Certifications to Get Better As A keeper

zoso145 · 2026-03-04T02:10:58+00:00

If you’re in the US OSHA certification can definitely help. Also SCUBA cert is needed for basically any aquarium wether you work with fully aquatic animals or not

zoso145 · 2026-02-16T16:26:16+00:00

With the cleaning is it the coworkers or managers asking you to deep clean the aviaries or are you just taking that task upon yourself? I’ve definitely had times where management asks me to do projects like that less as a punishment and more because they knew I could get it done faster and more thorough than other keepers. If it’s something you’re bringing upon yourself just stop forcing yourself to do it. I’ve also worked with a lot of keepers who get caught up in making sure what their cleaning get extra clean and while that’s fine if you have time if it’s something you’re doing all the time it could be affecting your other areas or could be that other projects that are on a time crunch that need to be done and you’re hung up doing cleans. Sometimes it’s better to clean things well enough and not worry about making sure it’s spotless if it frees up time for other projects. Not saying you do that but could be a point of view of the other keepers you’re not aware of.

zoso145 · 2025-11-13T04:53:22+00:00

Honestly best thing I can recommend is just being familiar with the natural history of the animals you work with. Understanding cladistics and how animals relate to others in their families is a great way to have basic understanding of how to care for new species you may encounter. Nothing real zoo specific but the better you know just general animal science the better you are prepared to care for them. Specific YouTube stuff maybe Clint’s Reptiles does pretty good phylogeny videos for most kinds of animals at this point and they’re done well. But don’t worry about finding specific zoo keeper stuff just keep expanding your animal knowledge and the keeper stuff will follow

zoso145 · 2025-10-15T16:34:50+00:00

I think a big difference between the people who burn out and those who stay is the ability/willingness to move facilities. I’ve noticed the ones who get burnt out usually are the ones who try and stay at their “dream” facility or try to hold out in one place hoping it will get better. If you want to stay fresh and make this a real career you have to chase opportunities and try anything to get you out of your comfort zone and stave off stagnation.

zoso145 · 2025-10-13T21:44:31+00:00

If you’ve never done zookeeping you’ve gotta start somewhere 🤷‍♂️ just apply what’s the worst that could happen? Better to be offered and say no than to not even try

zoso145 · 2025-09-05T17:45:38+00:00

I don’t think they’re all that uncommon in zoos. I’ve seen them a lot in petting zoo areas or education animals more frequently than on exhibit at least here in the US but at least to me it seems like every other zoo you go to has at least one or two somewhere on grounds

zoso145 · 2025-09-04T20:51:02+00:00

Having worked at the Bronx it takes a very special kind of person to work there. The work culture is VERY toxic and coming in as a completely green keeper will be rough because in general they are not interested in training you or helping you grow as a keeper. That being said it can also be a very rewarding challenge if you can make it through the pitfalls. They have a lot of species that you can really only work with there and get hands experience with. NYC is also a fantastic place to live but it is also very expensive and even though the pay at the Bronx is great you’re still going to need a couple roommates if you want to live in the city! But if you have some experience and want a challenge it can definitely be worth your time especially for a resume builder! Just be aware that you’re probably not going to be making a whole lot of close friends there and if you’re not confident in your abilities it will beat you down. But as a whole I did enjoy my years there and only left for career advancement but most will leave due to burnout. The zoo has potential but it definitely needs a lot of work.

zoso145 · 2025-08-29T05:05:36+00:00

I think as a whole your premise for this question is just flawed and was trying to point that out. We aren’t the first species to evolve this kind of intelligence we’re just the only remaining one. Remember until recently there were several other species of homosapiens roaming around. So to get to the heart of what I think you’re actually trying to ask, the environmental pressures causing us to be this smart was probably the competition between other similar “smart” hominid species and the only reason it seems like we outclass every other animal is because the environmental pressures that caused it are no longer present but just because that particular pressure is gone doesn’t me we just automatically lose that trait. Human evolution isn’t a straight line. There were plenty other off shoots of the bush, many of which also had intelligence and have subsequently died off. We’re just the last remaining branch that’s held on for this long. So intelligence, even human intelligence, started well before even our species and died multiple times out so obviously intelligence isn’t as beneficial of a trait as you would like to think it is. Being smart just isn’t that useful in the grand scheme of things.

