Nematode Ova from a Tortoise Fecal Sample

We offer a variety of services for long-distance clients.

Please call (480) 275-7017 to ask about pricing or to arrange for any of these services.

Distance diagnosis is not recommended for urgent medical situations.  A local veterinarian is your best source of care for critical conditions such as bleeding, organ prolapse, difficulty breathing, or any other sign of a life-threatening illness.  DO NOT DELAY GETTING YOUR PET TO A LOCAL VETERINARIAN!

PLEASE NOTE: Arizona regulations do not allow us to prescribe medication for patients we have not physically examined.  We can make recommendations for care but cannot write prescriptions, mail prescriptions, or otherwise dispense medications for patients that we have not seen in person.  You will need to coordinate your pets' care with a veterinarian in your community.  Your local veterinarian may or may not choose to follow our advice based on his or her physical examination and assessment of the case.

• Phone, Fax, and Email Consultation -- If you live too far away to visit our hospital, you may schedule a phone call with Dr. Wright or Dr. Johnson to discuss your exotic pet.  You may also send an email or a fax about your exotic pet and receive a reply either by phone, email, or fax.  Payment is required at the time you schedule your consultation.
• Parasite Exam -- A stool sample that has been properly collected, stored, and packaged may be sent to us via overnight carrier and assessed for parasites by our in-house laboratory or, on occasion, may be sent onward to a speciality lab.  We work with speciality labs that can detect parasites and many other important diseases with DNA tests.  Using a simple swab test that can be sent through the mail, we can test for Cryptosporidum serpentes (a common cause of regurgitation in snakes), Cryptosporidium saurophilum (a common cause of "stick tail" in leopard geckos and weight loss in bearded dragons), other Cryptosporidum species (often implicated in ferret diarrhea), Helicobacter mustelae (the causative agent of stomach ulcers in ferrets), Giardia, Pacheco's virus of parrots and other herpesvirus, koi pox virus, koi herpesvirus, chytridiomycosis of frogs, and many other diseases.
  • Fecal Parasite Exams: Please collect a fresh sample, place it on a damp paper towel inside a Ziploc bag.  Express most of the air from the bag before sealing.  Place this inside a second Ziploc bag and seal.  The sample should be placed in a padded envelope and sent by overnight shipping service (US Post Office or UPS) to arrive the next day.  A better sample quality is ensured by sending the sample inside a insulated shipping box with a cold pack.
    • We do not need a large amount of feces.  Please submit a sample no larger than a marble or a grape.  If you are submitting a fecal from a small animal, such as a dart frog, it is important to sent multiple fecals collected over the course of a day, in the same Ziploc bag.
    • We can perform direct and float fecal parasite examinations in-house.  In some cases, we need to send the sample to an outside lab to better identify parasites.
  • Other tests: Please contact us for instructions.
• Bird Sexing -- You may send us a saliva swab, feathers or a properly prepared blot of blood in order to learn the sex of your bird. We will mail you a prepaid kit for this service.  Discounts available for multiple sexings submitted at the same time.
• Long Distance Hospitalization -- We can arrange transport to and from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport if you would like to send your pet to us for care and it is healthy enough to travel.  We'll stay in touch with you just like you live nearby with updates on your pet's progress and estimated date of release from medical care.
• Necropsy Exam -- We'll strive to determine the cause of death on deceased pets that have been properly kept in the refrigerator, packaged on ice and sent to us via overnight carrier. This is only recommended for deceased pets that appear to be in good condition and have been dead less than 24 hrs before shipping.  We can mail you a prepaid "preservation kit" for deceased pets that cannot be immediately sent to us.  We suggest purchasing a kit to have on hand so that the specimen will be freshly preserved.  A delay of even a few hours may mean the difference between a helpful necropsy and an unhelpful one.

Copyright 2009
Kevin Wright DVM
Arizona Exotic Animal Hospital
744 N Center Street
Mesa, AZ 85201
(480) 275 7017
info@azeah.com