How do you handle examining a snake? Unlike a dog or a cat, snakes can be problematic to hold in place. Dr. Yin introduces her colleague, Dr. Brown, who shows how to work with the snake to keep it calm and safe. Working with Pearl, our 1-year–old Arizona Mountain Kingsnake, Dr. Brown covers body condition and looking inside the mouth to check the teeth and the quality of the mouth and gum tissue, among other things. If you’ve ever wanted to know how you give a snake a shot, or where to find the lungs or the vent, then this

Floyd, a 3-year-old bearded dragon, needs a health checkup. But how can we give him one in a way that minimizes stress and keeps him safe? Dr. Yin introduces her colleague, Dr. Susan A. Brown, noted exotic animal medical specialist. Dr. Brown demonstrates safe handling with Floyd the Bearded Dragon, covering basic, Low Stress Handling examination techniques. She covers nutritional needs, light requirements, pupil reactions, skin – a whole range of basic health checks that work for many lizards. This 17-minute tutorial is a great beginning look at the care and handling of lizards for animal enthusiasts of all levels.

This method of enrichment was very successful based on how readily the penguins interacted with the devices to acquire the food inside the floating devices. The birds went after the balls eagerly. They were so interested in the hamster balls, in some cases, the birds would spend hours manipulating the balls to get fish from them. This was particularly exciting because this extent of foraging for food is more reflective of wild penguin swimming behavior.

As of 9/16/10, the Veterinary Public Health & Rabies Control Program has detected 15 rabid bats in Los Angeles County this year, with eight found in the Santa Clarita Valley. In most years, only about ten rabid bats are detected for the entire year. The only other year with a higher number of rabid bats detected was 2007 when 24 rabid bats were identified. This year, most of the rabid bats were found in and around homes, and in two cases, dogs were found playing with the live bat. The pets were  revaccinated against rabies and quarantine at home for

There are two different types of elephants, Asian and African. Up until my visit to Have Trunk Will Travel, I could never tell the difference. But Kari Johnson gave me a fool-proof method. Now I can’t believe I couldn’t distinguish between the two in the past. Asian elephants have a humped back whereas African elephants have a sway back. You probably also notice from the photos that Asian elephants have shorter trunks, wider legs, and their leg does not taper much above the foot. Asian elephants have a bilobed forehead whereas Africans have domed head. ElephantsHTWT3-19-09-31326 ElephantsHTWT3-19-09-31326 Asian elephants have a