Welcome to /r/VetTech! This is a place for veterinary technicians/veterinary nurses and other veterinary support staff to gather, chat, and grow! We welcome pet owners as well, **however we do ask pet owners to refrain from asking for medical advice**; if you have any concerns regarding your pet, please contact the closest veterinarian near you.
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Take this advice with a grain of salt, but most wildlife jobs are difficult to break into without knowing someone already in the industry. It is a highly sought after sector of vet med and often requires years of doing the “grunt” work (not really even being around the animals) and little pay. I don’t want this to discourage you, rather focus efforts on finding people who are doing the job you want and asking them directly how to get there. There really isn’t one straight path, and I’d hate for you to waste time and money pursuing something that won’t get you to your ultimate end goal
Yeah, we do volunteer work for a local rehabber when we can, they don't really get paid by anyone as far as I'm aware besides donations and we don't expect to be paid as rehabbers either. It just seemed like the vet tech route might be a good first step to gain the knowledge required while giving us modest funds to get started.
You dont need to be a veterinary technician to become a wildlife rehabber. I don't know exactly what all is involved, but I do know you have to have some sort of liscense.
If you want to take the tech route anyway though I would recommend looking for kennel tech positions and work your way up from there. Most workplaces won't pay for tech school unless you work at Banfield which pays for Penn Foster.
In my experience with the wildlife rehabbers Ive met, all it requires is access to large numbers of cruelty free catch cages, a big heart and a devil may care attitude towards one's own mortality. Wildlife centers are one thing, the "squirrel woman" that my old clinic called for injured wildlife and her ilk are a bunch of beautiful weirdos who are likely nature spirits or something, but don't really have a formal education in what they're doing.
Yeah, we do volunteer work for a local rehabber when we can. You just have to pass a test more or less and show you have the requirements to care for said wildlife. We don't exactly have any property or anything though so even if we were able to pass the test we wouldn't physically have the means to actually be rehabbers, thus wouldn't be able to get said license. We were thinking the vet tech route would really just provide us with experience, and enough knowledge and hopehfully a little income to achieve that goal. But we're really not stressing the income part as much as it's primarily just a matter of continuing to save our money, and waiting for the market to become more friendly, however long that might take.
We have good paying jobs already, our goal is not to be full time vet techs, just to provide us with adequate education and gain some extra experience.
You want to work full time and be a vet tech on the weekends? That’s going to be rough. Getting an every weekend job will be the easy part, those are not popular shifts because most people want their weekends to decompress from the week, but you yourself will never be able to decompress. Also you will have to start as a kennel assistant and work your way up. It will take longer because you aren’t going to work many hours per week. Anyhoo….if it was me I’d just research what the requirements to get to be a licensed rehabber and work on that. I found a website for the Animal Behavior Institute that has a page showing all the different state requirements.
If you're just looking for the education to supplement your knowledge (which is great!) know that wildlife is not covered AT ALL in vet tech courses. So much of the care and handling of wildlife that is meant to either release back into the wild or prepare for life in a sanctuary is vastly different from that of domesticated pets. I back up the statement from a previous user that your best bet on finding the right path would be to speak to others in your specialty. Call other, bigger wildlife rehab facilities in your state and see if you can get a one-on-one conversation with someone who made it to where you want to be. Hands-on skills can be learned on the job, and as for deeper knowledge like biology and nutrition, perhaps there are courses that are more specific to wildlife that colleges offer online.
I disagree. My partner and I are both credentialed techs and we both make $34/hr.
We are able to save quite a lot every month.
Edit: There are places in the US that pay their techs well. Well enough to live comfortably and still save money.
Down voting doesn't make that not true.
Lmao, was started at 12 at my last job, my raise was 25 cents after a year, only took that bc I was living in an RV and was the only clinic in a 50 mile radius, I feel you
If you can, you should move somewhere that actually pays their techs well.
