Flashback Friday: Yona’s surgery

I mentioned I try to take time on Fridays for some reflection time. My father had surgery last week. It got me thinking about other surgeries, which lead me to think about Yona. She’s our youngest black bear. She arrived at the Museum January 15, 2010, at just under one year old. We noticed pretty quickly she had a bit of a limp, and her right front leg had some atypical curvature. It didn’t impact what she could or couldn’tRead more

Dr. Vanderford dons the gown again

The Ring-tailed lemurs have been getting along well since the initial incidents with their introductions.  (Hopefully Autumn will get some photos to share of the snuggling occurring). That’s why we were very surprised to find Henri one day with his ear split. He, and the others, were all acting totally fine both before and after, but his ear did need to get sutured. Take a look:          Read more

Toad Surgery

Last week, while checking on the animals at the end of the day, a keeper noticed something amiss with the toad: Dr. Lewbart happened to be visiting with some veterinary students- what perfect timing for us to have an expert on grounds for some sort of prolapse with this toad. We use a product called MS222 to put the toad to sleep. We put the toad and MS222 in water. Once the toad is ready, the work can begin. The stitches cameRead more

QuikPost: Sea Turtle Surgery

A very long time ago, Keeper Larry posted about Dr. Lewbart. Recently, I was talking with my roommate and she told me about this article. When I read the article I recognized the name of the Dr. and thought it was very interesting. SEA TURTLE SURGERY (Allen Breed, Associated Press)      Read more

Salamander Surgery: a new year with a little less

One of our tiger salamanders will be a little smaller in 2012. A couple of weeks ago one of our tiger salamanders had surgery. For MANY months now we have been trying to treat and cure a growth on the salamander’s tail (Dr. Vanderford described the growth as a Chronic granulomatous inflammation). We have not been succesful, so it was finally time to amputate. Amputation sounds drastic and scary. All went well and the salamander is recovering just as hopedRead more

What a day!

The day is done- it’s midnight, or a few minutes after, so the day is finally over and it’s Wednesday! The short story is there is too much going on!  We learned late Monday that construction on our walk-in freezer would start Tuesday morning. The Keepers quickly emptied out the room and stored all the freezers on the hall to start the day. Then we got a couple truckloads of Farmyard bedding. Tuesday was also Vet. Rounds, so Dr. Vanderford wasRead more