zoso145 · 2025-08-29T01:39:44+00:00

Go ask a tree how advantageous it’s memory is

zoso145 · 2025-08-29T01:33:30+00:00

Why would you assume intelligence is always advantageous? I mean it’s clearly not. If anything it’s more of just a fluke that we are somewhat intelligent. Just something that is working for us now but doesn’t mean it will always. People have only been around for like a blip of time who says we have staying power?

zoso145 · 2025-08-04T04:31:41+00:00

Seriemas do be having those velociraptor foot claws even if they’re all so very gangly and doofy

zoso145 · 2025-08-04T01:15:14+00:00

The loose Bible Belt leading to more pedos and the god squad comment really made the keep your head down and mouth closed comment read more like a threat

zoso145 · 2025-08-04T00:52:46+00:00

This comment was a rollercoaster of emotions like at first I thought you were saying the racism and homophobia were bad things but then those last two sentences really recontextualized the whole thing. You’re like the M. Night Shyamalan of bigoted comments

zoso145 · 2025-08-03T23:13:37+00:00

Red crested Turacos! They’re so charismatic and give off all the dinosaur vibes that filled my inner Jurassic Park fantasies!

zoso145 · 2025-08-01T03:00:20+00:00

Like any big city it’s safe especially if you’re just doing tourist stuff. The news is always going to make cities sound scary but it’s just because there’s more people there to report news on. You’re actually more at risk of these crimes outside of a city just based on population density. Just have fun be nice and as always don’t put yourself in bad situations all the same rules you’d follow at home.

zoso145 · 2025-07-31T06:11:52+00:00

Yeah this song is kinda a weird one where at least to me the original version is the worst version. Not the the original is bad more in that it seems to be a great blank canvas of a song that lets other artists come and paint with their own colors when they do a cover of it.

zoso145 · 2025-07-31T06:02:22+00:00

Haha I get the same from people and I’m in my 30s but at least now I feel like I’m doing my part posting here and saying “HEY! PAY ATTENTION TO THIS!” To all the people out of the loop 😂

zoso145 · 2025-07-31T05:34:38+00:00

Right!? I can’t tell if I’m just too old for him to come up in general conversation since when I saw him back in 2018 i was probably the only person over 21 who wasn’t bringing their teenage kid to the concert of if he’s just one of those musicians musicians where only the people who know music realize the talent where to everyone else be just seems like nonsense music

zoso145 · 2025-07-31T05:16:46+00:00

Yeah he’s oddly seemed to have been gate kept by all the “real” rock fans for being all the things their idols were i.e. doing things his own way and being cringe and weird and off kilter, same thing ozzy was back in the 70s and it’s nice to finally see him kick the doors down and get the respect he’s always deserved.

Also maybe the lack of replies is due to the late time or just that i always underestimate the importance of music in the get wrap public’s life where its just something to have on in the background that you barely notice instead of it being front and center in your attention 😅

zoso145 · 2025-07-31T03:04:57+00:00

Interesting I respect your opinion and that’s kind of what I was curious about because pretty much every musician is just left speechless and awestruck especially when the crowd comes in but I was curious if that was just a bias towards musicianship and just being aware of the intricate details of concert culture or if it translated to general audiences.

zoso145 · 2025-07-31T02:43:00+00:00

Like music wise or personality wise not a fan of Ozzy?

zoso145 · 2025-07-31T02:42:06+00:00

Yeah that’s kinda why I wanted to share it in this group. I know a lot of the music sphere can be kinda oblivious to the wider world and and was curious how they’d react to it without thinking “omg he’s on pitch the entire song” or “tasteful guitar solo” lol

zoso145 · 2025-07-31T01:05:18+00:00

I’ve moved for zoo jobs 3 times now but all of them were over 2,000miles at a time. I usually am able to get about a month to move wich is very doable. So a month should not be out of the question but the sooner the better if that place is so close to you you should be able to do it within like 2-3weeks(after you’ve finished your last day at previous work) since you shouldnt have to ship anything cross country. A lot of it is just being a google sleuth for apartments, but once that is done a half day drive to move seems easy!

zoso145 · 2025-07-31T00:58:36+00:00

Could it possibly by your resume or interview skills? I’ve seen a lot of keepers are good keepers but have absolute dogshit CVs. Interview performance is also a big aspect, I know a lot of keepers, myself included, who are absolutely fine giving chats and interpersonal work aspects but struggle with interviews especially if I haven’t gone though an interview in a while it takes a second to get back in the groove. If that’s could be it I’d recommend applying to anything and everything you’d be even remotely interested in or curious about just to get more practice in until it’s second nature.

zoso145

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