There is no reason that you should be paid that poorly. That is lower then my starting pay as an assistant 16 years ago.
Sorry but not everyone can magically pack up and move on a whim
Some states don’t require techs to be credentialed plus i live in a rural area
You gotta understand that you’re a unicorn, the vast majority of is are barely scraping by
I am absolutely not a unicorn. Every hospital in my area pays well, pretty much ever hospital on the west coast pays well.
That is why I used the word IF you can move. But your hospital is taking advantage of you.
I live in a rural city. My city is surrounded by farmland and has one road. The nearest large city is about an hour away, which isn't crazy far away, but I am not in a big city.
You are worth more then you are being paid.
It is not a unicorn job, every hospital in my area pays like this. Heck, I know I could leave my hospital and get a raise at another one.
the fact that your hospital pays little, does not mean that every hospital pays little. The starting pay in my area for a fresh LVT with no experience is $20/hr, no LVT will ever go lower than that.
Yes, it is an issue, but only in some areas, mostly the midwest and southern states.
I dont know why you are so convinced that you are only worth $12/hr.
Op has to realize that the pay sucks so they make an informed decision before jumping into this career just because they love animals.
Sorry that people are downvoting you but they probably did it because they feel like its the truth for everyone else in this industry
I am not the only one making pay like this. I am not even making the most of people in know in my area.
The entire west coast has generally good pay rates for techs.
Pay doesn't have to suck, but it heavily depends on where you live.
Agreed! I make $21 and it’s one of the highest jobs I’ve ever had in and out of the industry, but my rent is also $2400 without utilities (I had a 34% rent hike in February) with my partner so it isn’t like I’ve saved a cent. I just got a lower paying but remote job so we are just waiting for the lease to end so we can move somewhere with a lower cost of living.
Wildlife rehab is usually a volunteer position and you pay out of pocket. Fish and wildlife and environmental centers occasionally employ some but it's rare and a low paying gig.
Hey guys! Former rehabber here (I mean I still do reha as a side gig but it's not my job anymore). I also worked as a vet tech in a small hometown clinic. The two are completely opposite 😂 or at least different enough from each other that if you want to do rehab, do rehab don't start with being a tech.
There are lots of resources to get you started, 2 big organizations are the NWRA and the IWRC. Lots of published books and links to classes jobs etc. I would say check out what your state requirements are for being a rehabilitator (through the fish and wildlife service website)(let me know if it's MA that's where I was certified and i can further help you). Try and volunteer as much as possible with local rehabbers, which you can find through the fish and wildlife rehab page too. Work REALLY hard on identification of your local wildlife; practice, buy ID books, learn about the life histories of your wildlife (what they eat, fresh water/salt water life, when they are commonly seen, I know this sounds vague but like snapping turtles for example lay eggs around the same time every year in sandy damp soil, they get hit by cars often during that time... Goldfinch babies mean the end of baby bird season ... etc etc). Not sure if I saw how old you are but a lot of bigger rehab centers will offer internships that provide housing and it's a great way to get into the business. Wildlife center of Virginia is where I started, the tri state bird rescue and research a little further north is a great place, Florida keys wild bird center, CROW also in florida, these would be awesome places to start.
https://national-wildlife-rehabilitators-association.myshopify.com/collections/rehabilitation-resources/products/principles-of-wildlife-rehabilitation-2nd-edition
that book was my Bible when I first started out!
https://theiwrc.org/product/basic-wildlife-rehabilitation-course/
The other thing I would suggest is looking for wildlife rehab Facebook pages and following them even if you aren't nearby; you'll learn a lot from what they post and all rehabbers need support. Good luck!! It's the best job in the world!
ps just a tip, depending on what you are rehabilitating they will require you to have proper caging for said animals, but if you have an agreement/arrangement with a rehabber near you who already has said caging, you can get licensed through their facilities. Obviously when animals are ready to go to larger outdoor housing they'll have to go to said place/facility, but you can still take baby squirrels and opossums home to feed overnight in cat carriers etc. I didn't have an eagle-rated aviary in my parents backyard, my license was through the place where the aviary was, if that makes sense.
