Everyone who has an exotic pet should have a vet identified before you need him or her. In fact, it’s advised to have a first “well visit” with your veterinarian after acquiring your new pet. Not only do you establish an important relationship early on, but a vet who sees exotics can often provide super important health care information at that first visit…helping you and Rochester the Bearded Dragon avoid problems down the road.
But where do you start? Some of my clients hear about my services because they called around to other animal clinics and other local vets know I see exotics. Some people just google their local veterinarians until they find one that lists services for these more unusual pets on their website. Here are a few resources that may help you cut to the chase:
The Association of Avian Veterinarians (www.AAV.org)
These are folks who identify themselves as bird vets and often attend the AAV meetings, keeping up on the latest in pet bird care. Under the Resources drop-down is the Find a Vet option. You can search various ways, but in most cases you’ll search by city.The Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians (www.AEMV.org)
In the middle of their homepage is a blue square that says Find an AEMV Vet. You can search your town or city and say what radius you want the search to include. Members of AEMV also list what types of animals they see, which can be helpful if you’re looking for someone who sees the less common pets like sugar gliders (a small marsupial) or hedgehogs.Association of Reptile and Amphibian Veterinarians (www.ARAV.org)
These are the nutty among us who also see snakes, turtles, lizards and frogs, to name a few. The Find a Vet button is at the top right and also searches by area and radius. Be sure to include your zip code.
A little red-eyed crocodile skink. Full grown, cute as the dickens.
These should cover most of your exotic pet veterinary needs. Keep in mind, some of these folks are board-certified specialists, while others have simply been working with exotics for a long time and are very knowledgeable. Being board certified or not should NOT necessarily determine who you see, as you could unnecessarily severely limit your options.
When you do find an exotic veterinarian you love and trust – stay in touch! Ask questions. Arm yourself with lots of great information and use your vet as a resource. I tell my clients to get in touch with ANY questions, including if they see a product at the pet store and wonder if it’s a good idea or not or if their well-meaning “expert” neighbor gave them advice that doesn’t sound familiar. We all just want our exotic pets to have happy healthy lives.