Sunday, July 28
I normally do not come in on a Sunday, but today I wanted to work a half day since I will not have many days left to intern with summer ending much sooner than I would like. I started the day with a quick misting of the galliwasps, then fed them along with the Mountain Chicken frogs and the Hispaniolan Giant Anole. I cleaned four snake enclosures as well as the Prehensile-Tailed Skink enclosure. I hadn't worked with this skink personally before, so that was fun. It was also interesting to take a little time to just look at the animal and see how amazing they are. After the morning break, I got set up outside to work more on the off exhibit cages that I had weeded earlier in the summer. In one of them I got to design from scratch a habitat for an Arakan Forest Turtle. These turtles are very good climbers, so I had to provide enough ground coverage/rocks/branches that would provide good exercise for the turtle. Once I was done, my design was approved by the zookeeper who gave me the task! It was really fun to build an exhibit again and I am definitely looking forward to seeing the turtle enjoying its new habitat! Today was a great day to come in because there is no salad to prepare or collect, so I was able to start working on other things right away!
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Day 38: High Demand
Saturday, July 27
This morning I cleaned up the giant tortoise exhibit and the tortoise Othello came up to me to get some attention. I still think it is so cute that these huge tortoises recognize how to get attention and 'ask' for it. I picked up salads from the building and then started working in the cricket/rodent room. After break, I started working on dishes, but then the whole staff was called to help unload new caging units. We were all outside ready to help right away, but the truck was not there, so we had to wait a little bit for them to arrive. Back inside, I finished dishes and the cricket/rodent room.
After lunch, I cleaned black worms and then cleaned out McCord's Box Turtle and Spotted Turtle tanks. I then got to go inside the Madagascar Ground Boa exhibit to take out pieces of shed that were in there. I was in there with two snakes, but they did not seem to care that I was in there and were just watching what I was doing. Another example that snakes are not out to bite/attack humans for no reason. Cleaning the turtle tubs and the snake shed were tasks assigned by one zookeeper and while I was working on that another keeper asked me if I could help with other tasks. As the only intern today and having keepers off, my time was in high demand. I then worked on cleaning newspaper substrate in off-exhibit enclosures for various lizards and a turtle. By then, it was time for the afternoon break. Since I helped cleaning the lizard enclosures, the zookeeper that was giving me a 'tour' of the building yesterday was able to finish showing me different animals. I got to look at some really awesome animals including a New Caladonian Giant Gecko (that I was totally bonding with (also, this is the largest extant species of gecko in the world!)), a Haitian Dwarf Boa, a Crocodile Skink, a Garrido's Crested Anole, and a New Caladonian Roux's Gecko.
This morning I cleaned up the giant tortoise exhibit and the tortoise Othello came up to me to get some attention. I still think it is so cute that these huge tortoises recognize how to get attention and 'ask' for it. I picked up salads from the building and then started working in the cricket/rodent room. After break, I started working on dishes, but then the whole staff was called to help unload new caging units. We were all outside ready to help right away, but the truck was not there, so we had to wait a little bit for them to arrive. Back inside, I finished dishes and the cricket/rodent room.
After lunch, I cleaned black worms and then cleaned out McCord's Box Turtle and Spotted Turtle tanks. I then got to go inside the Madagascar Ground Boa exhibit to take out pieces of shed that were in there. I was in there with two snakes, but they did not seem to care that I was in there and were just watching what I was doing. Another example that snakes are not out to bite/attack humans for no reason. Cleaning the turtle tubs and the snake shed were tasks assigned by one zookeeper and while I was working on that another keeper asked me if I could help with other tasks. As the only intern today and having keepers off, my time was in high demand. I then worked on cleaning newspaper substrate in off-exhibit enclosures for various lizards and a turtle. By then, it was time for the afternoon break. Since I helped cleaning the lizard enclosures, the zookeeper that was giving me a 'tour' of the building yesterday was able to finish showing me different animals. I got to look at some really awesome animals including a New Caladonian Giant Gecko (that I was totally bonding with (also, this is the largest extant species of gecko in the world!)), a Haitian Dwarf Boa, a Crocodile Skink, a Garrido's Crested Anole, and a New Caladonian Roux's Gecko.