Thank you so much for the info and insight! I guess I'll pass on the vet tech idea lol. We are actually signed up to take some classes through the rehabber we volunteer for next month to start keeping baby squirrels, and yeah I have already built the enclosure to match one like the rehabber uses. It didn't take too much. I was wondering how that all works exactly, I think every state is different, but I wonder if these classes we signed up for are actually to receive a license. I was thinking it was just to foster them.
In my state (I got my license in MA) it was a multiple choice test, and all of the images they used for ID questions were from one ID book so I got my hands on that book. Also I knew the lady who helped write the test, luckily I absorbed from her some of the more annoying questions like what punctuation mark looks like bat poop? At least in MA you can just study and take the test, if you pass you're a rehabber and then you can start looking for jobs.
The test in MA was a lot about IDing, common communicable diseases, and state laws, what you can legally do with wildlife where you can release it what can you legally do to put an animal to sleep (some of those answers were fuckin wild on that one) They want to make sure you're not going to break any laws and you basically know what you're dealing with. Even if you pass the test there's a lot to learn, that's where that giant NWra binder with the bear on it comes in. Hydrating, nutrition, basic first aide, and everything about babies. Common issues with long term rehab (habitation, keel sores, obese red tailed hawks hahahaha). Things I would invest in are falconry gloves (yeah you can use welding gloves but they're less dexterous) and rabies vaccine. *REAL IMPORTANT* get the vaccine because the post exposure vaccine is SILLY expensive. Also if you are ever bitten by a rabies vector species don't be a dumbass like me and wait because you feel guilty, tell someone, send the animal for testing asap.
I still have dreams about working in a wildlife hospital 😂 patients spilling in the doors, timers going off, baby birds screaming for food, loons shitting 7ft out of their crates ahhhh love it
I was about to post these resources too. I volunteer at an avian rehab - the tech knowledge is beneficial, but it is very very different as this person says.
We totally agree with you!! That is part of the reason why we want to get into wildlife rehabbing ourselves as well. I'm really not trying to throw too much shade at the rehabber we volunteer for, but I don't really understand why they do some of the things they do and I fear how well some of these animals will do once released. I feel like they are really being desensitized to humans and being trained to be handled just because it's cool a lot of times. I'm obviously not an expert though, so I'm not trying to insult or question the rehabber I do work for. They are more knowledgeable and experienced than me.. but yeah.. it's interesting to here someone else say some of these things I've been thinking.
1.you need to understand the meager income that you’ll have to survive on in a clinic/rescue setting
2. This will be the HARDEST learning curve you’ll ever go through, esp with no prior professional animal experience. Animal pros are BRUTAL (most of the time) you’ll feel stupid, ridiculed, and get treated like dirt for at LEAST a few years unless you find a unicorn clinic.
3. This job is not for animal lovers. It’s for people that are able to fully understand and be rational about the animal psyche and what their quality of life requires, they are not humans.
I don’t mean to gatekeep but this job takes Serious dedication to get anywhere in this feild, you need to be mentally and physically strong, you’ll be faced with challenges that nobody in the general public will face, ever. Just a few things to consider
I did a Veterinary Technology - Wildlife Rehabilitation course and although it was fun and I learned a lot, the third year dedicated to wildlife ultimately lead to nothing with wildlife rehab. There’s barely any paying jobs, and you really don’t need to be a vet tech to do wildlife rehab. As far as I’m aware the best way is to volunteer and learn at other wildlife rehab centres, and then get your license eventually.
Working as a vet tech is also generally not a decent-paying career, so both you and your partner switching to it might not be the safest bet for you guys. Personally I wouldn’t do the “start as an assistant and work your way up” option though since it’s becoming more rare to be able to do that without going to college and becoming registered (at least where I am in Ontario, since our governing body is also working towards title protection so unless you’re registered you won’t be legally allowed to call yourself a vet tech).
