Animal care technician vs animal technician

The differences between animal care technicians and animal technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-3 months to become an animal care technician, becoming an animal technician takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, an animal technician has an average salary of $31,378, which is higher than the $29,617 average annual salary of an animal care technician.

The top three skills for an animal care technician include patients, animal husbandry and pigs. The most important skills for an animal technician are animal handling, autoclaves, and euthanasia.

Animal care technician vs animal technician overview

	Animal Care Technician	Animal Technician
Yearly salary	$29,617	$31,378
Hourly rate	$14.24	$15.09
Growth rate	28%	20%
Number of jobs	96,973	39,917
Job satisfaction	4	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Bachelor's Degree, 52%
Average age	32	32
Years of experience	3	12

What does an animal care technician do?

An animal care technician is an animal medical professional who is responsible for providing care to animals in the clinical or research setting. Animal care technicians take blood or stool samples from animals and run laboratory tests to determine the cause of an ailment. They often take charge of bathing and grooming animals as well as administer anesthesia before procedures. Animal care technicians are also required to speak to the pet's owners to help them understand the diagnosis and administer medication.

What does an animal technician do?

An animal technician is responsible for ensuring the animals' welfare under the supervision and guidance of a licensed veterinarian. Animal technicians maintain an organized record of animal information, assisting in medical surgeries and procedures, administering medications, collecting laboratory samples, and sending examination reports to the animal owners. They also keep the cages clean, inspecting the clinic's tools and equipment, and sterilizing laboratory materials to avoid contamination. An animal technician must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in responding to the owners' inquiries and concerns and monitoring the animals' conditions.

Animal care technician vs animal technician salary

Animal care technicians and animal technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Animal Care Technician	Animal Technician
Average salary	$29,617	$31,378
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $40,000	Between $19,000 And $51,000
Highest paying City	South San Francisco, CA	New York, NY
Highest paying state	Oregon	New York
Best paying company	Emory University	Harvard University
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between animal care technician and animal technician education

There are a few differences between an animal care technician and an animal technician in terms of educational background:

	Animal Care Technician	Animal Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Bachelor's Degree, 52%
Most common major	Biology	Biology
Most common college	New York University	Ohio State University

Animal care technician vs animal technician demographics

Here are the differences between animal care technicians' and animal technicians' demographics:

	Animal Care Technician	Animal Technician
Average age	32	32
Gender ratio	Male, 31.1% Female, 68.9%	Male, 44.8% Female, 55.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 6.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.5% Asian, 2.7% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 2.7% Unknown, 6.8% Hispanic or Latino, 10.9% Asian, 2.1% White, 77.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	11%	9%

Differences between animal care technician and animal technician duties and responsibilities

Animal care technician example responsibilities.

Assist in managing shelter for animals and arranging for adoption or euthanasia of confiscate animals.
Train in safety procedures for blood borne pathogens, GLP and GMP certification, and ISO standards.
Familiarize with the strains of various animal species to include rats, mice, gerbils, guinea pigs.
Interview prospective adopting families while counseling on animal welfare and responsibilities of pet owners.
Maintain knowledge of CPR procedures and evacuation procedures.
Assist with minor emergency procedures, perform CPR.

Animal technician example responsibilities.

Maintain all necessary paperwork for specific species as required by the USDA, IACUC, as well as other agencies.
Maintain the cleanliness and organization of all animal facility locations.
Stock shelves with personal protection equipment (PPE).
Learned all PPE policies for different areas of the vivarium.
Train and supervise fellow animal technicians in GLP, vivarium policy, husbandry and sterilization methods.
Perform oral gavage, im, iv and ip injections and retro orbital collections in mice.

Animal care technician vs animal technician skills

Common animal care technician skills

Patients, 10%
Animal Husbandry, 9%
Pigs, 5%
Patient Care, 5%
Animal Handling, 5%
GLP, 4%

Common animal technician skills

Animal Handling, 7%
Autoclaves, 7%
Euthanasia, 6%
Laboratory Animal Care, 4%
Technical Procedures, 4%
AALAS, 4%

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Animal Care Technician vs Animal Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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