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| Garrido's Crested Anole |
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| Crocodile Skink |
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| Haitian Dwarf Boa |
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| New Caladonian Giant Gecko |
Day 37: Snakes Alive Tour
Friday, July 26
This morning I started working on preparing salads. I was the only house intern today, but I still managed to have most of the house fed before the morning break! I took a short break in order to get a few more salads done before I went on a Snakes Alive Tour. I knew the people who signed up for the tour, so I was able to go along with them. It was really fun to be on the tour with people I knew and I actually learned more about some animals that I take care of! The tour lasted almost an hour, so I only had time to prepare a few more salads before lunch.
After lunch, I prepared the giant tortoise salad and fed them. I then fed the turtles in the atrium of our building as well as the Fly River Turtles. Once salads were distributed, I cleaned the salad buckets, did the dishes, cleaned the cricket tubs, and swept. After break, a zookeeper and I tried to determine the sex of some salamanders we have. Let's just say that was easier said than done. The zookeeper then gave me an animal tour of the building. He showed me different animals that we have and told me facts about them. I got to look closely at a Black-Breasted Leaf Turtle as well as a Chinese Crocodile Lizard. I really enjoyed getting to learn more about animals that I might not work with often, as well as see new areas of the building. While I have learned so much already during this internship, this mini tour made me realize how much I still do not know about herpetology. There are so many interesting animals and so much to learn about each one. I hope to one day acquire enough knowledge to be able to share facts about all different types of reptiles and amphibians as well. I then helped another zookeeper by weighing some Asian Box Turtles, Arakan Forest Turtles, and a Yellow-Spotted Amazon River Turtle before the end of the day.
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| Asian Box Turtle |
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| Chinese Crocodile Lizard |
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| Yellow-Spotted Amazon River Turtle |
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| Black-Breasted Leaf Turtle |
Day 36: Inspection Day
Thursday, July 25
This morning I cleaned up the giant tortoise exhibit and then started on last minute cleaning for inspections in the afternoon. I was just doing spot cleaning on areas that might not have been covered before. Later, I was called over to another area of the building because I had small enough arms to reach into a tank and take out a drain cover. After break, I put the drain back, then worked more on cleaning the building.
After lunch, the other interns and I went on the tour of River's Edge. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go behind the scenes, but the zookeeper told us some information about different animals that they have in that area. Once back, the other intern and I processed the cricket shipment. I then cleaned the McCord's Box Turtle tubs before the afternoon break. Afterwards, I misted the galliwasps, cleaned the Spotted Turtle tanks and then gathered trash for the end of the day.
Some pictures from the tour:
This morning I cleaned up the giant tortoise exhibit and then started on last minute cleaning for inspections in the afternoon. I was just doing spot cleaning on areas that might not have been covered before. Later, I was called over to another area of the building because I had small enough arms to reach into a tank and take out a drain cover. After break, I put the drain back, then worked more on cleaning the building.
After lunch, the other interns and I went on the tour of River's Edge. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go behind the scenes, but the zookeeper told us some information about different animals that they have in that area. Once back, the other intern and I processed the cricket shipment. I then cleaned the McCord's Box Turtle tubs before the afternoon break. Afterwards, I misted the galliwasps, cleaned the Spotted Turtle tanks and then gathered trash for the end of the day.
Some pictures from the tour:
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| One of the younger elephants taking a swim |
Monday, July 22, 2013
Day 35: My Own Exhibit
Saturday, July 20
I started my day off by cleaning the giant tortoise exhibit. I really enjoy cleaning their exhibit because of giving the tortoises some attention, but also because it gives me a chance to answer questions and share my knowledge of these animals with the public. It is like a small taste of what I hope to be doing in the future with conservation education! I helped collect the remaining salad bowls, cleaned the black worms, moved some more newspaper to other areas of the building, and changed water bowls before break. I then did dishes and was able to help take out old bamboo from the King Cobra exhibit.
