Use of microscope for pigeon health

[kalapati]

Originally Posted by Pidgey

Feralpigeon,

Yes, the best quality/price compromise is in the "pre-owned" scopes. That's exactly what I did. I tried a few other things before I selected mine. I messed with one of the smaller ones (monocular). To tell the truth, though, I got my scope BEFORE I knew what I was looking for or how to look for it (jump first--look second). When I realized what I'd done, I scrambled to find info and learn. I feel like an old hand at it now and I got the scope after this last Christmas.

Brad mentioned that they're complicated devices. Yep, they are. But you learn to use them one knob, procedure and test at a time. Just follow the instructions and let your curiosity be your guide.

I've ordered a digital camera that hooks right up to the computer so that I can take pictures of the various bandits that I find as well as pictures of the regular trash that you see. I was planning on eventually processing the photos with labels and text so that I could post it and take most of the grief out of "doing it yourself."

The biggest reason that I wanted my own setup was because there were just too many times that I COULDN'T GET AN APPOINTMENT TODAY or that the birds have a knack for getting sick RIGHT ON THE EVE OF THE WEEKEND. I don't mess around if I see that a bird needs services beyond what I can do, I get to the vet and I've got three of the best avian vets in the US right here in my backyard, as it were. I live a couple of hours drive from Dr. Marx. I have Dr. Steven Weir within a half-hour and I've got Dr. Paul Welch about the same.

Believe me, I'm covered, but it's still not easy to get an appointment RIGHT NOW! And besides, most of the time it's simple--straight coccidiosis or worms. I can go outside right now and take a swab and, using a simple smear technique, find a roundworm egg in the water pan that I keep outside for the ferals.

I feed the local flock in my backyard about 3 lbs/day of wheat and whole corn. They love to literally lay around in my trees because it's safe here. And it's still strange to me that when one of them gets sick, they usually park on the roof above my back door. They still don't like for you to grab them, but they seem to know that they need grabbing.

Anyhow, if I took all the rehab jobs that I've taken care of with my own lab and added up the fees, I'd have more than paid for all my lab stuff. And besides that, I've had FUN learning it! I even got a Microbiology coloring book for kicks (and even read it!).

Pidgey

hi Pidgey,

you're posting here is very informative and i appreciate very much your time and effort to share your knowledge. we were taught the use of microscope in high school and college. that was a long time ago. and now i was tempted to bid on this unit last night on ebay. got it at $162.50. include shipping and insurance the total is about $198. is this a good deal?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...:B:ONA:US:1123


they won't let me copy paste from their site. got no choice but to printscreen and paste it on bitmap:







kalapati
San Diego
http://myracingpigeons.mypets.ws:81/jview.htm

[Pidgey]

Probably, for the money. The real money is or isn't in the actual objective lenses, the adjustment mechanism and the prism to split it into binocular. What I've heard is that modern day systems usually aren't as robust as the old ones. Mine, for instance, is probably from the '60s and the gears are so tough that it's likely never been worked on. The modern ones sometimes break although I don't think you're going to see that if you're gentle with it. They just don't stand up so well in a school lab with everybody's hands on them, or so I'm told.

Frankly, we're not usually doing such stuff that we're pushing what the scopes can do. As such, it's probably a lot more scope than you'll ever need. You can acquire some basic stains for Gram staining and it'll get a little more interesting. Sometimes, the techniques that you use to isolate things are as important as the tools with which you do it.

Pidgey

[kalapati]

Originally Posted by Pidgey

Probably, for the money. The real money is or isn't in the actual objective lenses, the adjustment mechanism and the prism to split it into binocular. What I've heard is that modern day systems usually aren't as robust as the old ones. Mine, for instance, is probably from the '60s and the gears are so tough that it's likely never been worked on. The modern ones sometimes break although I don't think you're going to see that if you're gentle with it. They just don't stand up so well in a school lab with everybody's hands on them, or so I'm told.

Frankly, we're not usually doing such stuff that we're pushing what the scopes can do. As such, it's probably a lot more scope than you'll ever need. You can acquire some basic stains for Gram staining and it'll get a little more interesting. Sometimes, the techniques that you use to isolate things are as important as the tools with which you do it.

Pidgey

thanks again for your input. i'll find out early next week when i get them - the quality of those knobs & gears, how they should move smoothly. i know what you mean for i have handled old but high quality microscopes when i was at school.


kalapati
San Diego
http://myracingpigeons.mypets.ws:81/jview.htm

[TheSnipes]

I have a couple scopes, one that looks similar, perhaps identical, to this one. It has a trinocular head but otherwise looks very similar. Anyway, it does the job! I even sometimes get some decent pics through it.

[djenner]

Originally Posted by Pidgey

Okay, so now we have to go shopping for microscope images of what you're looking for. Here's one that shows close-ups of the single oocysts. When you're looking with 100x magnification, they're going to be a lot smaller than this. I'll try to find a more realistic picture link and post it in a follow-up:

My Guiding Lights -- the Wild Bird Fund, working out of Animal General, a very nice vet shop in New York -- have a splendid sort of poster of all the nasties one can find in a float. I cannot find this, and no one is being forthcoming with the source data (...). Not sure why, but there you are.

Has anyone found such a poster?