Exotic Experience

[superkelpie]

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What's the best way to get some? The only place I've managed to shadow at that falls in this category is Seaworld (SA- which was so cool!), since our local zoo only does externships with current veterinary students. I was going to call the big cat rescue we have here, but they're closing down due to lack of funding 🙁
It's a field I'm interested in but I don't know how to get started. Help please? Thanks in advance 🙂

 

[Jakesmom]

I don't know if San Antonio has anything like this, but I volunteer at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Although it is a history museum, it has a lot of wildlife (alive, of course) they use for education purposes. I was able to get experience with raptors, snakes, turtles, skunks, opossums, rabbits and a groundhog. You can also check into wildlife rehab facilities in your area.

 

[Bigcatlover]

I would suggest looking for volunteer or internship positions that aren't necessarily "vet-related" I did an internship at the Omaha zoo and got hired as a summer keeper a couple years later. And I don't know if you are interested in any type of exotics, but I looked a lot into large cat sanctuaries in the U.S., quite a few offer non-paid internships. Basically, you could just try googling internships/volunteer positions with exotics and see what comes up. I think the National Zoo used to have some interesting things for students....

Even though most of what you will find is unpaid, a lot of them offer housing and some even a stipend

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

There's the zoo in Houston...and there is the big cat sanctuary somewhere around Dallas - we have gotten a few cases from them.

http://www.bigcat.org/contact/directions.php

Or was this the place you were referring to in your original post?

And of course we have a Zoo Med service here at A&M. I don't know if shadowing would be available but it wouldn't hurt to inquire.

 

[JumpHigherLivie]

What about looking for a veterinary clinic that specializes in exotics? I volunteered/shadowed at two and got a good deal of experience with reptiles/birds/amphibians etc. I would think that your area would have at least one or two?

 

[GellaBella]

I didn't see if you were specifically interested in zoo animal-type exotics but there are household exotics vets as well!

Try googling avian vets in your area or rabbit vets.

I shadowed a household exotics vet in NJ and it was great experience and exposure to both the animals that the vet might see but also clinical practice.

 

[ckd816]

I agree with those who said to try a household exotics vet. I started volunteering at a 2 doctor exotics exclusive practice at the end of May and got hired on there after a couple of months... it's pretty awesome. I've gotten comfortable with all sorts of reptiles, birds, and small mammals. I usually handle well over 15 different species per day!

 

[bbeventer]

Like Gella said I don't know if you are just interested in wild life type exotics, but there are veterinary clinics that practice in this type of medicine as well.

I received tons of exotic experience (and sorta overcame my fear of snakes) by working as a vet tech at a SA clinic that also did exotics (birds, reptiles, ferrets, rodents, etc.)

 

[superkelpie]

Thanks everybody! I was looking more into zoo-type exotics but household exotics was definitely on my list to check out as well (I owned birds for 6+ years, does this fall into that category?).
As far as I know, the animals at our our natural history museum animals vary up to bees/spiders, possibly snakes? So I was searching for something a little broader than insects/arachnids, etc.🙄
Thanks for the reference to Houston, but I probably wouldn't be able to do much there (or Dallas) due to the sheer distance; it's like a 3-hour drive to Houston and a 5-hour one to Dallas. I heard about the ZEW club at A&M so I was definitely going to join that (if I end up going there, which is a 90% possibility), but I was looking for opportunities before I head out to College Station.
This was the one I looked at:
http://www.wildanimalorphanage.org/
As a college student at A&M, WhtsThFrequency, (I'm assuming you went there for undergrad? If you didn't, ignore this question), would you have the time to make drives to Houston/Dallas for those opportunities along with the courseload?
I'm definitely going to try shadowing at household exotic vets per y'all's suggestions, especially since I want experience outside of the dog/cat/horse realm. Thanks again! 😀

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Sorry I keep forgetting how big of a state Texas is. I'm sure that's one heckuva drive.

I did both undergrad and vet school in Virginia (wooooo Hokies!!! )

However, I could imagine doing weekend work in Houston or Austin perhaps during undergrad.

I've picked my boyfriend (he's still in Virginia doing his AnSci MS) up in Houston and Austin (airports) multiple times and both are always a relatively easy 1.5-2 hour drive from College Station (unless it's rush hour!)- so not too bad if you had the time to maybe drive up Sat and drive back Sunday, for example.

Ironically, he is coming down next week and we will be spending New Years in San Antonio. Betcha will be a party scene, am I right? 😉 I haven't been there since vacation when I was a kid.