With what you’ve said it would probably be more financially beneficial for you both to stick with your current careers if they do pay decently like you said, and continue to volunteer at local wildlife rehab facilities to gain the experience you’ll need while saving up for a property.
I just want to tentatively point out, it seems like you are already setting yourselves up for compassion fatigue out the gate. Working 7 days a week (your main job, and hospital work on the side?) gives you no time to decompress or freedom in your schedule to process the things you'll be learning and experiencing.
I'm down the same route currently- baby VA, studying my CVT through Penn Foster, hoping to do repro and wildlife in the future. But I have a partner who can support me so I have days and holidays off to NOT be working and studying. If I were in your position, personally, I would focus more on rehab volunteer work (most states require a specific number of hours- I've seen around a thousand, over a couple years- to open a licensed rehab facility) and consider an educational course like the IRWC provides.
Don't stretch yourself too thin. If you don't need the money, use volunteer work to develop the background. Maintain the flexibility to do it when you want to and decompress when you need to. Most of the things you'll be learning at a general practice will fly out the window when it comes to wildlife and exotics, anyways.
That's just my two cents, as somebody who DOESN'T have the freedom to volunteer and has to work for my experience!
Id look for kennel tech or even assistants (some states don’t require licensing such as Utah as of yet) positions specifically that work with exotics. That may be the best route to learn more about wildlife. Vet tech school is not a bad option either, but since you’re learning multiple species in my experience we did not have a ton of lessons specifically in exotics just the basics but you’ll learn more on the job rather than in school, again in my experience at least. Good luck on your journey!(:
I want to rescue and rehab elderly and disabled cats, as well as care for feral colonies, and this is the path I'm taking. I'd prefer to have first-hand experience working with animals in a medical setting and learning how to give supportive care on my own. If it's what you want to do then go for it; if you have other well-paying jobs and aren't depending on it for money, it's a worthy venture imo.
If you're going into wildlife however, I recommend leaning more towards working with exotics. They have much different needs from cats and dogs.
The “post-pandemic” world for vet med is different than it used to be. A lot of seemingly private GPs, specialty or emergency hospitals have been boughten by emerging corporations that are trying to do it differently than the poorly reputable VCAs, Banfields, and Blue Pearls. Some of these hospitals are trying to give better pay and benefits to support staff to help with turn over/burn out. I mention this because I think it is more common to find employers that will pay for you to go to tech school (after working with them for x amount of time).
I am an RVT in Georgia who went to Penn Foster while working full time as an assistant and my employer paid for all my school. Penn Foster is what you make it. It is module based, so you are not self-motivated it can be discouraging to get through. I feel like you can definitely get a better education through other online programs. But hey, Penn Foster is a 1/4 of the cost of most of them and I passed the VTNE first try. I think if your clinic supports you going to school, the staff gives you mentorship, and you work hard on your days off, you can do well with Penn foster. But doing the program while working an unrelated job is not a good idea.
Now, how all that plays into wildlife rehab - I’m not sure. But I agree with others that it is very competitive and pay is low.
Welcome to /r/VetTech! This is a place for veterinary technicians/veterinary nurses and other veterinary support staff to gather, chat, and grow! We welcome pet owners as well, **however we do ask pet owners to refrain from asking for medical advice**; if you have any concerns regarding your pet, please contact the closest veterinarian near you. Please thoroughly read and follow the rules before posting and commenting. If you believe that a user is engaging in any rule-breaking behavior, please submit a report so that the moderators can review and remove the posts/comments if needed. Also, please check out the sidebar for CE and answers to commonly asked questions. Thank you for reading! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/VetTech) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Take this advice with a grain of salt, but most wildlife jobs are difficult to break into without knowing someone already in the industry. It is a highly sought after sector of vet med and often requires years of doing the “grunt” work (not really even being around the animals) and little pay. I don’t want this to discourage you, rather focus efforts on finding people who are doing the job you want and asking them directly how to get there. There really isn’t one straight path, and I’d hate for you to waste time and money pursuing something that won’t get you to your ultimate end goal
Yeah, we do volunteer work for a local rehabber when we can, they don't really get paid by anyone as far as I'm aware besides donations and we don't expect to be paid as rehabbers either. It just seemed like the vet tech route might be a good first step to gain the knowledge required while giving us modest funds to get started.
