Rainforest Clinic Offers Veterinary Care For Birds, Exotics

Tropical parrots, penguins and tigers are some of the exotic animals that can be treated at the Rainforest Clinic for Birds & Exotics.

Dr. Susan Clubb, the owner, is an experienced and internationally known board-certified veterinarian. She is a 1978 graduate of Auburn University in Alabama.

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After graduation, Clubb moved to Miami, where she was offered a job at Pet Farm. “It was a company that imported birds, reptiles and all kinds of exotic animals from around the world,” she recalled.

Clubb worked there for 11 years, until she got a job working for Jungle Island, formerly Pirate Island, and still works there once a week, 20 years later.

In 1992, Clubb moved to Loxahatchee Groves and first started her practice, offering a mobile vet clinic for bird breeders. “The bird breeders have declined significantly in this area,” she said.

This led Clubb to expand. In 2002, she opened the Rainforest Clinic for Birds & Exotics to focus more on the general public rather than only breeders. “We still work with local breeders as well, but we now do a lot with pets of all types,” she said.

Clubb’s specialty is treating birds. “We have worked with all kinds of birds — anything from ostriches, which are the biggest birds, to all the way down to little tiny finches,” she said.

Clients can come into the clinic, located at 3319 E Road in Loxahatchee Groves. “Clients who have big animals, we go to them,” Clubb said. “Although, we did do a C-section on a tiger in the surgery room last year.”

Clubb has worked in zoos around the world, from Spain to Brazil, and enjoys working with animals. “I can’t imagine doing anything else, and I like everything about working with animals,” she said. “For me, I have a lot of variety, and I think I would get bored if I had just a dog and cat practice.”

Every day Clubb gets to experience something new and different. “I never know what to expect,” she said. “So far this week, we have had a pig and a penguin in the clinic from Jungle Island.”

For Clubb, the more exotic, the more interesting and exciting. “We take care of chickens, turkeys and ducks,” she said. “We see basically a lot of the animals many of the other veterinarians don’t want to see, and that is what we thrive on.”

Rainforest Clinic also has a bird aviary called the Bird Garden, which is very popular among clients and non-clients alike. The aviary is open to the general public, and features a variety of rescued birds, from macaws to blue-headed pionus.

“These are birds that people wanted to give away for some reason. We take them in and adopt them out,” Clubb said. “People can sit with the birds and see if they hit it off first before they adopt them.”

Clubb is also a bird breeder, published author and bird researcher. She is accessible to her clients in case of emergencies, and her cell phone is listed for after-hours emergencies.

“You never know when an animal can get sick or injured,” she said. “And it seems to happen at all the least wanted times like holidays, and that’s why I make myself available to my clients at all times for emergencies.”

For more information about the Rainforest Clinic for Birds & Exotics, visit www.susanclubb.com/rainforest.html or call (561) 795-4878.

Above: Rainforest Clinic owner Dr. Susan Clubb with a macaw.