vetprac

Exotics, Wildlife & Unusual Pets for Nurses & Techs

6 months of access to all recordings
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Flexible CPD whenever you want it
CPD value: 10 points
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Certificate on completion
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Who loves wildlife and exotics in your practice? This course celebrates the clinical nursing approach to exotic, wildlife and unusual species kept as pets in Australia.

Every veterinary practice has a few key people who “deal with wildlife and exotic companion animals”. If that’s you, welcome! You’re among friends, and you’re really going to extend your knowledge in this course.

If that’s not you, keep reading. We have lots to offer you, too. This course covers baseline husbandry, housing and handling topics, as well as a range of the medical and clinical skills you need to care for small mammals, birds and reptiles in veterinary practice.

Specially created to support veterinary nurses & technicians.

What’s important for exotics, wildlife and unusual pets in veterinary practice?

Safe restraint & handling techniques

These entry-level skills are required before you commence clinical care of small mammals, birds and reptiles. Stress reduction is your goal, and it could be the difference between success and failure (or worse, losing a patient). As this course kicks off, you will engage with the important differences between species and apply these to clinical practice right away.

Husbandry & housing

This is crucial to health and wellness in exotic pets. It might not seem so urgent when you’re faced with a seriously unwell patient, but you have an important coaching opportunity here. Pet owners need your support and advice at discharge from hospital, and we’ll help with valuable insight throughout this course.

Clinical procedures

Every time you see an exotic companion animal, your practical skills will be important. We’ll cover different sites for venipuncture, safe collection volumes, nutrition, cytology sampling, radiographic positioning and more.

Anaesthesia of small mammals, avian species & reptiles

The final sessions are deep dives into anaesthesia. This is a vast and critical component of veterinary care for exotic species and wildlife, and we will dedicate three whole modules to this area.

  • SIX MONTHS OF ACCESS TO ALL MODULES

  • FLEXIBLE CPD WHEN YOU WANT

  • DOWNLOADABLE NOTES

  • CERFITICATE UPON COMPLETION

  • MOBILE FRIENDLY INTERFACE

Know your exotics

Get the knowledge you need
  • Important behaviours
  • Species differences in physiology
  • Recognising pain
  • How to coach clients on husbandry
  • Using lateral thinking
Hands-on skills for clinical practice
  • Creating suitable hospital environments
  • How to avoid getting bitten
  • Emergency triage & critically ill patients
  • Venipuncture options & IV access
  • Airways & intubation
  • Anaesthesia case management & monitoring

Course Modules

Bonus module – Exotic companion pet emergencies
In recent years, non-traditional pet ownership has increased dramatically with many owners opting to own exotic pets such as reptiles, birds, small mammals, fish, and amphibians. As husbandry plays a significant role in the health and well-being of these pets, it is inevitable that they will present to veterinary clinics for care. This creates a unique challenge for the emergency team as exotic pets contain a huge diversity of species that vary greatly in their husbandry, anatomy, physiology, and common disease processes and treatment protocols.

In this module, we will cover:

  • Assessment & triage, including the emergency ABC’s 
  • Clinical exam covering common emergency presentations
  • First aid including the 4 x H’s (hypoxaemia, hypothermia, hypovolaemia & hypoglycaemia)
  • Common analgesia protocols.

Module 1 – Exotic companion pet handling and restraint: creating positive outcomes
Exotic companion pets are not domesticated, and many of them are also prey species. This should be taken into consideration when a patient presents to the clinic, as stress, escape or sudden death are all risks associated with handling these species. On the other hand, some of these species can be dangerous and pose a risk to you and your colleagues.

In this module, we will cover:

  • Rules for handling exotic animals, including mitigating risks to both you & the patient
  • Handling considerations for different species
  • Techniques for using the least amount of restraint necessary
  • Strategies for reducing stress during the hospital stay.

Module 2 – Clinical techniques for the exotic technician / nurse
Clinical techniques in exotic patients, although challenging, are readily achievable by the veterinary nurse and technician. Coupled with the advancement of veterinary diagnostic equipment, this allows nurses and technicians to add significant value to patient outcomes.

In this module, we will cover common clinical and diagnostic techniques used daily in an exotics practice including but not limited to:

  • Venipuncture
  • Intravenous access
  • Crop feeding
  • Cytology sampling
  • Radiographic positioning.

Module 3 – Anaesthesia of small mammals
Anaesthesia of small mammals is a challenging but regular event in the life of the exotic animal nurse or technician. Physical restraint of our exotic patients can be particularly stressful, with the potential to be fatal. For this reason, general anaesthesia is the preferred low-stress approach to diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical procedures. Anaesthesia techniques have advanced dramatically in recent history but anaesthetic-related mortality is still significantly higher than our canine and feline patients.

