Hi..exotic animal vets, zoo based vets, field research-vets a growing and exciting field; I may not be posting here much longer, so please post a comment on any blog article and I'll respond more fully, best, Frank
How to Become a Zoologist or Herpetologist
- Thread starter BronxZooFrank
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Quite a bit more to the subject than that....As with most any organization, good and bad aspects, frank
Where are these blog articles?
Btw, correct me if I am wrong, but I'm from Long Island so I may be somewhat of a "local" to you.
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Hello, excuse me if this was asked already i am at work and didnt read the whole thread but i am eager for some adivce. I have 2 major wants when it comes to my career and there both take different paths but i want some imput on both with someone who has gone through it before. First want is i would love to get into animal care as a vet or vet assistant (Ill take anything over nothing) but my true dream is to work in a specialized field of aquarium medicine. Working on large sea mammals and large fish. The other thing i want to do is work in a zoo. Maily in teaching. I love nothing more then teaching people the wonderful world of animals. But ill take anything in a zoo, give me a shovel idc. So i just want to be pointed in the right direction as i dont even know were to start and dont want to waste time bouncing around. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks again. 
Hello, excuse me if this was asked already i am at work and didnt read the whole thread but i am eager for some adivce. I have 2 major wants when it comes to my career and there both take different paths but i want some imput on both with someone who has gone through it before. First want is i would love to get into animal care as a vet or vet assistant (Ill take anything over nothing) but my true dream is to work in a specialized field of aquarium medicine. Working on large sea mammals and large fish. The other thing i want to do is work in a zoo. Maily in teaching. I love nothing more then teaching people the wonderful world of animals. But ill take anything in a zoo, give me a shovel idc. So i just want to be pointed in the right direction as i dont even know were to start and dont want to waste time bouncing around. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks again.
Working as a specialized vet can be challenging unless you have the job placement already.
One thing I should talk about is the aquatic medicine varies GREATLY. A marine mammal vet will be drastically different than an aquatic ectotherm vet. Most fish medicine related jobs are grown from aquarist work. In the fish industry, you tend to gain a larger, more encompassing understanding of providing all aspects of husbandry - from collection, to diet, to water chemistry, to filtration, to health and medication, to exhibit design etc.... Very few animal husbandry jobs become as involved as an aquarist purely because the demands put on a person to properly keep a fish alive are much higher than many other animals. Most marine mammal vets are either working with large parks do maintain health or as part of a rescue program. Many people get burnt out on rescue. It's not a fun job. 90% of the animals you get are because they won't live through the next 12-24 hours on their own. You don't win all of the battles, and it can be very emotionally and physically draining. I've done rescue/rehab work in the past, and my wife is still active with it.
An education department with a zoo or aquarium is a great job. You get the fun of interacting with the animals while helping to shape the lives of people who come to learn more.
Your best bet to help decide which type of job is best for you is to try them out via internships and volunteer programs at facilities close to you. See which is the best fit, and go from there.
Throwing in some local, small zoo experience here.
Years ago I worked for a rather small zoo, and only a few of the keepers had degrees. The owner was much more interested in experience, oddly enough, since overall zoo work is what I call the Elephant Experience: you canNOT be an elephant zookeeper unless you have experience with elephants, but you can't get experience with elephants unless you are an elephant zookeeper, overall. I did know a lead keeper who moved to INDIA for three years to work with elephants there, before coming back to the US, and with that experience under her belt, got a base job as an elephant keeper.
In short, my experience was with the freshwater and a few small marine tanks. A few sharks, eels, cichlids, etc. Nothing huge, perhaps the most exotic was the electric eel, and Fly River turtle. People wanted to see Nemo and Dory more than actual exotic fish.
The pay was almost minimum wage; most keepers only survived because they had wealthy spouses, or had a second job.
In this zoo, all keepers were hired (save for one or two) from the volunteer staff, and many people volunteered for years before an opening came. Why pay people when they will do the work for free? And since so many people want to work as a zookeeper, the pay could be kept low.
Don't get me wrong, it can be rewarding, but for a while I worked 40 hours a week at the zoo, and 20 at another job, just to make ends meet. Later I worked 40 at a retail job, and 20 hours at the zoo, and even then, the zoo pay covered a month of rent at most. You won't get rich, and there are a million people itching to take your job the second you screw up or mention you want more money or hours or to work somewhere other than the restroom janitorial.
Years ago I worked for a rather small zoo, and only a few of the keepers had degrees. The owner was much more interested in experience, oddly enough, since overall zoo work is what I call the Elephant Experience: you canNOT be an elephant zookeeper unless you have experience with elephants, but you can't get experience with elephants unless you are an elephant zookeeper, overall. I did know a lead keeper who moved to INDIA for three years to work with elephants there, before coming back to the US, and with that experience under her belt, got a base job as an elephant keeper.
In short, my experience was with the freshwater and a few small marine tanks. A few sharks, eels, cichlids, etc. Nothing huge, perhaps the most exotic was the electric eel, and Fly River turtle. People wanted to see Nemo and Dory more than actual exotic fish.
The pay was almost minimum wage; most keepers only survived because they had wealthy spouses, or had a second job.
In this zoo, all keepers were hired (save for one or two) from the volunteer staff, and many people volunteered for years before an opening came. Why pay people when they will do the work for free? And since so many people want to work as a zookeeper, the pay could be kept low.
Don't get me wrong, it can be rewarding, but for a while I worked 40 hours a week at the zoo, and 20 at another job, just to make ends meet. Later I worked 40 at a retail job, and 20 hours at the zoo, and even then, the zoo pay covered a month of rent at most. You won't get rich, and there are a million people itching to take your job the second you screw up or mention you want more money or hours or to work somewhere other than the restroom janitorial.
