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About ZEW

Zoo, Exotic, Wildlife Medicine Group was established at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine in the Spring of 1996. The goal was to accommodate the rising interest in non-traditional medicine within the student body.

We set the goal to cover six different aspects of the exotic animal medicine in aquatic, avian, reptiles, small mammals, wildlife, and zoo medicine. To achieve this goal, we have consolidated the individual student chapters of:

  • AAZV (American Association of Zoo Veterinarians)
  • AAWV (American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians)
  • ARAV (Association of Reptile Amphibian Veterinarians)
  • AAV (Association of Avian Veterinarians)
  • IAAAM (International Association of Aquatic Animal Medicine)
  • created a division covering small exotic mammals

We have meetings each month, covering topics related to all aspects of non-traditional animal medicine. We try to bring in diverse speakers, ranging from zoo veterinarians to private exotics practitioners.

We host wetlabs to provide an opportunity for students to get hands-on experience. Under faculty and practitioner supervision, students were able to learn and practice physical exam techniques, proper techniques in restraining animals and other procedures such as drawing blood, placing catheters, crop needle placement in birds and sexing technique in reptiles. Currently, we have the following wetlabs:

  • Avian Wetlab - Dr. David Phalen, our club advisor and clinician in Zoo Medicine, generally hosts this wetlab in the fall semester at the Schubot Bird Center behind the Large Animal Clinic. Participants can handle birds like parrots and macaws, learn to tube feed, practice venipuncture and wing clips.
  • Darting Wetlab - Dr. Jensen, a clinician in Zoo Medicine, hosted our first ever darting wetlab in Spring, 2001. We learned about the history and types of darting equipments, techniques in making home-made darts, and also shooting techniques with various equipment. We will now host this wetlab yearly for club members.
  • Dolphin Necropsy Wetlab - We had our first ever dolphin necropsy wetlab in Galveston with the Texas Stranded Animal Network in November, 2000. We hope to continue this in the future if possible.
  • Fish Anesthesia Wetlab - We had our first ever fish anesthesia wetlab with Dr. Lewbart in Fall, 2001. Participants learned to anesthetize fish, do necropsy, and assess fish and aquatic animal health. We look forward to holding this again in the future.
  • Reptile Wetlab - Dr. Lusk from Westgate Animal and Bird Hospital in Austin generally hosts the live animal handling wetlab in the spring. You can learn venipuncture, cloacal and tracheal washes, and treatments on everything from turtles and geckos to a 12-foot Burmese python. Dr. Darren Hubenak (Class of 2002 and former president) held the anatomy and the necropsy sessions in Spring, 2001, and has hosted it each year since. Dr. Hubenak goes through the anatomy of crocodiles, snakes, turtles, lizards, and more. Participants have the opportunity to dissect several specimens of reptiles after the anatomy class to see different body organs.
  • Small Mammals Wetlab - Dr. Natalie Antinoff from Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialist of Houston generally hosts this wetlab in the spring. Participants have the opportunity to learn about handling, restraint, physical exams, venipuncture, and more in several species such as ferrets, rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas etc.

Field trips give us a chance to get away from school and experience exotic animal medicine first-hand. We have at least one field trip per semester. Some examples from previous years include behind-the-scene tours to the Audubon Zoo and Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans, San Antonio Zoo, Sea World San Antonio, Dallas World Aquarium, Dallas Zoo, Fort Worth Zoo, and the Moody Garden in Galveston.

In order to learn as much as we can, we try to attend as many exotics conferences as possible. Students have gone to the national conferences of AAZV, ARAV, and AAV, as well as the annual Kansas State Exotics conference. We also host an exotics continuing education conference here at Texas A&M each December.

We are a fun group of people from many different backgrounds. We are anxious to learn while having fun and we are looking forward to getting you involved!