Hello from southwestern Missouri.

S

swagman

New Member
Hello, my name is Thomas. I've been a member here for a little while, but I haven't made an introduction post yet. I'm from southwestern Missouri close to the borders of Oklahoma and Arkansas. I have never worked in a zoo or aquarium, but I worked at the Neosho National Fish Hatchery as a paid intern/hatchery technician during the summers of my junior and senior years in highschool.

My passion is herpetology, with a particular interest in caecilians. I will soon be keeping a small (10 specimens) group of Tanzanian caecilians (Scolecomorphus or Boulengerula sp.), and I am very excited about this opportunity.
 
Update

In my initial post above, I'd talked about getting to work with Tanzanian caecilians. I did get this opportunity, though it came about a year after that post. Also, I was sent a much smaller group (2), and they turned about to be Schistometopum gregorii. I kept these specimens for over a year before both animals died of unknown causes. Giving that they were wild-caught, it could have simply been that they had reached the end of their lifespan. I did discern that they were non-territorial, as they peacefully occupied the same burrow simultaneously, and that they readily accept both crickets and earthworms.

Also of note, since February of this year, I've been a Kennel Technician at the Carthage Humane Society in Carthage, Missouri. My duties are essentially the same as a zookeeper's, ranging from general care of feeding of the animals to veterinary services such as the administration of subcutaneous vaccinations and fecal/blood tests for various parasites. Some of the differences, of course, are that I only work with dogs and cats, and the visitors get to take the animals home if they so choose.

Cheers,

Thomas Jay
 
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