Animal technician vs animal health technician

The differences between animal technicians and animal health technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both an animal technician and an animal health technician. Additionally, an animal health technician has an average salary of $37,267, which is higher than the $31,378 average annual salary of an animal technician.

The top three skills for an animal technician include animal handling, autoclaves and euthanasia. The most important skills for an animal health technician are animal handling, IM, and laboratory animals.

Animal technician vs animal health technician overview

	Animal Technician	Animal Health Technician
Yearly salary	$31,378	$37,267
Hourly rate	$15.09	$17.92
Growth rate	20%	20%
Number of jobs	39,917	89,376
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Average age	32	32
Years of experience	12	12

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.

What does an animal health technician do?

Animal health technicians work primarily in an animal diagnostics laboratory, where they test specimens according to a veterinarian's requests. The animal health technician must be capable of operating all of the necessary diagnostics equipment for animal care. The animal health technician must provide accurate results on diagnostic requests coming from a veterinarian. Added responsibilities of an animal health technician are educating owners on taking care of their pets, ensuring that all equipment is working correctly, and providing accurate results for better diagnosis.

Animal technician vs animal health technician salary

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

	Animal Technician	Animal Health Technician
Average salary	$31,378	$37,267
Salary range	Between $19,000 And $51,000	Between $23,000 And $58,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	-
Highest paying state	New York	-
Best paying company	Harvard University	-
Best paying industry	Health Care	-

Differences between animal technician and animal health technician education

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

	Animal Technician	Animal Health Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Most common major	Biology	Animal Science
Most common college	Ohio State University	Ohio State University

Animal technician vs animal health technician demographics

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

	Animal Technician	Animal Health Technician
Average age	32	32
Gender ratio	Male, 44.8% Female, 55.2%	Male, 29.6% Female, 70.4%
Race ratio	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%	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	9%	9%

Differences between animal technician and animal health technician duties and responsibilities

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 health technician example responsibilities.

Manage tech appointments, suture removal, bandage removal and placement, CPR and emergency care when need.
Blood draws, lab work, suture removal, catheter placement.
Prepare media and other analytical processes in compliance with FDA regulations guidelines.
Inspect and maintain facilities organization and operations according to FDA and clinical standards.
Administer drug, fluid and respiratory therapy to critically-ill patients in an effort to provide optimal support during anesthesia.
Perform various administrative support functions including answering telephones, checking patients in/out and responding to any inquiries and taking appointments.

Animal technician vs animal health technician skills

Common animal technician skills

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

Common animal health technician skills

Animal Handling, 12%
IM, 7%
Laboratory Animals, 6%
Medical Procedures, 6%
Husbandry, 5%
Euthanasia, 5%

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Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Animal Technician
Animal Technician vs Animal Health Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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