Aquarist vs animal attendant

The differences between aquarists and animal attendants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-3 months to become both an aquarist and an animal attendant. Additionally, an aquarist has an average salary of $32,605, which is higher than the $26,394 average annual salary of an animal attendant.

The top three skills for an aquarist include animal husbandry, scuba and water chemistry. The most important skills for an animal attendant are PET, patients, and animal handling.

Aquarist vs animal attendant overview

	Aquarist	Animal Attendant
Yearly salary	$32,605	$26,394
Hourly rate	$15.68	$12.69
Growth rate	28%	28%
Number of jobs	737	53,000
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 84%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Average age	32	32
Years of experience	3	3

Aquarist vs animal attendant salary

Aquarists and animal attendants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Aquarist	Animal Attendant
Average salary	$32,605	$26,394
Salary range	Between $22,000 And $48,000	Between $20,000 And $34,000
Highest paying City	-	Ithaca, NY
Highest paying state	-	New York
Best paying company	-	Baylor College of Medicine
Best paying industry	-	Education

Differences between aquarist and animal attendant education

There are a few differences between an aquarist and an animal attendant in terms of educational background:

	Aquarist	Animal Attendant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 84%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Most common major	Biology	Biology
Most common college	University of California, Berkeley	Ohio State University

Aquarist vs animal attendant demographics

Here are the differences between aquarists' and animal attendants' demographics:

	Aquarist	Animal Attendant
Average age	32	32
Gender ratio	Male, 43.3% Female, 56.7%	Male, 29.2% Female, 70.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 6.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.3% Asian, 2.6% White, 68.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 4.2% Unknown, 6.3% Hispanic or Latino, 17.9% Asian, 2.6% White, 68.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between aquarist and animal attendant duties and responsibilities

Aquarist example responsibilities.

Manage complicated water filtration systems, and implement nutrition plans for a variety of snake species.
Prepare and assist with an AZA accreditation.
Assist with first AZA accreditation process of the zoo.
Maintain facility cleanliness to meet and exceed all USDA standards.
Exceed all minimum requirements set by USDA, and assist USDA personnel during facility inspections.
Complete physical checks and monitor patients to detect unusual or harmful behavior and report observations to professional staff.

Animal attendant example responsibilities.

Assist in managing shelter for animals and arranging for adoption or euthanasia of confiscate animals.
Skil at handling, restraining, husbandry and veterinary procedures with reptiles, mammals, raptors, amphibians, and songbirds.
Clean goat and pig yards, train goats and pigs, keep records.
Serve as midwife for birthing dogs, cats and goats.
Care for goats by providing them with feed every week.
Maintain cleanliness of the shelter and medicate animals direct by supervisor as needed.

Aquarist vs animal attendant skills

Common aquarist skills

Animal Husbandry, 15%
Scuba, 14%
Water Chemistry, 7%
Food Preparation, 6%
Cleanliness, 6%
Life Support Systems, 5%

Common animal attendant skills

PET, 59%
Patients, 6%
Animal Handling, 6%
Cleanliness, 3%
Euthanasia, 3%
Autoclaves, 2%