BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

I work in a vet, but we don't see reptiles! I wanted to do a fecal on my skink since he's never had one and was wild caught, he's grown quite a bit so I'm not overly worried. Anyways, what are common parasites and are there any guides for identifying them? I don't plan on treating him at my work if I do find anything since I know we don't have the right stuff so I will take him to a herp vet if I find anything, but I just want to know what to look for.
Anything else I should know too? I don't plan on bringing him in since he'd be here for 11 hours but I'm just gonna bring in a lil poo to put on a slide

Do you use any of the large vet labs to send blood or samples out? If so you can do a reptile fecal through one of them.

As for what to look for. They can have coccidia, giardia, and pinworms are the most common.

Even though you work for a regular vet, you may or may not still have the same drugs there to treat your reptile. If you do find something the reptile vet may or may not just give you dosing information over the phone. They may want to see your BTS first. Hope that helps.

Janella wrote:Do you use any of the large vet labs to send blood or samples out? If so you can do a reptile fecal through one of them.

As for what to look for. They can have coccidia, giardia, and pinworms are the most common.

Even though you work for a regular vet, you may or may not still have the same drugs there to treat your reptile. If you do find something the reptile vet may or may not just give you dosing information over the phone. They may want to see your BTS first. Hope that helps.

Thank you so much! That does help lots, I'm not sure if we send them out since I haven't heard talk of that but I know there's a microscope. Assuming I can just make a slide of it and look for anything in it under the microscope? But I'm just guessing, seems simple enough but I wouldn't be surprised if it differs!
I know a few vets I could contact for the info on medication and dosage! I wouldn't mind bringing him into a reptile vet in the end if he does end up having anything so that's not the end of the world.

Are you a technician? Assistant? Kennel help? Any technician or doctor should be able to read the fecal and at least recognize if there is something in it. All you have to do is a fecal float like you do with a dog or a cat fecal. You can also do a direct. Good luck.