Dr. Tigerchik wrote:
which animal do you enjoy taking care of the most? or what generally are the most fun?
As you might imagine, I'm drawn to cats - big and small.
Apologies, Dr TC, I didn't get back to answering.
It's not at all an uncommon question for zookeepers. Especially when it's posed as simply as, "Which is favourite animal?"
I often respond it's like asking a parent if they have a favourite child........so of course I do! :) Which often leaves a parent looking unimpressed with my response, while their children look at them suspiciously.
As a group, I enjoy looking after reptiles and amphibians the most. I love their diversity and the complexity of husbandry.
From hatchling geckos of a few grams in weight and small enough to perch on your finger, up to half tonne saltwater crocs.
The diversity is reflected in modes of reproduction; sex not unusually determined by incubation temperature, or even closely related species that may be either egg layers or live bearers. I've bred frog species that lay clutches of as few as 4 eggs (poison dart frogs) that require such elaborate and individual care to bring them through metamorphosis, to tree frogs that will spawn several thousand.
Working with reptiles and frogs is also particularly hands on, which gives me a certain comfort and pleasure. Reptile keepers generally work much closer with their animals than those caring for mammals, birds or fish.
As far as individual animals I've most enjoyed working with, it's been such a long list.
A quirky and engaging Andean condor. A massive but gentle Komodo dragon, who loved a gentle scratch each morning. A colony of affectionate fruit bats, with particularly the females having their own idiosyncrasies. Or that orphan wallaby, hand-raised from such a vulnerable age with multiple bottle feeds through the night.
I will confess, I'm not so much a cat person. I have worked a little with lions, tigers, snow leopards, Temminck's golden cats, Asian fishing cats, however I found clouded leopards peculiarly enchanting.
