This is a response to the person asking about microscopes (sorry, I accidentally deleted your name before I relied) A "Good" microscope will cost a from $500-800. such as a Wesco or bottom line Nikon. These scopes work just fine to detect parasites as long as they have a 10X 40X and an Oil objective. The scopes I prefer and use in my parasitology class are Olympus and they start from $1000-1500 and up depending on the model. Most parasite eggs can be seen at 10X. A trained eye can see protozoans (giardia) and then bump it up to 40X. The oil objective is needed for bacterial counts and ID as well as some mite ID. Your best bet is to just bring a sample to your vet who can easily recognize parasites, eggs, psuedoparasites and only costs a few bucks to run the test. Otherwise you will need to learn the test procedures. A simple floatation test is not going to find ALL parasites. There are many tests that can be run on feces and require centrifuges, lab scales (expensive) and various laboratory solutions (which you wont be able to purchase because most of these materials are used to manufacture illegal drugs) that if not prepared to the proper concentrations will destroy parasite eggs and protozoans and EVERY test will come out negative (This is one way I test my parasitology students ability to prepare solutions). Again, your best bet is to just bring a sample to your vet who can easily recognize parasites and eggs and only costs a few bucks to run the test. Jim Giacalone Veterinary Technology Program Faculty FRCC Larimer Campus Colorado [Sukie note: my apologies, but I forgot to note which digest number this was in when i asked his permission for cross-posting.] [Posted in FML issue 3567]