How difficult is it to become a avian vet and how much do they make ?

Question

I am going into eight grade and I want to know how hard it is to become a bird vet. Here are some additional details of who I am. First of all I get all A's in school except 2 classes in which I have two A-'s in Spainish and physical education. What chance do I have of becoming a avian vet ?

Answer 1

you can become anything if you put your mind to in and do good in school. become determined! say "thats what i want to be and be that!" haha

Answer 2

As a Breeder of Parrots I make it my business to try to keep up with things. There are very few schools that offer Avian Vet class's other then a breif outline, a few hours is all they get. OSU had an Avian Vet major at one point in time. They might again. There is a school in AZ that I have heard about.

Things change so much and so fast it is hard to say what will be and where.

There are a couple of sites that might have more information. AAV.ORG and AFA.ORG. These are good places to start.

Money??? If you are looking at the money then forget it. They don't make as much as Cat & Dog Vets. That is why you don't see many of them around. The avrage stay for a dog and cat vet is 15 mins, thats 4 an hour. The Avian Vet can only see 2 an hour and sometimes less then that.

That is the short answer to your question.

Answer 3

To be an avian vet you have to go to vet school first.  Before vet school you go to undergrad.  The undergrad school will look at highschool grades and SAT's but vet school wont'.  So highschool grades don't matter to get into vet school, but do your best so you are prepared for undergrad.  Once in undergrad you can major in anything as long as you meet admissions requirements for vet school.  Each school lists this on their website.  Most major in something related to biology or animal science.  Vet school is tough to get into.  They want mostly A's but a rare B or C will not ruin your chances.  They also want to see that you have spent time working for a vet ect ect (you can explore more about getting into vet school a little later).  So once in vet school every one learns the basics about cats, dogs, horses and cows.  Many schools offer electives in exotic animal medicine (exotics cover birds, fish, small mammals, reptiles ect), or avian classes.  Some schools don't.  Also your senior year some schools will have rotations in exotic animal medicine or if they don't your can extern somewhere.  After graduating vet school you can legally see any species but humans.  So if you feel comfortable you can start treating birds.  Bird only pracitices are rare and many vets who treat birds also treat dogs/cats other exotics.  Some people want further training in avian medicine so you can go on and do a one year internship and if you still want more you can do a residency.  There aren't many internships/residencies in avian med.  Some people go on to get boarded undre the ABVP subspecialty avian.  You can get more education by going to conferences and meetings

So that said: without advanced training expect to start out around 50-60,000 a year.  If you continue to work in general practice and don't own your own business you might get up to 70-80,000.  

Websites you may find usefull:

aav.org

aavmc.org

avma.org

http://www.abvp.com/

Some vet schools are better than others with exotics training some of the better ones that stand out are Wisconsin, NC state, Georgia, UC Davis and Florida.  

When you go to look at undergrad schools UC Davis has a program in avian science:

http://registrar.ucdavis.edu/UCDWebCatal...