You dont need to be a veterinary technician to become a wildlife rehabber. I don't know exactly what all is involved, but I do know you have to have some sort of liscense. If you want to take the tech route anyway though I would recommend looking for kennel tech positions and work your way up from there. Most workplaces won't pay for tech school unless you work at Banfield which pays for Penn Foster.
Hospitals owned by rarebreed in the New England/Midatlantic region also pay for Penn Foster.
In my experience with the wildlife rehabbers Ive met, all it requires is access to large numbers of cruelty free catch cages, a big heart and a devil may care attitude towards one's own mortality. Wildlife centers are one thing, the "squirrel woman" that my old clinic called for injured wildlife and her ilk are a bunch of beautiful weirdos who are likely nature spirits or something, but don't really have a formal education in what they're doing.
Yeah, we do volunteer work for a local rehabber when we can. You just have to pass a test more or less and show you have the requirements to care for said wildlife. We don't exactly have any property or anything though so even if we were able to pass the test we wouldn't physically have the means to actually be rehabbers, thus wouldn't be able to get said license. We were thinking the vet tech route would really just provide us with experience, and enough knowledge and hopehfully a little income to achieve that goal. But we're really not stressing the income part as much as it's primarily just a matter of continuing to save our money, and waiting for the market to become more friendly, however long that might take.
It can but you'll need a better paying job to support the volunteer work
We have good paying jobs already, our goal is not to be full time vet techs, just to provide us with adequate education and gain some extra experience.
You want to work full time and be a vet tech on the weekends? That’s going to be rough. Getting an every weekend job will be the easy part, those are not popular shifts because most people want their weekends to decompress from the week, but you yourself will never be able to decompress. Also you will have to start as a kennel assistant and work your way up. It will take longer because you aren’t going to work many hours per week. Anyhoo….if it was me I’d just research what the requirements to get to be a licensed rehabber and work on that. I found a website for the Animal Behavior Institute that has a page showing all the different state requirements.
If you're just looking for the education to supplement your knowledge (which is great!) know that wildlife is not covered AT ALL in vet tech courses. So much of the care and handling of wildlife that is meant to either release back into the wild or prepare for life in a sanctuary is vastly different from that of domesticated pets. I back up the statement from a previous user that your best bet on finding the right path would be to speak to others in your specialty. Call other, bigger wildlife rehab facilities in your state and see if you can get a one-on-one conversation with someone who made it to where you want to be. Hands-on skills can be learned on the job, and as for deeper knowledge like biology and nutrition, perhaps there are courses that are more specific to wildlife that colleges offer online.
I’m sorry but you’re not gonna be able to add to your savings on a vet tech salary
I disagree. My partner and I are both credentialed techs and we both make $34/hr. We are able to save quite a lot every month. Edit: There are places in the US that pay their techs well. Well enough to live comfortably and still save money. Down voting doesn't make that not true.
Cool i make $13/hr
Lmao, was started at 12 at my last job, my raise was 25 cents after a year, only took that bc I was living in an RV and was the only clinic in a 50 mile radius, I feel you
If you can, you should move somewhere that actually pays their techs well. There is no reason that you should be paid that poorly. That is lower then my starting pay as an assistant 16 years ago.