After lunch, I was told that this exhibit would be my own to remodel with another zookeeper. I was really happy that they trusted me to help remodel an exhibit that the public will see. We first added two more bags of mulch to the exhibit, then wet down the walls to scrub them and squeegee the glass. The other keeper and I then went outside to cut down bamboo to use in the exhibit. For the exhibit we wanted to put bamboo stalks from the floor to ceiling. We started bringing the stalks in the place and would go out in the house to check how the exhibit looked. We went back out a few times to cut more bamboo for the exhibit. We used some plain stalks and some stalks with leaves to have enough coverage but not too much that the snake could not be seen. After we got all the bamboo we wanted to be floor to ceiling, we then added some bamboo on diagonals, as if it had fallen over. The key to putting plants in an exhibit is to make it look as natural as possible. After everything was in place, I then scattered dried bamboo leaves on the ground to finish. The other keeper and I then went out in the house to watch the King Cobra get placed back in her exhibit. It was fun watching the snake explore her new area (the visitors seemed to enjoy it too!). When I was out there, a visitor asked me a question and then asked if I was Rachel from the blog! I never thought that this blog would be read by many people, but I can see now that it is attracting viewers from all over the world. So thank you to everyone who is reading this, supporting me, and to those interested in reptiles, amphibians, and conservation! (As a result of having a larger reading audience than expected, I will soon be adding articles that feature an animal or conservation topic. So stay tuned for those as well!). The exhibit looked really great and it felt awesome looking at something that I helped put together and something that I was able to put my creative side into. After a short break, I cleaned up from our exhibit remodeling and worked on sweeping and cleaning our solarium. Today was another day at the zoo that was exhausting, but I still left with a huge smile on my face and excitement from the days activities.
I started my day off by cleaning the giant tortoise exhibit. I really enjoy cleaning their exhibit because of giving the tortoises some attention, but also because it gives me a chance to answer questions and share my knowledge of these animals with the public. It is like a small taste of what I hope to be doing in the future with conservation education! I helped collect the remaining salad bowls, cleaned the black worms, moved some more newspaper to other areas of the building, and changed water bowls before break. I then did dishes and was able to help take out old bamboo from the King Cobra exhibit.
After lunch, I was told that this exhibit would be my own to remodel with another zookeeper. I was really happy that they trusted me to help remodel an exhibit that the public will see. We first added two more bags of mulch to the exhibit, then wet down the walls to scrub them and squeegee the glass. The other keeper and I then went outside to cut down bamboo to use in the exhibit. For the exhibit we wanted to put bamboo stalks from the floor to ceiling. We started bringing the stalks in the place and would go out in the house to check how the exhibit looked. We went back out a few times to cut more bamboo for the exhibit. We used some plain stalks and some stalks with leaves to have enough coverage but not too much that the snake could not be seen. After we got all the bamboo we wanted to be floor to ceiling, we then added some bamboo on diagonals, as if it had fallen over. The key to putting plants in an exhibit is to make it look as natural as possible. After everything was in place, I then scattered dried bamboo leaves on the ground to finish. The other keeper and I then went out in the house to watch the King Cobra get placed back in her exhibit. It was fun watching the snake explore her new area (the visitors seemed to enjoy it too!). When I was out there, a visitor asked me a question and then asked if I was Rachel from the blog! I never thought that this blog would be read by many people, but I can see now that it is attracting viewers from all over the world. So thank you to everyone who is reading this, supporting me, and to those interested in reptiles, amphibians, and conservation! (As a result of having a larger reading audience than expected, I will soon be adding articles that feature an animal or conservation topic. So stay tuned for those as well!). The exhibit looked really great and it felt awesome looking at something that I helped put together and something that I was able to put my creative side into. After a short break, I cleaned up from our exhibit remodeling and worked on sweeping and cleaning our solarium. Today was another day at the zoo that was exhausting, but I still left with a huge smile on my face and excitement from the days activities.
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| Before (after we took out the old bamboo) |
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| After! |
Day 34: Alligator Feeding Time
Friday, July 19
This morning the other intern and I worked on preparing and delivering salads. After the morning break, all of us keepers helped to move a large crate for an alligator outside. It was definitely a group effort to move the large box to its new storage place. After finishing up salads, I helped to clean up the kitchen and cleaned the black worms before lunch.
After finishing dishes, I worked on preparing a new off exhibit enclosure for a Fiji Banded Iguana. I first had to clean the exhibit and clean rocks to fill the base of the exhibit with. I then found some branches to place inside for climbing space. Once the exhibit was put together, I then helped another zookeeper hang lights above some new turtle tanks. After break, I got to watch the Komodo Dragon get fed. A few of us went out to cover the alligator crate with a tarp and then our manager asked me to grab the thawed rats from inside. When I came back outside with the rodents, he had me come with him to feed the alligators! We fed the American Alligator first since he got most of the rats. It was really fun to be able to throw him food and watch him attack/eat it. We then fed the Chinese Alligator pair. These alligators are very intelligent, when my manger called the male's name, he swam right over! I fed the male while he fed the female alligator. Since we were feeding, it did bring some visitors over to watch and ask questions. Back inside, our manager said he was going to quarantine to check on our animals there. I asked if I could go along since I had never been to quarantine and he said I could! I was glad that I was able to go to because the walk to quarantine allowed my manager and I to talk about my future career plans and how he got to be where he is in his career. Every animal that comes into the zoo must go through a quarantine process to make sure that they are healthy and not carrying any illness before being introduced to the current population of animals. Most animals undergo a 30 day quarantine period if they are healthy, but our venomous snakes go through a three month quarantine. This longer quarantine period is due to the animals having different seasonal cycles and being more prone to illness. After checking on the snakes and changing their water, we headed back to the herpetarium right as it was time to head out for the day.
