I tend to appreciate an almost scientific, quantifiable approach to my day-to-day activities and one place that has been lacking is my approach to breeding my girls. I took on more responsibilities at my job and work longer hours, so it’s much harder for me to pair AND observe locks, as I’m away from home the majority of the time.
With all that being said, I really dropped the ball on my whole program last year and had fewer viable clutches and some of the viable eggs still didn’t survive incubation.
So I feel like an ultrasound would be a very worthwhile investment to my program. However, there is still not a ton of information out there that is readily available as to what ultrasounds work best in this application.
I work in the veterinary profession and see the Butterfly Vet IQ+ advertised semi-frequently. I think I like what I see, but I’m unsure if that is the best option.
TLDR: Is there anybody that currently uses an ultrasound in their program that would be willing to chime in on the brand you use and the pros/cons you see with it?
Photo Tax - my leopard gecko Sozo hiding in my boot 
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Ultrasound guided vascular access is my profession so I’ve worked with most ultrasounds out there. From a cost standpoint, the Butterfly is probably the best option out there for image quality. The Biim is a cordless bluetooth alternative. It’s what I have at my home through my work but I’m not a huge fan. Most other options out there are much less portable and exponentially more expensive. If money isn’t an option, no one makes a better portable ultrasound than Sonosite IMHO. They are more geared towards point of care use with humans though. It would be overkill for herpetology. You wouldn’t be disappointed with the Butterfly. If I had the $$ that’s the one I would purchase. Whatever you do, steer clear of SiteRite even if you find a cheap one on the used market. The image quality sucks. GE makes some nice ones and the image quality was ahead of it’s time if you could find a used one at a good price. They typically are made for more complex diagnostics and have a lot of bells and whistles that would be mostly unnecessary but at the right price it would be a good machine.
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Just got my butterfly today. I just posted photos of follicles using it.
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Butterly looks great, but it requires yearly membership. Any other good options without the membership?
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