The Exotic and Avian Practice Operations Manual

Run an exotic-ready veterinary practice with confidence.

Birds hide illness until it is serious. A rabbit that stops eating can become an emergency within hours. Reptiles depend entirely on their environment for heat. Exotic patients need a practice that runs differently from the dog and cat world, from the first phone call to discharge. This manual gives you the complete operating system to do it safely and consistently.

The Exotic and Avian Practice Operations Manual is a practical, customizable reference for veterinary practices that see birds, reptiles, and small mammals. It turns best practice into clear, step-by-step standard operating procedures (SOPs) your whole team can follow.

What's inside:

• 119 SOPs organized into nine parts: facility readiness, front desk and client services, intake and handling, hospitalization, anesthesia and diagnostics workflow, infection control and zoonoses, legal and regulatory, team training, and business growth
• 112 ready-to-copy forms, logs, and checklists, including phone triage cards, cage cards, environment logs, anesthesia monitoring records, a surgical safety checklist, consent templates, and controlled substance logs
• 34 client handouts covering birds, reptiles, small mammals, safe transport, quarantine, signs of illness, and zoonoses
• Species-specific handling and restraint guidance for birds, reptiles, rabbits, ferrets, rodents, and more
• Red-flag phone triage for each species group, so urgent calls are routed quickly
• Infection control, isolation, and zoonosis precautions, including psittacosis and Salmonella
• Staff competency checklists, onboarding plans, and training paths for every role
• Pricing, inventory, marketing, and performance tools for growing your exotic services

Every SOP follows the same clear format: purpose, scope, responsibilities, equipment, step-by-step procedure, documentation, and related forms. Customize boxes and Veterinarian Protocol boxes let you add your own clinical protocols and local legal requirements, so the manual becomes your practice's own.

Who this book is for:

• Practice owners and medical directors adding or expanding exotic services
• Practice managers and office managers building consistent systems
• Veterinarians, veterinary technicians, nurses, and assistants
• Client service teams who answer calls about exotic pets
• Exotic-focused clinics that want a ready-made operations framework

Please note: this is an operations manual focused on how a practice runs. It does not provide drug doses, diagnoses, or treatment protocols, which remain the responsibility of the attending veterinarian. The legal and regulatory guidance is written mainly for the United States and is designed to be adapted to local requirements. Text and forms only; no photographs.