Marine Mammal Trainers

Showing posts with label Husbandry behavior. Show all posts

5/5/09

#110: What's the point of training a fish?

Someone asked this question after watching one of Blondie's videos and I thought that this video may help explain. As with our seals, training can make medical tests easier to do. In this video, Blondie is getting a routine skin scrape. Dr. Keiko Hirokawa, our vet, takes a microscope slide and lightly scrapes Blondie's side to check for parasites. Since I had trained Blondie to sit in my hand, this was a piece of cake!

See how relaxed she is staying the whole time she is in my hand. She got tons of reinforcement for doing such a great job. Results of the scrape: This little fish is happily parasite free.

-Lindsay

9/16/08

#50: Chainsaw Ultrasound Picture

Here is the end result of months of training Chainsaw to hold in position to have an ultrasound performed. An earlier post showed Dr. Charlie Innis moving the ultrasound probe on Chainsaw's abdomen and and along her back as he adjusted the portable ultrasound machine. This picture is what Dr. Innis sees while he moves the probe. The dark kidney shaped spot at the top of the screen is....... a kidney!!! Training behaviors that focus on medical exams and diagnostic procedures- such as ultrasounds, x-rays, administering injections, and taking blood among others, are considered husbandry behaviors and are all very important to the well being of our animals.

-Rochelle

9/4/08

#43: Chainsaw's Ultrasound

In this video you will see Chainsaw setting up nicely for our veterinary staff to take an ultrasound of her body. When she is on her back, or ventral up, we are looking at her liver. When she is sitting up we are looking at her kidney.

Setting up for an ultrasound is an example of a husbandry behavior that we train to make sure our animals are as healthy as possible.

-Rochelle

7/3/08

#25: Trip to the Dentist

Everyone knows that going to the dentist on a regular basis is important for taking care of your teeth. But did you know that this is also true for animals? All of our seals have a dentist that they see on a regular basis, but they don't have to go to the dentist's office - the dentist comes to them!! Recently, Dr. Laura Levan came to the Aquarium to see how all of our seals were doing. In this video, she is taking a good look at Lana's teeth, with the help of Lana's trainer, Justin. Look Justin - no cavities!

-Erin

6/23/08

#20: Mobile Seal

One of the most important aspects of our job as trainers is the training of husbandry behaviors. Husbandry behaviors are the behaviors that we use to take care of our marine mammal colony. A husbandry behavior can be something as simple as having the seal sit quietly while the trainer or veterinarian look them over to make sure they're in good condition. It might also be as involved as drawing blood, taking x-rays or performing an ultra sound. Having the seal enter a transport carrier is another example of a husbandry behavior. Doing so might be neccesary in order to move them to another part of the aquarium or to another facility entirely. Our three northern fur seals, Chainsaw, Ursula and Cordova are trained to enter a large kennel, turn around and allow the trainer to close the door. Behaviors like the kenneling that you see Chainsaw doing in this video are done regularly so they stay sharp in case we need them.

-Paul

#19: Eye Drops

To make sure our seals are as healthy and comfortable as possible we sometimes need to administer different medications to them. Harbor seals are mammals and may develop some of the same health issues that people can. This picture shows Amelia receiving eye drops to reduce inflamation from a cataract in her left eye. Amelia is excellent at this behavior and keeps her eyes wide open so the drops get in on the first try.

- Rochelle

6/2/08

#12: Nail Clipping

Now why would we clip a harbor seal's nails? It's not as if they have spas out in the ocean right? Seals naturally wear down their nails by scrabbling up onto the rocky shores along the coast. Here at the Aquarium they have much smoother surfaces that don't wear their nails down. This video is an example of an ongoing process to clip Trumpet's nails. She was very relaxed and easygoing about getting her nails done today but this is not always the case. Nail clipping is an example of a husbandry, or medical behavior, that we trainers continuously keep up so it can be an easy process. Just like the saying goes, "Practice makes perfect!"

-Rochelle

Jenny	Kathy
Belinda	Kim
Patty	Paul
Vanessa	Lindsay
Erin W.	Meg

New England Aquarium