Exotic and Unusual Pet Care
Dr Amanda graduated from the University of Sydney in 2006. She began working in the Illawarra for 4 years before heading off to the UK and Ireland. Amanda worked as a small animal vet throughout the UK and spent a lot of time honing her skills with Exotic pets, as this is her main passion.
After returning home to Australia Amanda joined our team in March 2014. Whether your companion has scales, fur, feathers or floppy ears Amanda has the skills and knowledge to take good care of them. If you would like to see Amanda please contact us to arrange an appointment.
Types of exotic pets that Amanda will see
- Reptiles: Snakes, lizards and turtles
- Amphibians: Frogs
- Birds: Caged, aviary, and backyard poultry (chickens, ducks and fowls)
- Small Mammals: Mice, rats, guinea pigs, ferrets and rabbits
Common conditions that Amanda sees
Reptiles
- Infections of the scales, mouth, respiratory system, ears and eyes
- Injuries: Bite wounds and pressure sores
- Reproductive issues: Egg retention and egg binding
Amphibian
- Infections of skin and respiratory system, weight loss and injuries
Birds
- Parasites inside and out, sour crop, egg yolk peritonitis, egg binding, egg retention, wounds, respiratory infections, behavioral issues, tumors, beak and nail overgrowth
Small Mammals
- Dental disease, gut stasis, gut infections, parasites, wounds, broken bones, tumors, difficulty with birthing young, weight loss, eye diseases
What to look for if your pet is unwell
Reptiles
Some reptiles may have issues with their skin not coming off properly when shedding. Other symptoms to watch out for include a loss of appetite, bad smell, excessive yawning, noisy breathing, colour changes in scales, difficulty moving and any lumps or bumps.
Amphibians
Some amphibians may experience changes in skin colour, difficulty moving, open mouth breathing, bones showing through skin, difficulty eating and/or loss of appetite.
Birds
In birds you may see them becoming less social with people in the house and other birds. Other indications that may indicate your bird is unwell include sitting on the bottom of the cage/aviary when they would normally perch, lumps, changes in the colour/consistency/frequency of droppings, sneezing a lot, sitting fluffed up, not eating as much as they usually would and a dirty bottom.
Small mammals
Symptoms to look out for if your pocket pet is unwell include wet/crusty eyes or nose, fur loss, open mouth breathing, lethargy, a loss of appetite, sneezing, licking lips a lot and grinding teeth, lumps, odd shape to belly compared to how they usually look, drinking a lot more than usual, change to poop like diarrhea or not very many being produced and a dirty bottom.
Services that Dr Amanda can provide
- Gender determination including reptile probing for snakes
- Dimorphic feature examination for most lizard and amphibian species
- DNA testing in birds
- De-sexing for most exotic species (excluding amphibians, birds and mice) and vasectomy for male ferrets
- Diagnostic work ups and treatment for most illnesses
- A range of surgical procedures including limb removal, eye removal, tumor removal, surgical egg removal, and wound closures
- Dentistry for all exotics and beak and nail trims for birds
- Viral testing for most viral diseases of exotic pets that we see commonly in Australia.
Other services
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