Sample Processing
Follow us on this quick little timeline on how we get our blood samples at Lake Fred to the laboratory!
Getting to Lake Fred!
01
Capturing the species
We hand capture/trap capture the 2 turtle and 1 snake species at Lake Fred on campus!
02
Drawing Blood
Using a 25G 1mL syringe
03
Scanning for a PIT tag
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04
For new captures,
Insert PIT tags into new captures
05
Obtain their mass, length, etc.
- Use a tape measure (snakes) or calipers for length
- And a weighing scale for mass
06
How to hold a turtle
Good grip on the widths of their carapace (bonus if you maintain good eye contact with them ;) throughout)
07
Releasing the Beast!
Releasing turtles from their original spot of capture
08
Releasing the other Beast!
Releasing snakes from their original spot of capture
09
(Cute release pyramid)
Sometimes we like to have fun! :-)
10
Processing lab samples @ lab
- Spinning blood samples down using a centrifuge
- Aliquoting samples out into smaller amounts
- Freezing at -80°C until needed
11
Arrival of Alligator Blood!
We would like to thank Dr. Ruth Elsey from Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge for providing us with alligator samples!
12
Conducting Assays (BKA)
- Pouring of Agar plates
- Introduction of gram-negative bacterium, E. coli
- Overnight incubation
13
Conducting Assays (RRBC Hemolysis/Agglutination)
RRBC - Rabbit Red Blood Cell
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