Boa constrictor joins budding zookeepers at college

Zoe Cousins said she wants to work with animals in the future and would love to specialise in either snakes or birds

Rare fishes and a boa constrictor have become the newest residents to join students at a college.

Students studying animal management at Easton College, near Norwich, have been trying out the role of zookeeper by caring for the animals alongside vets and logging data to protect species.

The college's animal management centre has become home to about 500 animals including alpacas, small mammals, reptiles and fish.

Zoe Cousins, who is studying animal management, said: "There are so many different animals that we get to work with, it provides a large variety of experiences and opportunities.

"I absolutely love all of our reptiles; I love all of our lizards, but my favourite is the boa constrictor.

"I frequently go into her enclosure and I'm always up for feeding her and stuff like that."

There are about 500 animals living in the animal animal management centre including snakes and rare fish

Ms Cousin said in the future she wanted to work in a zoo and with snakes and birds.

"I might be looking down a zoo pathway or maybe animal psychotherapy," she said.

Ms Cousins said having the exotic animals in the classroom was a great experience, adding: "I feel like I am significantly more confident working with animals since coming to college here.

"I now have that under my belt, and I am now am able to go into an animal job."

The college has been recognised as an educational member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Zoe Cousins said she feels confident about working with animals due to the experience she has been given in college

Megan Scott-Bowen, an animal technician who specialises in reptiles, aquatics and invertebrates, said the animals at the college were a bit more "exotic" than the pets the students might have at home.

She said alpacas were "a really good experience of what [the students] will experience in a work environment. It's a little bit different from a horse."

"We have a lot of animals that we like the students to get involved with because not everyone is going to work in a zoo, some people might work in a vet where they'll be dealing with rabbits and guinea pigs often, or smaller farms as well.

"We're aiming for that high standard of welfare that they can take into their work experience so when they leave college - they can hit the ground running," she added.