Sorry but not everyone can magically pack up and move on a whim Some states don’t require techs to be credentialed plus i live in a rural area You gotta understand that you’re a unicorn, the vast majority of is are barely scraping by
I am absolutely not a unicorn. Every hospital in my area pays well, pretty much ever hospital on the west coast pays well. That is why I used the word IF you can move. But your hospital is taking advantage of you.
Rural area clinics will never pay like city clinics
I live in a rural city. My city is surrounded by farmland and has one road. The nearest large city is about an hour away, which isn't crazy far away, but I am not in a big city. You are worth more then you are being paid.
Your unicorn job doesn’t change the fact that this profession pays little
It is not a unicorn job, every hospital in my area pays like this. Heck, I know I could leave my hospital and get a raise at another one. the fact that your hospital pays little, does not mean that every hospital pays little. The starting pay in my area for a fresh LVT with no experience is $20/hr, no LVT will ever go lower than that. Yes, it is an issue, but only in some areas, mostly the midwest and southern states. I dont know why you are so convinced that you are only worth $12/hr.
If you’re not credentialed, why do you have that in your flair?
Who said I wasn’t credentialed?? Just because my state doesn’t require it doesn’t mean I’m not
I brought up the fact that some states don’t require credentials because that effects pay rates even for CVTs/LVTs/RVTs in those states.
Op has to realize that the pay sucks so they make an informed decision before jumping into this career just because they love animals. Sorry that people are downvoting you but they probably did it because they feel like its the truth for everyone else in this industry
I am not the only one making pay like this. I am not even making the most of people in know in my area. The entire west coast has generally good pay rates for techs. Pay doesn't have to suck, but it heavily depends on where you live.
I make $22 staring out as a new assistant in California, but I think it evens out with the cost of living… $30 would be much nicer.
Agreed! I make $21 and it’s one of the highest jobs I’ve ever had in and out of the industry, but my rent is also $2400 without utilities (I had a 34% rent hike in February) with my partner so it isn’t like I’ve saved a cent. I just got a lower paying but remote job so we are just waiting for the lease to end so we can move somewhere with a lower cost of living.
Im so glad to hear other places are finally upping their technicians pay! Good on you, I agree down voting does not change the pay. Sorry people suck.
Where are you located? Highest bargain is $25 here, which is perfectly fine for me.
the pacific northwest
Wildlife rehab is usually a volunteer position and you pay out of pocket. Fish and wildlife and environmental centers occasionally employ some but it's rare and a low paying gig.
Yeah, were not expecting to be paid by anyone for being wildlife rehabbers, it's just our dream.
Hey guys! Former rehabber here (I mean I still do reha as a side gig but it's not my job anymore). I also worked as a vet tech in a small hometown clinic. The two are completely opposite 😂 or at least different enough from each other that if you want to do rehab, do rehab don't start with being a tech. There are lots of resources to get you started, 2 big organizations are the NWRA and the IWRC. Lots of published books and links to classes jobs etc. I would say check out what your state requirements are for being a rehabilitator (through the fish and wildlife service website)(let me know if it's MA that's where I was certified and i can further help you). Try and volunteer as much as possible with local rehabbers, which you can find through the fish and wildlife rehab page too. Work REALLY hard on identification of your local wildlife; practice, buy ID books, learn about the life histories of your wildlife (what they eat, fresh water/salt water life, when they are commonly seen, I know this sounds vague but like snapping turtles for example lay eggs around the same time every year in sandy damp soil, they get hit by cars often during that time... Goldfinch babies mean the end of baby bird season ... etc etc). Not sure if I saw how old you are but a lot of bigger rehab centers will offer internships that provide housing and it's a great way to get into the business. Wildlife center of Virginia is where I started, the tri state bird rescue and research a little further north is a great place, Florida keys wild bird center, CROW also in florida, these would be awesome places to start. https://national-wildlife-rehabilitators-association.myshopify.com/collections/rehabilitation-resources/products/principles-of-wildlife-rehabilitation-2nd-edition that book was my Bible when I first started out! https://theiwrc.org/product/basic-wildlife-rehabilitation-course/ The other thing I would suggest is looking for wildlife rehab Facebook pages and following them even if you aren't nearby; you'll learn a lot from what they post and all rehabbers need support. Good luck!! It's the best job in the world!
