Veterinary student wants input!

Hey everyone!

I am a veterinary student and I am the new ARAV (Association of reptile and amphibian veterinarians) representative for my school. One of the national ARAV board is coming to give our exotics club a lecture/lab next week and he wants to discuss ideas for future lectures/labs.

I wanted to know what YOU all would like your future veterinarians to know about amphibians. We are taught basic husbandry pretty well, but amphibians are not focused on in our education as much as reptiles. As amphibian enthusiasts who have probably seen more health issues than many veterinarians, I would like your input.

Thanks so much! I'll let you know what topics he can do for us after our meeting next week.

Ruth

Hi Ruth,

Its a similar situation here in Australia. Although we are restricted in the types of amphibians we can keep legally as pets (axolotls and some frog species), they still form quite a significant caseload in practice, especially axolotls.

A lot of fresh graduate vets often face with the unexpected axolotl patient and feel ill prepared. Majority (i would estimate 70-80%) of axolotl cases can be rectified with sound animal husbandry and care, but some generic knowledge of axolotl specific medicine is still necessary. In my opinion, i shall list some of what i feel are particularly important.

- Husbandry and Management - Tank parameters, nutrition etc.
- Sexing, aging, breeding, rearing
- Anatomy and physiology - Note species differences
- Pharmacology Application - Which drugs to use and why and which not to use and why
(A lot of fully aquatic species tend to have gram negative type bacterial infections as opposed to the common dog or cat staph or strep infection, also some drugs have adverse or side effect on caudates - i.e tetracyclines (irritant)
- Basic first aid (Fridging, salt baths)
- Specific techniques - intraperitoneal injections, weighing, 'drenching', blood collection, haematological analysis etc.
- Anaesthesia and basic surgical techniques

Regards and best of luck to your future vet career.

Rayson
Dip Biotech, BVSc, BSc(vet)(Hons 1), CMAVA