Anaesthesia management is an area where the nurse or technician can add significant value to the care of the small mammal patient, where diligent monitoring produces positive outcomes.

In this module, we will cover the specifics of small mammal anaesthesia:

  • Preparing for the anaesthetic
  • Assigning an ASA score
  • Options for premedication combinations and analgesia
  • Induction & intubation
  • Intraoperative fluid therapy
  • Perioperative monitoring equipment & intelligent interpretation
  • Recovery.

Module 4 – Anaesthesia of avian patients
Avian species share some characteristics with small mammals, but there are plenty of clinically-important differences. During this module, we will cover the following aspects specifically for avian species:

  • Preparing for the anaesthetic
  • Assigning an ASA score
  • Options for premedication combinations and analgesia
  • Induction and intubation
  • Intraoperative fluid therapy
  • Perioperative monitoring equipment and intelligent interpretation
  • Recovery.

Module 5 – Anaesthesia of reptile patients
The final challenge in this course is reptilian anaesthesia. This module is dedicated to how reptiles behave before, during, and after an anaesthetic, including:

  • Preparing for the anaesthetic
  • Assigning an ASA score
  • Options for premedication combinations and analgesia
  • Induction and intubation
  • Intraoperative fluid therapy
  • Perioperative monitoring equipment and intelligent interpretation
  • Recovery.

A VETPRAC COURSE YIELDS TANGIBLE BENEFITS

INVEST

Six modules of flexible online learning & $297 investment in your professional development

LEARN

Proactive management & clinical care of exotic companion animal species

RETURN

Be “the one” for wildlife & exotics, with a CE course to prove it

Your Educator

Gary

Gary Fitzgerald

Qualifications: BAppSc (Veterinary Technology) AVTCP VTS (Exotic Companion Animals)

Specialisation: Veterinary Technician Specialist

Gary is a qualified Veterinary Technician Specialist (VTS), Practice Manager of the UQ VETS Veterinary Teaching Hospitals, and President of the Veterinary Nurses Council of Australia (VNCA).

Gary enjoys all aspects of his job but training students in small animal anaesthesia and reptile medicine, anaesthesia and surgery are his major passions.

CHOOSE YOUR PAYMENT OPTION

ONE-TIME INVESTMENT

$297 AUD

PAYMENT PLAN

x 3 monthly instalments of $115

Your Questions Answered

What is “On Demand”?
We created the On Demand series because you asked us for longer course access. The veterinary industry can throw busy times at us, and we received more and more requests from individuals who needed more time to complete their online courses. We think 6 months is the sweet spot – you have plenty of time to work through your CPD, and we can regularly review and update the content to make sure the course stays relevant. You can revisit the materials as often as you wish.
How and when do I access learning materials?
We use a one-stop learning platform for our web-based courses. It’s intuitive, simple and easy to navigate, and we’ll email login details to you as soon as your purchase is confirmed. You can access notes, recordings and resources any time of day or night via your personalised course library. You don’t have to watch a whole video in one sitting, and you’re in complete control. 
How long is course access open?

24/7 access is available for 6 months via your course library, starting on your purchase date. For example, if you sign up on July 1st, your access will be open until January 1st the following year. We’ve chosen 6 months because veterinary medicine moves fast and our goal is to provide up to date learning materials to the VetPrac community. The education team will assess, review and update the course at the end of the subscription period. This way, we know we’re offering only current and relevant information. 

What happens when time runs out?
At the end of 6 months, your subscription will end. You’ll still be able to log in to your course library, but the on-demand course you’ve completed will disappear from the list of courses available to you. We will email you at the end of your access period, so you can download any resources you need for future use.
What kind of learning materials are included?
Each course is different but they all include video presentations recorded live during our most popular online courses and webinars. Our educators also provide a variety of other resources, so you can expect images, diagrams, course notes, slide presentations, journal articles, links to further reading, and more.
Is there learning support available?
Of course! We’ll stay in touch with a monthly email to check in with you, and share important information with you. We’ll also remind you when your access is about to finish. If you need a hand (or if you just want to chat) our online learning team is available via email [email protected] or on 0491 943 260.
Are there assessments to complete?
Yes, but they’re not mandatory. At the end of the course there will be multiple-choice questions available through the learning platform. You’ll need to pass these to receive your CPD certificate.
Will I get CPD points and a CPD certificate?
You certainly can! Each registration is worth 6 CPD points to the individual nominated at purchase. All you need to do is complete the quiz questions at the end of the course. We’ll generate your certificate and email it to you.
Can I extend access beyond 6 months?
In most cases, yes, we can arrange this for you. It depends on recent developments in the field and whether our educators feel the information in the course is current and up to date. Some clinical areas are undergoing rapid change – we’re happy to chat about this towards the end of your subscription.

Still have questions? We’ve got answers.
Call
0491943260