This morning the other intern and I worked on preparing and delivering salads. After the morning break, all of us keepers helped to move a large crate for an alligator outside. It was definitely a group effort to move the large box to its new storage place. After finishing up salads, I helped to clean up the kitchen and cleaned the black worms before lunch.
After finishing dishes, I worked on preparing a new off exhibit enclosure for a Fiji Banded Iguana. I first had to clean the exhibit and clean rocks to fill the base of the exhibit with. I then found some branches to place inside for climbing space. Once the exhibit was put together, I then helped another zookeeper hang lights above some new turtle tanks. After break, I got to watch the Komodo Dragon get fed. A few of us went out to cover the alligator crate with a tarp and then our manager asked me to grab the thawed rats from inside. When I came back outside with the rodents, he had me come with him to feed the alligators! We fed the American Alligator first since he got most of the rats. It was really fun to be able to throw him food and watch him attack/eat it. We then fed the Chinese Alligator pair. These alligators are very intelligent, when my manger called the male's name, he swam right over! I fed the male while he fed the female alligator. Since we were feeding, it did bring some visitors over to watch and ask questions. Back inside, our manager said he was going to quarantine to check on our animals there. I asked if I could go along since I had never been to quarantine and he said I could! I was glad that I was able to go to because the walk to quarantine allowed my manager and I to talk about my future career plans and how he got to be where he is in his career. Every animal that comes into the zoo must go through a quarantine process to make sure that they are healthy and not carrying any illness before being introduced to the current population of animals. Most animals undergo a 30 day quarantine period if they are healthy, but our venomous snakes go through a three month quarantine. This longer quarantine period is due to the animals having different seasonal cycles and being more prone to illness. After checking on the snakes and changing their water, we headed back to the herpetarium right as it was time to head out for the day.
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| Fiji Banded Iguana |
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Day 33: Double Tortoise Neck Rub
This morning I started cleaning the giant tortoise exhibit. Once I had collected all the old salad, one of the smaller male tortoises came over to where Othello was, so I then had a tortoise at each hand for a neck rub (it was pretty cute). I also got to talk to a visitor for a little bit who was asking questions and telling me about an animal story he had heard about recently. I helped to pick up the remaining salad trays and then processed the cricket shipment/cleaned the cricket tubs. After the morning break, I cleaned the black worms, cleaned the Alligator Snapping Turtle tanks, and changed water bowls in the same room. Before lunch I also misted the galliwasp enclosures.
In the afternoon, the other intern and I worked on cleaning the outside of enclosures in the two bunkers in the house and swept. Inspections are coming up, so everything is getting a deep cleaning! After a short break, we then worked on moving bundles of newspapers from our storage room to the different areas of the building. That also took a long time! We got close to finishing, but eventually we had to stop for the day in order to pick up trash and help close the building.
A fun part of the day: I got to touch a Caiman Lizard! It was his turn for a photo shoot for a new information board, so one of the keepers had him out. They are really beautiful animals: red head and a green body with some blue shades in it. They have slight ridges on their back and it was pointed out by a zookeeper that they have small dots on their upper lip. These dots are sensory cells that help when the animal is digging to sense if there are things/food sources around them.
In the afternoon, the other intern and I worked on cleaning the outside of enclosures in the two bunkers in the house and swept. Inspections are coming up, so everything is getting a deep cleaning! After a short break, we then worked on moving bundles of newspapers from our storage room to the different areas of the building. That also took a long time! We got close to finishing, but eventually we had to stop for the day in order to pick up trash and help close the building.
A fun part of the day: I got to touch a Caiman Lizard! It was his turn for a photo shoot for a new information board, so one of the keepers had him out. They are really beautiful animals: red head and a green body with some blue shades in it. They have slight ridges on their back and it was pointed out by a zookeeper that they have small dots on their upper lip. These dots are sensory cells that help when the animal is digging to sense if there are things/food sources around them.
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