Dr O
Veterinarian
hello everyone!
i've been trolling for a looong time and just recently became more active in posting, and certainly hope that i continue to become more active in the community.
i'm a veterinarian who has practiced for about 15 years at this point. like most everyone here, i grew up with a snake in one hand and a frog in the other. so needless to say, i did as much exotic animal work as i could throughout my life and vet school. from swimming with beluga whales at Sea World, drawing blood from gators at Gatorland, ARAV conferences around the country, trekking the Peruvian Amazonian jungles in the middle of the night (trying not to get bitten by the fer-de-lances which were everywhere), helping Abaxis come out with their blood analyzers for reptiles by drawing blood from over 100 "2-step snakes" so they could have normal values for various species, and of course all of the medicine and surgery that i've done in practice. and a lifetime of critters passing though terrariums galore.......you know how it is!
anyhoo, a few years ago i was up in NY in my own practice when i was acutely struck with an exceedingly rare neurologic disease. long story short, i could not practice full-time veterinary medicine anymore; my body just couldn't handle it. so, my wife and i packed up, moved back to Florida, and here I will be teaching at a vet tech program, starting up a housecall herptile veterinary practice, and breeding chams!! hopefully, it should be less stressful on my body and i should be able to handle it all.
the breeding has taken off quickly and i've quickly outgrown our lanai space, so we're currently building a large outdoor encosure in the back yard to house the brood while protecting them from predators and each other, but allowing the natural Florida climate to do its thing. needless to say, i'm proud of the care that i've been giving my critters re: nutrition/lighting/caging/insect care/etc. derived from my medical experiences, and hope that my selection of high-quality chams will really bring several beautiful lines into the field. i've owned panthers for a long time and meant to work only with them, but carpets have stolen my heart so they're here too. we have about 160 fertile eggs incubating right now, and the first hatchlings should be here within the month.
if things continue as i hope they do, i would love to sponsor this site and support it as much as i can. i have no problems at all helping any members with any medical issues, but y'all know by now the value of physical exams and labwork, so please understand that much of the time all i may be able to do is still advise a veterinary visit. of course if you live local enough, i'll have my mobile business up and going within a few months.
i have bought some of my chams and supplies from members here, and i thank you for that. before long, i'm sure that i'll be regularly posting in the classifieds as well, as well as exhibiting at various local shows/expos.
here are some of my gang--i'm also an amateur phtographer who has been shown in NY, but these are all just snapshots. right now high-end photography of the gang has not been a priority. i hope you enjoy seeing these, and i look forward to making a lot of new friends and aquantinces!!
Kevin (Dr. O-)
(a bigger set of pix can be downloaded from my Dropbox account (anyone want their free storage by using me as a referral?) at:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10891932/cham pix.zip?dl=1
i've been trolling for a looong time and just recently became more active in posting, and certainly hope that i continue to become more active in the community.
i'm a veterinarian who has practiced for about 15 years at this point. like most everyone here, i grew up with a snake in one hand and a frog in the other. so needless to say, i did as much exotic animal work as i could throughout my life and vet school. from swimming with beluga whales at Sea World, drawing blood from gators at Gatorland, ARAV conferences around the country, trekking the Peruvian Amazonian jungles in the middle of the night (trying not to get bitten by the fer-de-lances which were everywhere), helping Abaxis come out with their blood analyzers for reptiles by drawing blood from over 100 "2-step snakes" so they could have normal values for various species, and of course all of the medicine and surgery that i've done in practice. and a lifetime of critters passing though terrariums galore.......you know how it is!
anyhoo, a few years ago i was up in NY in my own practice when i was acutely struck with an exceedingly rare neurologic disease. long story short, i could not practice full-time veterinary medicine anymore; my body just couldn't handle it. so, my wife and i packed up, moved back to Florida, and here I will be teaching at a vet tech program, starting up a housecall herptile veterinary practice, and breeding chams!! hopefully, it should be less stressful on my body and i should be able to handle it all.
the breeding has taken off quickly and i've quickly outgrown our lanai space, so we're currently building a large outdoor encosure in the back yard to house the brood while protecting them from predators and each other, but allowing the natural Florida climate to do its thing. needless to say, i'm proud of the care that i've been giving my critters re: nutrition/lighting/caging/insect care/etc. derived from my medical experiences, and hope that my selection of high-quality chams will really bring several beautiful lines into the field. i've owned panthers for a long time and meant to work only with them, but carpets have stolen my heart so they're here too. we have about 160 fertile eggs incubating right now, and the first hatchlings should be here within the month.
if things continue as i hope they do, i would love to sponsor this site and support it as much as i can. i have no problems at all helping any members with any medical issues, but y'all know by now the value of physical exams and labwork, so please understand that much of the time all i may be able to do is still advise a veterinary visit. of course if you live local enough, i'll have my mobile business up and going within a few months.
i have bought some of my chams and supplies from members here, and i thank you for that. before long, i'm sure that i'll be regularly posting in the classifieds as well, as well as exhibiting at various local shows/expos.
here are some of my gang--i'm also an amateur phtographer who has been shown in NY, but these are all just snapshots. right now high-end photography of the gang has not been a priority. i hope you enjoy seeing these, and i look forward to making a lot of new friends and aquantinces!!
Kevin (Dr. O-)
(a bigger set of pix can be downloaded from my Dropbox account (anyone want their free storage by using me as a referral?) at:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10891932/cham pix.zip?dl=1
