Hi I'm new, some of you will know my mom, (Vivienne), she is famous on the TPG!
I have a science fair coming up at school and we are supposed to do our projects about something we are passionate about, I am passionate about tortoises so I planned to check for worms in tortoise poo, my mom said that would be a good idea, but I don't know what to do. It has to be practical, but what do I have to add to the poo to look through a microscope and check for worms?
Hope someone can help.
Clarissa. xxx

Hi Clarissa,

Its nice to hear you are so passionate about tortoises but im afraid im not that good when it comes to looking at poo's under a microscope. I would suggest you email Hannah Bould who i believe is your mums vet, im sure she would be happy to advise.

Good luck with it :-)

Ali

Thanks a lot,I don't think I am going to do this experiment anymore, I have decided to do another experiment with our baby tortoises, with moms permission of course :D
Clarissa

All the best Clarissa and please kept us updated on how it goes.

Ali

Sorry this is a bit late but i have only just joined, when looking for toxacara canis eggs in dog faeces at university (we had to collect dog poo from the streets of sunderland ) we mixed the poo with a saturated salt solution and then centrifuged down, we then remove the fluid from the top of the centrifuge tube and examined under a microscope. I would imagine a similar technique could be used with tortoise worm eggs but identification could be tricky if u don't know what you are looking for. Ideally you would need a definite egg to look at first.

Clarissa you little monkey! I didnt know you had posted on here!!! (I admit I didnt know the best way to do the experiment!!)
Glad the alternative experiment went well tho, and is now up on the walls of the science room!!

Mom!!

What was the alternative experiment, I am intrigued?

It was only a simple one (she's only 13!), she experimented with the two yr old baby Marginateds. One exeperiment was to cover half the outdoor pen with a dark towel, 3 times the torts were lined up and let go to see whether they chose the bright sunlight or the dark, it was at 4.30 pm and they all went in the dark to bed! lol
Second one was to wet half the pen to see if they chose the dry or wet side, each occasion they went to the wet side!! lol
She also put different piles of weeds, eg dandies, plaintain, deadnettle, each time the majority went to dandies!!
Lastly, she put lots of arches, rocks, pebbles, plant pots on one side of the pen and left the other bare, they all chose the exciting side to explore!!
Well you did ask - lol the teacher thought it was very good!!

Regards Vivienne

Lol as a biology teacher I think it is a fascinating study!