Vet Times

Tag: Snakes

  • How to approach the bleeding patient, part 1

    How to approach the bleeding patient, part 1

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    My patient is bleeding – what do I do? A bleeding patient can be overwhelming but there are only a few pieces of equipment that you need and a step-by-step approach. 1. Ask yourself the question: “Is my patient bleeding due to local issue (trauma, for example) or from a system coagulopathy?” If a local…

  • Are rabbits really ‘exotic’?

    Are rabbits really ‘exotic’?

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    According to PDSA [PDSA Animal Wellbeing (PAW) Report 2022], rabbits are the third most popular pet in the UK behind dogs and cats. With an estimated 1.1 million pet rabbits in the country, that’s about about a tenth of the population of pet dogs and cats, which hover around the 9 to 10 million mark.…

  • The only way is ethics part 4: zoos

    The only way is ethics part 4: zoos

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    The black-furred creature shifts and turns, and its brow furrows as it meets my gaze. Its deep brown eyes seem to convey hidden depths and, for a moment, I am electrified from a connection that reaches across millions of years of evolution. I’m awed by the knowledge another mind is looking back at me, trying…

  • Take a message, please…

    Take a message, please…

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    I’m not a fan of the telephone. I don’t mean my smartphone (you’d be hard pressed to prise that from my fingertips), I mean the telephone – the 19th century invention that all started with “Mr Watson, come here. I want to see you”. I appreciate it has revolutionised communication and changed society completely –…

  • Red in tooth and claw

    Red in tooth and claw

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    If you’d told me that at some point last year I’d be watching a group of killer snakes chasing an iguana, I’d have assumed you meant I had, once again, fallen asleep watching the Horror Channel. If you’d then told me it would be one of the most gripping and emotional pieces of television I…

  • Hypothermic snakes

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    Reptiles, being cold blooded, are dependent on the environment to provide sufficient heat. If they get cold, their metabolism can become so sluggish that they cannot defend themselves, not even against a mouse. Careless owners of small snakes have been known to toss a live mouse in with the snake and then not supervise. If…