Fecal Collection for Cotton-top Tamarins

This technique is non-invasive and minimizes disruption to the social group. Animals are easily habituated to the collection and exhibit no ill effects from this procedure. We have developed a very easy system to collect fecal samples for hormonal analysis. In summary, the female will be fed a powder that will turn her feces green making it very easy to distinguish her feces from the rest of the animals in the cage. You can vary how green the feces is by the amount that is given to the animal. First morning void feces should be collected since it will have the highest concentration of hormones. So, this method will allow you to walk into the exhibit in the morning and collect the female’s feces without disrupting the keeper routine or the animals!

Materials you will need:

Steps for Collecting Samples

  1. In the late afternoon (between 3-5) give the female that is targeted for collection the treat that is laced with chromic oxide. Begin with approximately 1/16 of a teaspoon of chomic oxide mixed with the tasty treat. When you begin you may need to use a higher "loading" dose. You can adjust the amount given by how "green" you want the feces to look
  1. While the female is eating her tasty treat laced with chromic oxide, feed the other animals in the cage. If there are young animals in the cage that still beg for food, please make sure they don’t steal mom’s treat. If they do, DON’T LET THEM EAT IT!!! If they do eat it, you will have to suspend collection from the target female until all animals have "normal" looking feces. Then the entire process will need to begin again!
  1. The next morning, you can enter the cage and collect about 3-4 fecal pellets that are really green!! If the pellet is near urine, do not collect it since it may be contaminated. The samples can be collected directly into the Sarstedt tube. Please try to collect the sample before 9:30 am.
  1. Label the vials with the date, CTT (for cotton-top tamarin), name of animal, and your zoo name's initials, e.g.:

4 May 98                                                                                                                                    CTT Sue RWPZ

Please make sure you write out the month, do not record the date as 5/4/94 -- it's too confusing as to whether it is day or month first.

If you make a mistake when labeling the tube, it's not the end of the world, but please don't just cross out the mistake. Instead, THROW THE TUBE WITH THE MISTAKE AWAY, and make a new one. If you don't, several months from now when the feces is analyzed, people may not understand what is written on the tube and will have to throw away the whole sample.

  1. Record the information on a daily log sheet
Date Amt
4 May 98 4 fecal pellet

Place the feces in the freezer within 1 hour of collection.

FREQUENCY OF SAMPLE COLLECTION

The more samples you can collect the easier it will be to interpret your results. We recommend a minimum of 3 samples per week for 3 weeks to determine if your female is pregnant. If you want to determine if you female has regular cycles, it is important that you collect 3-4 cycles worth of samples (note: ovarian cycle is 18 days, roughly 4-6 weeks). If you can collect more samples during the week, please do so!! For example, you may want to schedule 5 days per week, hoping that you will easily get 3 samples per week. If you schedule 3 collections and you miss one during the week, it makes it significantly harder for us to interpret what is happening. Please note that these sample numbers are our best estimates for "typical females". Somehow, you might be the lucky one that has an atypical female and we may need more samples to give you a definite answer!

SHIPPING SAMPLES

Samples should be shipped on ice (dry ice is preferred but not essential) in an approved styrofoam shipping container overnight air (Fed Ex, Airborne). Please call Anne Savage the day before you ship the samples 407 938-2837. We are happy to receive packages Monday - Friday but not on the weekends.

Ship to:

Dr. Anne Savage

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Animal Programs Administration

1200 North Savannah Circle East

Bay Lake, FL 32818

(407) 938-2837

 

PLEASE BE SURE TO INCLUDE A SPECIMEN REPORT FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL ANIMAL FOR WHOM YOU HAVE COLLECTED FECES AND THE CONTACT NAME AND PHONE NUMBER SO THAT WE CAN SEND YOU THE RESULTS!