Urine Retrieval Device

Sometimes I’m given the task of obtaining urine samples from some of our animals for veterinary purposes. Some of our animals require routine urinalysis so that we can monitor the progression of various issues. Most of the time I spend my time trying to get urine from our three Red-ruffed Lemurs, which is surprisingly easy to do. For the most part the Red-ruffed Lemurs will pee in a cup for me! Some animals, like our former goat Chummix, are aRead more

Cassandra explores the vet room

Ring Tailed Lemur training is going well! Here’s where we were last time Lemurs in Crates. Last week with  guidance from Julie Grimes and assistance from our Vet Keeper Katy, I let Cassandra, our female ring tailed lemur, out in the vet room. The idea was to let her out of her crate into a vet room cage. This is where she will spend a little time on the day of her physical. In training terms we are desensitizing herRead more

Trash anyone?

Anyone who has been in the animal keeping profession knows that part of the job includes the unfortunate task of pulling trash out of the animal exhibits. On some level it is expected that a random object will occasionally be found in an animal’s enclosure, due to a visitor accidentally dropping something and not being able to recover it (please don’t try to retrieve the item yourself!). However, we have noticed the amount of trash in the exhibits increase significantlyRead more

Last week’s medical procedures

A rough week it was: May 13:  X-rays for Jean, one of our Farmyard rabbits. She was found in the morning with her leg not quite right. We got her checked out by our vet, and x-rays indicated some dislocated metacarpals. After consulting with a surgeon, we decided to let her rest and see how things would progress (resting still in progress). May 23: Heart “zapping” (as we call it) for Kent. Kent’s been mostly out the past month, but returned andRead more

QuikPost: X-rays

Recently, some of our animals went to the vet for radiographs, or x-rays.  Godzilla, our Bearded Dragon, has been having issues with his back legs, and one of our corn snakes is have some fusing issues of her spine. I’ve attached links at the end to previous posts where you can see x-rays of other animals. Do you remember x-rays or scans we’ve shared of other animals? Yona’s rads. Yona’s CT scan. Cassandra’s x-rays.Read more

Volunteer Vox: The Scoop on Snake Poop

I was hoping to write my first Animal Department blog post about volunteering to help clean the bear pool. But, alas, the weather did not cooperate and the bear pool cleaning was postponed. But, I was already at the Museum so I decided to stay and help out with the off-exhibit animals. Maybe you didn’t know that there are many animals who live behind the scenes. These residents are usually used for education purposes (and sometimes they even get toRead more