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Career Choices?

T

The NY Gecko

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Ok, so its getting to that point in my life where I have to decide what I want to do "when I grow up." I know for 100% certain that I want to do something related to reptiles, and so far the choices I've seen are Zoology, Wildlife Biology, and possibly exotics vet. My question would be more for the college grads I suppose but, which do you think would give me the greatest chance of working with the animals I love?
 
My vote

I would say focus on a biology degree with an emphasis in animal science. I work in preclinical toxicology and I get to work with animals and get paid well enough to keep reptiles :raspberry

Your BS with an animal science flare will make you more marketable when you do grow up. Also you will not spend a fortune to become a vet to end up dealing with people who complain you charge too much for a fecal exam.

Best of luck!
Joyce
 
The NY Gecko said:
Ok, so its getting to that point in my life where I have to decide what I want to do "when I grow up." I know for 100% certain that I want to do something related to reptiles, and so far the choices I've seen are Zoology, Wildlife Biology, and possibly exotics vet. My question would be more for the college grads I suppose but, which do you think would give me the greatest chance of working with the animals I love?
Click to expand...

All of those choices will offer you opportunities that you might enjoy. However, be sure to research them thoroughly before you choose your major. There are many specialties that are available in each field that you could concentrate on to further reach your goals. Are you wanting to work with just reptiles, mammals, amphibians or are you looking for more of a variety???

The choices are endless in almost every field you could choose. Start with a broad scope and narrow it down as you proceed through your schooling. You might find you change your mind a million times before you find your "dream job".

I hope that made sense.
 
To respond to what you said mike, I'd like it to be specifically reptiles. Mammals and amphibians are cool, but not what I like. Icthyology also has my interest since fish are my roots, I love reptiles, but the whole animal thing has stemmed from fish, I've been breeding them since I was 5. The only problem is that its kinda hard to work with both seeing as most of my favorite reptile species are all more inland. However, the amazon has many of my favorite fish and reptiles. Keep ideas coming.
 
I just graduated from Penn State in dec 05 from wildilife sciences and there are no jobs here in the East Coast so Im not working in the vet industry as a tech. Unfortunetly the animal fields are at a low right now.
 
All of those choices could potentially have you working with reptiles, but in extremely different ways. So, you really need to think about how you would enjoy other aspects of the job, your financial goals, and what kind of work with reptiles you'd like to pursue (notice, I have an interest in field work and so my thoughts emphasize that, while Joyce does lab work and so her emphasis is there), and how long you are willing to go to school.

A wildlife biology major prepares you for a job with a B.S. This may be with fish & wildlife, a park service, a small nature center, etc. These jobs may get you close to the animals and be very rewarding. Not as high paying as the vet job though.

A zoology / biology major (I was a zoology major! :) ) can also prepare you for those jobs - depending on the elective courses you take. It can also set you on an academic path. If what you want to do is field research of herps, you can either get a job with fish & wildlife (or the like), or go the academic route. The job goal here (after getting a PhD) is a tenure track university position where you have an obligation to teach courses (including herpetology if you're lucky!) and you have to secure funding for your research, but then you get to go out and spend lots of time doing that field research! :)

I think we'd all agree with Jeanne that exotic vets are badly needed! This is probably the highest paying job working with herps (and birds and small mammals) that you could get. It certainly involves a different kind of work with animals (and their owners), though. Before veterinary school, you'd want to major in biology or zoology - many schools have a pre-vet/pre-med track. Several of my undergrad friends went on to vet school.

Notice that that zoology / biology major is a potential starting point for any of those career choices and offers you some flexibility and more time to make the decision. I would start investigating the zoology / biology and wildlife biology programs at schools you are considering. Not every biology department has a herpetologist anymore - so you will want to make sure that you find a school where someone is actually working with herps (and fish!).

Here are some links that I give my students (who are biology majors):
Careers in Biology
Where do I go with Biology?
Careers in Biological Sciences

Good luck with your search!
 
Yes, my interest would be more in field work as I want to be able to see the animlas in their natural habitats. I read those articles in reptiles about Bill Loves lovely trips across the globe and I would love to do that, but from a scientific standpoint. I don't think I would mind being a vet, but seeing the tons of animlas that receive poor care might piss me off and make me want to scream at the owners so thats probably not a wise choice.
 
Right now I'm going to school at UC Santa Cruz and I'm majoring in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. I plan on teaching at the high school or college level, and breeding/selling reptiles on the side. Or, I might change my mind and either work at a zoo or do some sort of research. Whatever you decide though, make sure your good at Math and Chemistry!

Matt
 
This is a great thread. The one tip of advice I would give is to get a lot of experience through internships to help you figure out exactly what you would like to do.

