Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was just curious as to what everyone in this forum did for a living. I am trying to get an idea of how many people actually have a job that involves working with reptiles or if the majority of us just do it on the side for our own personal pleasure.

Im a biologist for a city in Riverside County. Though my work does not always include wildlife, the first 10 years of my career did involve a fair amount of work with reptiles and amphibians among other things in California and Nevada.

-----
Cheers
Lateralis
"I would rather be precisely wrong than approximately right"
Marion "Doc" Ford

Professional student; at least, that's what my mom keeps telling me with every successive year of university Hopefully in another year's time, I'll be a middle-high school science teacher.
-----
Chance Duncan
www.rivervalleyexotics.com

Veterinary Technologist

I am one of the most blessed folks on earth as I do get to work with herps for a living (research, husbandry, captive breeding, exhibit design, lecturing, writing, etc.); one that allows me to support my family and enjoy a great life. As a curator of a wildlife center that specializes in herps, particularly venomous species, I get to interact with them daily and I am very thankful and humbled for this opportunity...my job is my passion which is something few people can say.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center

>>I was just curious as to what everyone in this forum did for a living. I am trying to get an idea of how many people actually have a job that involves working with reptiles or if the majority of us just do it on the side for our own personal pleasure.
-----
Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

I own and operate a large scale breeding facility. For me it's reptiles 24 / 7. Ernie Eison
MY PLACE

I have the pleasure of working with humans all day. I am a lending manager(residential) and a male stripper in the evening......J/K

I would love to just work with animals all day.....sounds like fun.

Professionally, I'm a self-employed programmer/analyst/consultant.

On Saturdays, I maintain the snake room (mostly venomous) at a refuge, and I'm starting do more shows, helping out the Miami-Dade antivenom unit. As soon as I find someone willing to pay me reasonably well for either of these, I'll consider a career change.

Nurse.

Law Enforcement : Retired.

Insurance adjuster.

I work with reptiles in a zoo.(17 years, at 3 zoo's)
I work reptiles at home.

Been working with snakes for over 42 years
I need to find another hobby!

Randal Berry

Drinking beer doesn't count? I find that I can split my time evenly between herps and hops!!

Canadian Army -

My 'paying job' doesn't usually support my passion except ...

the routine office-life offers me the oportunity to use some high-powered kit to search for herp-related press items when things are slow, and

When deployed peacekeeping/making in foreign countries (i.e. Cyprus, Haiti, Congo, Nicaragua, ex-Yugo, Sinai, Golan and hopefully soon Lebanon) I inevitably end up becoming the garrison 'critter guy' ... which suits me just fine.
Have snake in tent? Newt in Laundry? 8-legs in boots ... call Wes, he'll bag it (gentley if possible), take it back to the G2 shop to catalogue it ... show up in the Mess (Officers and Soldiers' Club) later to give an impromptu brief on the captured critter and then release same sometime under cover of darkness ... sometimes into another tent!

Me & my UNPROFOR date in Croatia 1994 ... I forget which of us two had their way with the other that evening!

Wes, its people like you that make us all able to sleep better at night! Stay safe or else we'll have to start looking for all of those good news stories ourselves!

As for me, I work for the state of Georgia (US not Republic of) as one of those people that make business process rules that no one follows (but should). But I can proudly say that I save the state tax payers money everyday (I'm cheaper than a consultant, or a trained monkey for that matter)

While I don't own a 'hot' one day when I am past my fear of my ball python I plan to look into one!
-----
Bryan, Atlanta GA

1-0-0 Rescued Ball Python - Apep
0-0-1 Rescued Bearded Dragon - Zeus
0-0-1 Rescued Non-Alpha Green Iguana - Bud
1-2-0 Rescued Rats... no wait... ROTTEN Little Cats - Ra, Bastet, Isis
0-0-1 Rescued Fit and Trim Panda Hamster - Mr. Fluffy
1-0-0 Horse... whoops... BIG Golden Retriever - Jake
0-1-0 Wife
2-0-0 Kids

...calls upon me to deal with fellow homo sapiens to excruciating lengths....chose $$$ over my true love;yeah i guess i sold out,opted for 'good,easy'(LOL) money as a building engineer....problem is,taking a cut in pay to do what i love is a lot harder than accepting a raise to continue doing what i tolerate for eight hours a day...and this of course means most other waking hours of my time are reserved for hunting and photographing wild specimens,and feeding/breeding/caring for my captive bred collection.oh yeah and i even find time to browse forums such as this one while on the clock,lol....shhh,don't tell the man,lol.......but really though my hat goes off to those guys that get to actually work with herps,i do envy you.
-----
"with head raised regally,and gazing at me with lidless eyes,he seemed to question with flicks of his long forked tongue my right to trespass on his territory" Carl Kauffeld

nuclear engineer, mainly in spent fuel storage, criticality safety

Computer Technician, although I hope to open my own reptile zoo facility one day and perhaps work with some other exotic professionals to expand that into a full blown zoo but with a kick-ass reptile house.

*sigh*- everybody has to have a dream right?

