Small Animal Handling and Restraint Flashcards
Before Handling a Bird
Make sure you have a net or large towel handy to recapture the bird should it escape its cage. Check that all doors and windows are securely closed and all exhaust fans are off.
Now observe the bird carefully. Is it on its perch? On the cage bottom? A bird on the cage bottom may be extremely stressed.
Ask its owner if the bird is trained to hop on a finger or arm. Such birds may be unnecessarily stressed by a capture attempt.
Whether the bird you’re handling is large or small, aggressive or gentle, trained or untrained, your goal is always to hold the bird so that it can’t fly, bite, scratch, or become injured.
A mishandled bird may suffer broken wings and even death. Keeping all this in mind, let’s open the cage.
Capturing a Small Bird in a Cage
Block the open door as you reach into the cage.
Cradle the bird in your palm and place your last finger gently across the bird’s legs.
You can safely handle and restrain small birds, such as parakeets and finches, without any special equipment.
Step 1: Carefully open the cage door. Block the open door as you reach into the cage. You can block the door with your hand and a towel or have someone stand behind you and hold a towel over the door.
Step 2: Remove most of the perches and toys from the cage to keep the bird from injuring itself should it become frightened and fly around the cage (small birds frighten easily).
Step 3: Grasp the bird in your hand by placing your palm against its wings and securing its head between your thumb and index finger. Cradle the bird in your palm and place your last finger gently across the bird’s legs.
Capturing a Large Bird in a Cage
Many large birds, such as parrots, can inflict serious bites with their powerful beaks.
Remove excess perches and toys from the cage.
Place the towel lengthwise across the palm of your hand.
To protect yourself, follow these steps:
Step 1: Locate a large towel.
Step 2: Open the cage door. Use the towel to block the opening.
Step 3: Remove excess perches and toys from the cage.
Step 4: Place the towel lengthwise across the palm of your hand.
Step 5: Reach into the cage and grasp the bird from behind by placing your hand behind the bird’s head. Position the bird’s lower jaw between your thumb and index finger.
Step 6: Drape the towel around the bird as you lift it slightly toward the door of the cage.
Step 7: As you bring the bird through the cage door, place your other hand on the bird’s feet and hold them firmly in place.
Remember to avoid putting pressure on the bird’s breastbone.
You can use this towel restraint for examination and most technical procedures. When working with large, particularly aggressive birds, wear lightweight leather gloves to protect yourself from bites. If the bird is too aggressive, tape its beak shut.
Note: Birds that are trained to hop onto a finger can be seriously stressed or injured if you follow the above procedure.
Birds that are trained to hop onto a finger
Reach into the cage and allow the bird to hop onto your finger.
Place your other hand on the bird’s feet and hold them firmly in place.
If the bird has been trained to hop on a finger, follow these steps:
Step 1: Reach into the cage and allow the bird to hop onto your finger.
Step 2: Once you have the bird out of the cage, gently drape a towel around its back.
Step 3: Place your other hand on the bird’s feet and hold them firmly in place. Be careful not to put pressure on the bird’s breastbone.
Some technical procedures may require you to stretch the bird’s neck slightly or provide access to a wing for injection into the wing vein.
Rodents - מכרסם
A small pet rodent whose owner has handled it regularly will rarely bite or scratch, but some rodent species and breeds will vigorously attempt to escape. While restraining the pet securely in your hand will suffice for most treatments, stressful procedures like venipuncture may require mechanical or chemical restraint.
Acrylic Rodent Restrainer - אקרילי
Typically used for Rat and Mouse venipuncture
the restrainer allows injection through the openings along its side and bottom.
Two mechanical devices used to restrain rodents are the acrylic rodent restrainer and the forceps
An acrylic rodent restrainer is a clear plastic tube with access ports drilled into it. Allow the rat or mouse to climb up into the device, then place a small plastic gate behind the animal to keep it from backing up.
You can use rubber-tipped forceps מלקחיים
to transport small rodents from one cage to another.
Grasp either the base of the animal’s tail near its body or the loose skin on the back of its neck. Don’t dangle the animal for more than a few seconds lest you injure its back.
Mice
Step 1: Grasp the base of the mouse’s tail as close to the body as possible (A).Mice are rarely aggressive, biting only when frightened or in pain. Their small size and high activity level, however, can make mouse handling and restraint difficult. Mice usually reside in small plastic shoebox cages with wire-mesh lids. To remove a mouse from its cage and then restrain it,
Step 2: Lift the mouse straight up and place it down on a wire-mesh cage top or other grid-type surface. Keep hold of the tail. The mouse will grasp this surface with its feet.
Step 3: Gently stretch the mouse’s body by pulling back on its tail with one hand while you grasp the loose skin on the back of its neck with the other (B and C).
Step 4: Lift the animal up and cup it in the palm of your hand (D).
Step 5: Loosely drape your other fingers around the animal’s body. Hold the feet and tail between your last two fingers. Don’t hold the mouse so tightly that you impede its breathing.
Rats
A rat generally won’t aggressively attempt to escape caging.
too, are docile animals that rarely bite unless frightened.
Unlike some other small rodents, they aren’t determined escape artists.
Remove a rat from its cage as you would a mouse.
Grasp the tail very close to the animal’s body to prevent the skin covering the tail from tearing. Never hold a rat by its tail for long.
You can hold the rat in your hand for technical procedures. To perform hand restraint on a rat, follow these steps:
Step 1: Grasp the rat by placing your thumb and index finger around its lower jaw ([A] in the figure). This technique secures the head and keeps the rat from being able to turn and bite.
