Tortoise Bromance, Nasty Fungi, and Being Handcuffed by a Ball Python

Working at the Quogue Wildlife Refuge: October 6th and October 13th

My second and third day working at the Quogue Wildlife Refuge were both very eventful. My work became more independent as I did the feedings and animal care with minimal supervision; these circumstances were significant because I had to recall information on my own without waiting for my mentor to instruct me what to do.

On October 13th, I was able to assist in some medical work with our African tortoises and one of our water turtles. The two male African tortoises who were put into the same enclosure because they kept trying to mate with the females (this wore out and would create holes in the females shells) decided to try and mate with each other out of boredom. Unfortunately, because of this decision one of the male tortoises had gotten a shell wound due to the friction caused by their shells rubbing against each other. I observed my mentor as she cleaned the wound and re-treated it. She used a cleaning solution called Chlorhexidine to flush out any bacteria in the wound and then she added an antibiotic ointment known as Silver Sulfadiazine in order to prevent an infection from occuring.

Another animal who needed medical attention was our water turtle because she had come down with a fungal infection on her shell (the dark gray spot on the bottom left of her shell). This can be common in water turtles who live in captivity because they do swim in their waste, and it is likely that bacteria will attach and grow on their shell. We treated her with the same medication we used for treating the African tortoise's shell wound because this medication process kills bacteria. In the African tortoise we used it to avoid infection while the wound heals, but for the water turtle we used it to kill the fungus. We also bathed her in warm water with a water conditioner that cleans the water and helps to reduce the bacteria on her shell.

Today, I also learned how to properly handle a snake. I worked with a young Ball Python that was about 2 feet long. Although she was only two feet long, she was still incredibly strong, which makes sense because these snakes are constrictors. This was an amazing experience as these animals are so different than any that I have previously worked with before. Eventually, my mentor allowed me to handle her on my own, and to teach young children and adults about it when they would enter the refuge. This was also a very valuable experience because many who go into the realm of animal care and veterinary medicine don't realize how much they will have to work with people. It is a very valuable skill to be able to inform other individuals about animal health care in a way that they can understand. This internship allowed me to experience a small part of working in veterinary medicine, and I will make sure to apply what I learned to other new and challenging situations.

These past two weekends have definitely been the most eventful so far. I am looking forward to seeing what I will learn next and how I can apply what I learned to any future experiences working with animals and people.