Chris

-----
U.A.P.P.E.A.L.
Uniting A Proactive Primate and Exotic Animal League
www.uappeal.org

biology teacher

Well 3 days a week I help at a refuge in S.Florida.Work with and maintain many herps of all kinds,mainly venomous but a lot of everything..and the rest of the week,I'm security at a bar/resteraunt to help pay for that thing called my education
-----
"Never insult an Alligator until you have crossed the river"-oriental proverb

At the present I am an environmental consultant. I have worked in the animal business for most of my life before that. Ihave worked in retail exotic animals stores with everything from Primates to insects but always as a reptile specialist. I also worked in breeding facilities, importer/wholesalers, and animal hospitals. My last animal bus job was as a vet tech in an exotic animal retail store. I have been handling venomous reptiles for 20 years at this point. Now wildlife surveys are the closest I get to working with animals for money.
JL

Dentist, barely graduated...I guess i sold out too because I've been into snakes since I was old enough to remember...just didn't think I could make a living doing it. But, I still love doing it as a hobby!
-----
Snakes to the Max

Business owner working on commercial and pleasure yachts. Snakes are a hobby. Spent a lot of time field collecting in south Florida, sold venomous to the Serpentarium, worked as animal control specialist for Broward County. Favorites are Eastern Diamondbacks, my observations of them prove they are much more social, intelligent, and interesting than any book gives them credit. Very misunderstood snake.

Newspaper editor in South Georgia. I have had the opportunity to almost work with snakes for a living. From 2001 until 2004, I worked with our local public health district, and I was able to develop two health-related presentations using snakes as object lessons. I spent the better part of three years traveling the southern region of Georgia, with a few trips to the Atlanta area, to make presentations to schools and after-school programs with the snakes (usually Burmese pythons). I didn't get paid extra for the presentations, but I did get mileage for my travels. It was pretty cool. Unfortunately, funding for my job was eliminated for the '05-06 fiscal year, so I had to find another job. I went back into the newspaper business (which is what I had done since high school before my nearly four year stint in public health) in March of last year. Now, as the editor, I can pretty much write what I want, so I write about animals, usually EDBs, whenever I can come up with an excuse.

RP

Land survey crew chief. Hope to retire in the next 4 years or so. I had the low paid pleasure of running the reptile park at Lion Country Safari from '68 to '72. Did talks on snake i.d & snakebite for 25 or so years. Some paid, most freebies.
Florida's Venomous Snakes

Ha! A fellow newspaper guy. I work in Circualation Sales. Don't own any hots, but enjoy seeing them in the field. I concur, working full time with animals seems like it would be SO much more worthwhile than working with people sometimes...

I'm a psycho-therapist. I feel blessed to have my job, but really wouldn't mind working with herps for a living.

I teach in a university lab school--the only snake in the workplace is our mexican black kingsnake/aka the classroom pet. I refuse to do the hamster thing--nasty little critters. My kids learn that reptiles are not only cool, but that they don't make you sneeze from allergies.

rgds,
althea

I do water treatment equipment sales and service now. Over my working career since I was 20, {38 yrs. ago) I have done all sorts of cool things from cruising timber to law enforcement.

Although I love animals and collect snakes as a hobby, I haven't gravitated toward doing any type of animal husbandry for a living because there is simply to many things that can go wrong and I don't want to be responsible.

If anyone has water related issues on this forum, I would be glad to answer questions if I can, or I can direct you to professional water techs or labs in your area.

vet tech... bloody mess of the night was a stabbed police dog. NOt as many herps as I'd like to work with, but since everything I see is in distress that might be a good thing.

Ian

I'm an Aircrew Life-Support/Survival Equipment Tech in the Air National Guard. I don't keep any hots, just kingsnakes, ratsnakes, and corns. But I do enjoy visiting, and reading this forum.

Steve

Librarian

Retired from state and municipal law enforcement in Texaa after 35 years. Been herping for about 50 years.
-----
Gerald Keown
The Venomous Snakes of Texas

Industrial painter.
-----
Venomous snakes---best hobby on earth!
Bill Huseth

Firefighter for the City of Seattle.

Doug T

i work of the united states postal service in miami. they postal employees are crazy anyway.

22 1/2 years as a US Navy Submarine navigation expert.
Chief Electronics Technician Submarines Navigation.
Assistant Navigator.
I retire in October and am looking for a job.
Karl H. Betz

My youngest son and daughter also have served.
My youngest son was 82nd Airborne (and keeps honduran milks)
and my daughter (USAF Security Forces) has called me after herping in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan.
The only thing she was able to catch and identify was a Hooded Malpolon (Malpolon moilensis).
Karl

WOW nice thread. You guys make it tough to post I'm a crane operator. not as easy as it sounds but it's fun.

Student. I've got another year of college before I have the prereq's for university, at which point I plan on studying zoology. Hopefully it'll go somewhere interesting from there.

high school teacher. Spanish and English as a second language

Biochemist; I mostly work with bacteria and protein doing heart disease research, but in my spare time I have been doing a field study on the local rattlesnakes. I maintain a nice collection at home, only one hot though, I take care a large collection of rattlesnakes and a few others in a lab on campus.
-----
Jason L. Dobry
Research Associate
College of Veterinary Medicine
Department of Veterinary Comparative Anatomy, Pharmacology and Physiology
Washington State University

I do online chat support for Cox Communications. Weeeeeee.
-----
Tom

"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

Calltech? If so, I will put you in my prayers. By far one of the worst jobs I have ever worked.

Regards,

Chris

>>I do online chat support for Cox Communications. Weeeeeee.
>>-----
>>Tom
>>
>>"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"
-----
U.A.P.P.E.A.L.
Uniting A Proactive Primate and Exotic Animal League
www.uappeal.org

I am a licensed Veterinary Technician, working as a surgical tech. Anesthesia all day long....Don't get to work with hots, but anything exotic, reptile or not, is brought to me for I.D. I love my job!
Link