How To Become An Animal Keeper: What It Is and Career Path

What is an animal keeper and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Chase Runyan

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an animal keeper. For example, did you know that they make an average of $14.82 an hour? That's $30,829 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 28% and produce 101,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

What's a day at work look like for an animal keeper?

Dr. Chase Runyan

Associate Professor, Department Chair, Director of MIR/Research Scientist, Angelo State University

Because agriculture industries are so diverse in their nature, it is nearly impossible to gauge what a work day might look like.

ScoreAnimal KeeperUS Average

Salary

2.4

Avg. Salary $30,829

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.7

Growth rate 28%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.49%

Asian 2.68%

Black or African American 4.46%

Hispanic or Latino 17.96%

Unknown 6.54%

White 67.87%

Gender

female 73.57%

male 26.43%

Age - 29

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 29

Stress level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.0

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.1

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an animal keeper

Explore animal keeper education requirements

Most common animal keeper degrees

Bachelor's

72.4 %

Associate

12.5 %

High School Diploma

8.0 %

Start to develop specific animal keeper skills

Skills	Percentages
Animal Husbandry	17.09%
Zoo Animals	10.87%
Animal Exhibits	9.74%
Exotic Animals	5.80%
Animal Handling	5.35%

Complete relevant animal keeper training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New animal keepers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an animal keeper based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real animal keeper resumes.

Research animal keeper duties and responsibilities

Manage complicated water filtration systems, and implement nutrition plans for a variety of snake species.
Prepare diets according to USDA guidelines to help maintain foodsupplies and animal weights.
Aid in vaccinations, wind treatment, artificial insemination procedures, castrations, tagging and tattoos.
Assist in producing illustrations and animation material to develop tutoring videos for math and physics.

Prepare your animal keeper resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your animal keeper resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an animal keeper resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable animal keeper resume templates

Build a professional animal keeper resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your animal keeper resume.