Training Courses

The Courses and topics taught are listed below. New subjects or changes to topics to cater for local situations can be made. Outlines of the content of each course are available on request.

A training day usually runs from 9 – 5pm and generally consists of 5 to 6 hours of lectures and up to 1 hour of hands on, practical work.

Beginner’s courses

  • Introduction to wildlife care. This is a one-day course designed for carers that are new to the field of wildlife care. Not a popular course for me to present as you are already doing a good job.

Species-specific courses

These courses have been designed to cover just one type of animal on the day, with a greater focus on housing, feeding, disease, hand-rearing. There is a focus on myth-busting and giving up-to-date information on diseases.

  • Husbandry & Diseases of Possums
  • Husbandry & Diseases of Macropods
  • Husbandry & Diseases of Orphaned Native Birds
  • Husbandry and Diseases of Water birds and Seabirds
  • Husbandry and Diseases of Raptors
  • Husbandry & Diseases of Flying foxes and microbats – either combined or separate days
  • Husbandry and Diseases of Injured Reptiles & Frogs
  • Husbandry & Diseases of Koalas
  • Husbandry & Diseases of the ‘Others’: bandicoots, dasyurids, platypus

Practical handling is usually done for the birds days as sufficient birds can be found.

Advanced first aid courses

These courses cover first aid presentations, correcting dehydration with fluids, giving injections, bandaging wings and legs. 1-2 hours is spent gaining practical experience in these techniques. These courses are recommended for carers of more than two years’ experience, who have done the relevant species course. I recommend limiting to less than 20 people to keep it personal and thus valuable.

  • Advanced First Aid of Birds
  • Advanced First Aid of Marsupials

Specific interest courses

  • Assessment and Treatment of Burnt wildlife.

This course covers assessment of patients, burns, treating burns, supportive care and rehabilitation.

  • Medical care of injured wildlife.

This is based on lectures from the National Wildlife Carer Conferences that cover assessment of pain, types of shock, fluid therapy and treating wounds.

  • The how, what, why and when of wildlife rehabilitation.

This course was generated for an advanced group of carers who had attended many training days. This particular course focuses on how to rehabilitate and release common species of birds, possums, macropods and reptiles.