.com.au/parrots/un ... tification" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Faecal flotation works fine in birds if you are looking for an appropriate floatable parasite type - but not all float

[Nrg800]

Oh Danny! That looks like a great thing to buy when I get the chance!!! I still have an okay microscope from when I was younger! I hope it will work!

[mattymeischke]

I've got Danny's book, and think it is excellent: practical, straightforward, and directed at pathogens amenable to detection by the amateur.

However, this is a tricky art and takes alot of practice, even with a substantial background in biomedical sciences. Therefore I would suggest that you get his book and start practising at your soonest opportunity, as it takes a lot of practice to get good at it.

Having said that, it is a fascinating process to learn how to do it, and with practice it can be a great skill to have.
The same could be said of post-mortem examination of birds, at which I am a novice but I'm learning very fast.
There is a lot to learn from these practices.

Get Danny's book and get into it is my advice, but if serious disease problems arise be sure to get the vet in early if possible, rather than relying on imprecise amateur science.

Deb, you don't need a top-shelf microscope for this game: I would suggest something with a mechanical stage that magnifies up to 400-600x would be ample for the pathogens descibed in this book; any other pathogens or undiagnosed problems are properly the domain of the vets. A second-hand one would not be dear, but I've not bought one for decades so have no idea what a fair price would be.

Happy poo-fishing, fellow finchos.

[jusdeb]

Hmmm interesting and worth looking into .
Just finished feeding 6 baby quarrions with the help of Pip the PC Lorikeet , must have just washed off enough poop in the shower for everyone on AFF to practice with.

[jusdeb]

Just ordered the book from ABK . Quite reasonably priced too .
Have put in a request to Santa for a microscope under the tree his reply "why would you want to play with poo" and "your strange" HUH so what

[MadHatter]

I've been thinking along these lines myself for some time, and have a couple of questions:
Would a microscope with an oil-immersion lense (ie x1000) be worth getting or would it be overkill?
I am on quite good terms with my local bird vets, so would it be worthwhile getting some tutoring from one of them over and above what Danny's book can teach me?

[gomer]

I to want to buy a microscope and have a dabble. I have been thinking of a usb microscope ? so then any pictures could be sent to a vet or even shared here.Danny or anyone in the know of these things, could you recommend a microscope or features that would be suitable for these purposes.

[venetta]

I might have to show Kylie the book and we might have to get it.

I've got the choice of about 12 microscopes to use at work and a stereo microscope.

We were looking at my hand rear kittens poo under the microscope on the weekend to find many roundworm eggs :/