I was in a similar boat years ago. I was always a reptile person, ever since I got my first box turtles at age 4. When I was young I thought I wanted to own a pet store or be a vet. I worked in a pet store all through high school and found out that is a really tough business! I went to Rutgers as a freshman working on an animal sciences degree (pre vet option), but found out that my studies would be focused mainly on farm animals, and even after all that I needed absolutely stellar grades to even think about getting into vet school. Also, I realized I liked nature better than farm animals, so I switched to a zoology/ecology degree. At one point in college I thought I wanted to work in a zoo, so I volunteered at the Bronx Zoo reptile house during my senior year and found out I didn't like taking care of someone else's animals. But it was a great experience, and I gleaned some husbandry tips I use with my animals today. I was also thinking about being a college professor (my profs at Rutgers seemed to have a sweet life on tenure!). After college I worked as a Herpetologist for an environmental consulting company in New Jersey called Herpetological Associates. That was a really fun job. My daily activities included doing surveys for endangered and threatened reptiles and amphibians, like bog turtles, timber rattlesnakes, pine snakes, corn snakes (yes, believe it or not they are an endangered species in NJ), cricket frogs, Pine Barrens treefrogs, and gray treefrogs. I did a lot of fieldwork and saw some amazing animals and places. I even spent a summer radio tracking timber rattlesnakes in the NJ Pine Barrens. After 2 years there I went to grad school and started a Ph.D. program at UC Santa Barbara. I did my graduate research on California tiger salamanders (a federally endangered species). At UCSB I found out that I really didn't want to be a professor. 6-8 years of grad school, then years working as a post doc making poverty wages, to then compete with a lot of people for a few jobs as professors. Because I didn't want to be a prof a Ph.D. wasn't necessary, so I decided to work on a Master's instead. My experience with California tiger salamanders gave me a marketable skill (there are only a limited number of people permitted to work with them). SO, all these experiences together brought me to where I am today. I found out which careers I didn't like, and learned from each of them. Right now I am entirely self employed, half my income comes from reptiles and half from environmental consulting with California tiger salamanders. My interest in reptiles turned into my own "zoo" (Geckos Etc.), and I get out in nature to play with neat animals. I don't think I ever could have imagined this career combination when I was younger, but I just worked hard and took advantage of every opportunity that came my way.

Also, keep your grades up...that always helps with giving you the best opportunities later on! The most important thing is to do what you love, that way it isn't work.
 
As Steve mantioned in his post, I would get a degree with an ecological/environmental emphasis. The degree can be zoology or biology, something of that nature. I know of some Biologists with this kind of degree and they work for consulting firms, even big corporations etc. they work out in the field doing population studies, ecology studies, etc.
With more and more laws being passed, as well as the population/ construction booms everywhere, these kind of jobs may be more needed in the future.
 
Tom,
I don't know if your school provides good internship ooprutunites but here's what Im doing for high school to prep for college...

Im taking some courses through a program we have called Virtual High school. Next year (junior year) Im taking Animal Behavior and Zoology, and for my in school classes I have English 11, US History II, Advanced Math, AP Bio (2 blocks, college level/honors, w/e you prefer to call it ), Gym and a required english type class.

Then, here's the bread and butter. Senior year Im taking a semester long, 2 block internship at a Veterinary clinic that actually counts as high school credits because it's sponsered by our high school. Then for the virtual high school course Im doing Pre-veterinary medicine. Im considering AP Chemistry but I HATE the chem teacher. Im in chem now and it sucks.

Anyways, for college I found a sweet program that allows a 3 year accellerated bachelor in animal science and if you maintain a B average you are automatically enrolled into Tufts Veterinary college out in Boston, MA area. It's a sweet deal but will be a lot of work.
 
My school unfortunately offers non of those things. For colleges right now im looking at SUNY Syracuse and Northern Michigan although I'm sure theres alot of other good schools out there. Unfortunately i dropped my foreign language because I absolutely dreaded it. And alot of 4 year schools will tell me no because of it. Thankfully im going into the military first so I'll have an extra 4 years to get my stuff in order. Maybe I can even get the language requirement while serving.
 
SteveGeckosEtc said:
The most important thing is to do what you love, that way it isn't work.
Click to expand...
I don't know why but for some reason I just love this quote. Great post Steve.
 
The NY Gecko said:
Yes, my interest would be more in field work as I want to be able to see the animlas in their natural habitats. I read those articles in reptiles about Bill Loves lovely trips across the globe and I would love to do that, but from a scientific standpoint. I don't think I would mind being a vet, but seeing the tons of animlas that receive poor care might piss me off and make me want to scream at the owners so thats probably not a wise choice.
Click to expand...
Hey we have a few vets around here that DO yell at pet owners who give poor care and it doesn't stop pet owners from using them either. A reputable vet is hard to come by. A HERP vet is almost impossible to find. We must have 20 vets within a 60 mile area and none of them are herp vets. I'd love to have a competent herp vet locally even if he yelled !
 
The NY Gecko said:
My school unfortunately offers non of those things. For colleges right now im looking at SUNY Syracuse and Northern Michigan although I'm sure theres alot of other good schools out there. Unfortunately i dropped my foreign language because I absolutely dreaded it. And alot of 4 year schools will tell me no because of it. Thankfully im going into the military first so I'll have an extra 4 years to get my stuff in order. Maybe I can even get the language requirement while serving.
Click to expand...

Im not sure if you know this or not.. I was looking into the military too, and I think I have the perfect MOS for you.. ANIMAL CARE SPECIALIST. You get to assist the Veterinary Corps Officers (something Im considering becoming because they pay for all 4 years of post-bachelor veterinary college which will cost about a bajillion bucks.)
 
Southwick Herps said:
Im not sure if you know this or not.. I was looking into the military too, and I think I have the perfect MOS for you.. ANIMAL CARE SPECIALIST. You get to assist the Veterinary Corps Officers (something Im considering becoming because they pay for all 4 years of post-bachelor veterinary college which will cost about a bajillion bucks.)
Click to expand...
And that would be for going down the vet route correct?
 
Well Im sure being an animal care specialist in the army would give you a foot in the door to a good pre-vet program. Then you just apply to get the grant to become a veterinary corps officer and they pay your way through your Doctorate degree in college.
 
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