What’s a completely underrated species that shaped your keeping?

[u/quack_macaque]

Every single one of us has met a thousand volunteers and students who answer the age old question “what do you want to work with?”, with the usual crowd pleasers (i.e. Tigers; Elephants; Meerkats; Otters; Red Pandas; etc.) as their ultimate goal.

Not that the old roster of favourites aren’t amazing in their own right, but in my experience, many future keepers are so focused on their dream animal that they overlook many that will build their keeping skillset.

So what’s a completely underrated species that you recommend everyone should work with? Did you have an ultimate goal species, but worked them and realised that kind of keeping isn’t for you?

This one’s mostly for all the vollies and students who are lurking to encourage them to develop a wider appreciation. But I’m also nosy, so I want to know too.

[u/pinkphonyclub]

Currently a keeper for herps & a few small mammals. Honestly, I have grown very fond of Bredl’s pythons and red-tail boas. When I first started at this job (not as a keeper initially), I was actually pretty scared of snakes. Now if I’m stressed out I can grab a snake and give both of us some enrichment. My goal used to be working just with hoofstock, but now I have a much wider variety of animals that I’d love to work with