Step 2: Pick the rat up.
Step 3: With your other hand, support the rat’s hindquarters while holding its feet and tail still ([B] in the figure).
Hamsters
Hamsters, generally the most aggressive small rodents, can be difficult to restrain.
Proper hamster restraint reduces the chance of a bite by using the loose skin around its jaws and neck to your advantage
also helps to know that hamsters tend to sleep during the day, and may hibernate for short periods of time.
Because hamsters often bite if awakened suddenly, never try to pick up a sleeping or hibernating hamster. To pick up and restrain a hamster,
Step 1: Make sure the hamster is awake. A knock on the side of its cage usually awakens the animal.
Step 2: Reach into the cage and grasp the loose skin on the back of the hamster’s neck. Grasp as much of the loose skin as possible, or the hamster may still be able to turn and bite.
Step 3: Lift the animal out of the cage and cup it in your palm as you would a mouse.
Guinea Pigs
Guinea pigs have quiet temperaments and almost never bite or scratch
Reaching into a guinea pig cage may cause the animals to run quickly around the cage, making them difficult to catch. To pick up and restrain a guinea pig,
Step 1: Reach into the cage and place your hand in front of the animal to block it from running around.
Step 2: Slide your other hand gently under the guinea pig’s chest.
Step 3: Pick the animal straight up.
Step 4: Immediately place your other hand under the animal’s hindquarters for support.
Avoid placing your hand down on a guinea pig’s back or shoulders too firmly; this may injure its lungs.
Chinchillas
Chinchillas are active and curious rodents. They’re also nocturnal- חיה לילית
Many chinchilla owners, however, have acclimated their chinchillas to being handled during the day.
Though chinchillas are fairly easy to handle and rarely bite, you must take care to avoid fur slip.
This expression describes a chinchilla’s tendency to shed patches of its fur if grasped too roughly. To restrain a chinchilla,
Step 1: Reach into the cage and grasp the animal by the base of the tail (close to the body) with one hand.
Step 2: Pick up the chinchilla by its tail.
Step 3: Immediately support the animal’s body, either with your forearm or your other hand.
You may also hold the chinchilla around the chest as you would a guinea pig.
Gerbils
You can handle a gerbil much as you would a mouse, but remember that gerbils tend to be quite active
They’re also good jumpers and may try vigorously to escape, so make sure your gerbil is gently but firmly restrained.
Remember to grasp the animal only at the base of its tail, close to the body.
Picking a gerbil up by the tip of its tail will damage the tail skin’s surface. It’s appropriate, for some technical procedures, simply to scoop up and cup the gerbil in your hand.
Ferrets
Although most ferrets aren’t aggressive, a distressed ferret can inflict severe bites.
Worse, a biting ferret usually doesn’t let go.
You may have to put the ferret under running water to force it to release its grip.
better, of course, to distress the ferret as little as possible by handling it properly.
You can restrain and handle a ferret much as you would a cat. To restrain and handle a ferret,
Grasping the ferret’s scruff
Step 1: Place one hand under the animal’s chest, behind its forelegs.
Step 2: Pick the ferret up.
Step 3: Use your other hand to support the ferret’s hindquarters.
Some technical procedures may require you to grasp the ferret’s scruff with one hand and its rear legs with the other. Towels also help to restrain a ferret. If the animal is particularly aggressive, you may hold it with its head between your thumb and forefinger as you would a rat.
Rabbits
Rabbits present a tough combination for their handlers:
difficult to handle, easy to injure.
They’re difficult to handle because their strong back legs can inflict severe scratches.
They’re easy to injure because of their delicate skeletal systems.
A struggling rabbit can kick violently enough to break its own spine, so correct rabbit handling is a matter of life and death.
while cartoon rabbits dangle quite happily by their ears, you should never try this in real life.
Lifting a rabbit up by its ears will hurt the rabbit, damage its ear cartilage, and probably cause it to struggle and injure its back.
Lift the animal toward you and press it gently against your body.
If you must carry the rabbit, tuck its nose into the crook of your arm, supporting its body along your forearm.
Step 1: Reach into the cage and lightly grasp a small amount of the loose skin behind the rabbit’s ears.
Step 2: Face the animal away from you, and slide your other hand under its rear legs.
Step 3: Lift the animal toward you, and press it gently against your body.
Never hold the scruff too tightly; this may damage the tissue and hurt the rabbit. If you must carry the rabbit, tuck its nose into the crook of your arm.
Support the rabbit’s body along your forearm. To return it to its cage, face the rabbit toward you and place its rear legs down in the cage first. This way, the rabbit can’t scratch your arm by using it to push off as it reenters the cage.
Rabbit-restraint methods depend on the procedure.
For most technical procedures, simply place the rabbit on the examination table.
Place your arms or hands on either side of the rabbit.
Because rabbits feel more secure if they’re not sliding around on a smooth surface, place a towel or other rough surface under the rabbit.
For intramuscular or subcutaneous injections, gently press the rabbit into the table.
Venipuncture may require chemical restraint or an acrylic restraining device.
Several rabbit-restraining devices are available.
They tend to be expensive and designed for rabbits of a certain size.Depending on the size of the rabbit, place your arms or hands on either side of it.
If the correct size of restraining device is unavailable, you can wrap the rabbit securely in a towel or light blanket.
Reptiles
Reptiles have become increasingly popular pets. Many veterinary practices routinely see reptile patients. While reptile handling and restraint procedures depend on the species, a general rule is to handle reptiles gently but firmly. A reptile roughly handled may become aggressive.