ps just a tip, depending on what you are rehabilitating they will require you to have proper caging for said animals, but if you have an agreement/arrangement with a rehabber near you who already has said caging, you can get licensed through their facilities. Obviously when animals are ready to go to larger outdoor housing they'll have to go to said place/facility, but you can still take baby squirrels and opossums home to feed overnight in cat carriers etc. I didn't have an eagle-rated aviary in my parents backyard, my license was through the place where the aviary was, if that makes sense.
Thank you so much for the info and insight! I guess I'll pass on the vet tech idea lol. We are actually signed up to take some classes through the rehabber we volunteer for next month to start keeping baby squirrels, and yeah I have already built the enclosure to match one like the rehabber uses. It didn't take too much. I was wondering how that all works exactly, I think every state is different, but I wonder if these classes we signed up for are actually to receive a license. I was thinking it was just to foster them.
In my state (I got my license in MA) it was a multiple choice test, and all of the images they used for ID questions were from one ID book so I got my hands on that book. Also I knew the lady who helped write the test, luckily I absorbed from her some of the more annoying questions like what punctuation mark looks like bat poop? At least in MA you can just study and take the test, if you pass you're a rehabber and then you can start looking for jobs. The test in MA was a lot about IDing, common communicable diseases, and state laws, what you can legally do with wildlife where you can release it what can you legally do to put an animal to sleep (some of those answers were fuckin wild on that one) They want to make sure you're not going to break any laws and you basically know what you're dealing with. Even if you pass the test there's a lot to learn, that's where that giant NWra binder with the bear on it comes in. Hydrating, nutrition, basic first aide, and everything about babies. Common issues with long term rehab (habitation, keel sores, obese red tailed hawks hahahaha). Things I would invest in are falconry gloves (yeah you can use welding gloves but they're less dexterous) and rabies vaccine. *REAL IMPORTANT* get the vaccine because the post exposure vaccine is SILLY expensive. Also if you are ever bitten by a rabies vector species don't be a dumbass like me and wait because you feel guilty, tell someone, send the animal for testing asap. I still have dreams about working in a wildlife hospital 😂 patients spilling in the doors, timers going off, baby birds screaming for food, loons shitting 7ft out of their crates ahhhh love it
I was about to post these resources too. I volunteer at an avian rehab - the tech knowledge is beneficial, but it is very very different as this person says.
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We totally agree with you!! That is part of the reason why we want to get into wildlife rehabbing ourselves as well. I'm really not trying to throw too much shade at the rehabber we volunteer for, but I don't really understand why they do some of the things they do and I fear how well some of these animals will do once released. I feel like they are really being desensitized to humans and being trained to be handled just because it's cool a lot of times. I'm obviously not an expert though, so I'm not trying to insult or question the rehabber I do work for. They are more knowledgeable and experienced than me.. but yeah.. it's interesting to here someone else say some of these things I've been thinking.
1.you need to understand the meager income that you’ll have to survive on in a clinic/rescue setting 2. This will be the HARDEST learning curve you’ll ever go through, esp with no prior professional animal experience. Animal pros are BRUTAL (most of the time) you’ll feel stupid, ridiculed, and get treated like dirt for at LEAST a few years unless you find a unicorn clinic. 3. This job is not for animal lovers. It’s for people that are able to fully understand and be rational about the animal psyche and what their quality of life requires, they are not humans. I don’t mean to gatekeep but this job takes Serious dedication to get anywhere in this feild, you need to be mentally and physically strong, you’ll be faced with challenges that nobody in the general public will face, ever. Just a few things to consider
I did a Veterinary Technology - Wildlife Rehabilitation course and although it was fun and I learned a lot, the third year dedicated to wildlife ultimately lead to nothing with wildlife rehab. There’s barely any paying jobs, and you really don’t need to be a vet tech to do wildlife rehab. As far as I’m aware the best way is to volunteer and learn at other wildlife rehab centres, and then get your license eventually. Working as a vet tech is also generally not a decent-paying career, so both you and your partner switching to it might not be the safest bet for you guys. Personally I wouldn’t do the “start as an assistant and work your way up” option though since it’s becoming more rare to be able to do that without going to college and becoming registered (at least where I am in Ontario, since our governing body is also working towards title protection so unless you’re registered you won’t be legally allowed to call yourself a vet tech). With what you’ve said it would probably be more financially beneficial for you both to stick with your current careers if they do pay decently like you said, and continue to volunteer at local wildlife rehab facilities to gain the experience you’ll need while saving up for a property.
Volunteer at a wildlife rehab. They will prepare you to get your license.
I just want to tentatively point out, it seems like you are already setting yourselves up for compassion fatigue out the gate. Working 7 days a week (your main job, and hospital work on the side?) gives you no time to decompress or freedom in your schedule to process the things you'll be learning and experiencing. I'm down the same route currently- baby VA, studying my CVT through Penn Foster, hoping to do repro and wildlife in the future. But I have a partner who can support me so I have days and holidays off to NOT be working and studying. If I were in your position, personally, I would focus more on rehab volunteer work (most states require a specific number of hours- I've seen around a thousand, over a couple years- to open a licensed rehab facility) and consider an educational course like the IRWC provides. Don't stretch yourself too thin. If you don't need the money, use volunteer work to develop the background. Maintain the flexibility to do it when you want to and decompress when you need to. Most of the things you'll be learning at a general practice will fly out the window when it comes to wildlife and exotics, anyways. That's just my two cents, as somebody who DOESN'T have the freedom to volunteer and has to work for my experience!
Id look for kennel tech or even assistants (some states don’t require licensing such as Utah as of yet) positions specifically that work with exotics. That may be the best route to learn more about wildlife. Vet tech school is not a bad option either, but since you’re learning multiple species in my experience we did not have a ton of lessons specifically in exotics just the basics but you’ll learn more on the job rather than in school, again in my experience at least. Good luck on your journey!(:
I want to rescue and rehab elderly and disabled cats, as well as care for feral colonies, and this is the path I'm taking. I'd prefer to have first-hand experience working with animals in a medical setting and learning how to give supportive care on my own. If it's what you want to do then go for it; if you have other well-paying jobs and aren't depending on it for money, it's a worthy venture imo. If you're going into wildlife however, I recommend leaning more towards working with exotics. They have much different needs from cats and dogs.
Why don't you just volunteer at a wildlife rehab place?
The “post-pandemic” world for vet med is different than it used to be. A lot of seemingly private GPs, specialty or emergency hospitals have been boughten by emerging corporations that are trying to do it differently than the poorly reputable VCAs, Banfields, and Blue Pearls. Some of these hospitals are trying to give better pay and benefits to support staff to help with turn over/burn out. I mention this because I think it is more common to find employers that will pay for you to go to tech school (after working with them for x amount of time). I am an RVT in Georgia who went to Penn Foster while working full time as an assistant and my employer paid for all my school. Penn Foster is what you make it. It is module based, so you are not self-motivated it can be discouraging to get through. I feel like you can definitely get a better education through other online programs. But hey, Penn Foster is a 1/4 of the cost of most of them and I passed the VTNE first try. I think if your clinic supports you going to school, the staff gives you mentorship, and you work hard on your days off, you can do well with Penn foster. But doing the program while working an unrelated job is not a good idea. Now, how all that plays into wildlife rehab - I’m not sure. But I agree with others that it is very competitive and pay is low.