Vernon Hills Animal Hospital

Dr. Stephen L. Barten

I was one of those kids who had every kind of animal for a pet. My parents had a succession of dogs and cats, but my bedroom was always full of cages and aquariums, housing rabbits, rats, gerbils, hamsters, possums, boas, lizards, turtles, frogs, salamanders and fish. I spent summer days combing the nearby fields and swamps for animals, and evenings caring for my pets. Even though my dad would have liked me to join the family machine shop business, both parents recognized early on that I only would be happy working with animals.

I studied zoology in college and picked veterinary medicine as a career because I would not only be working with animals every day, but I would also have the opportunity to learn exciting new things throughout my career. My house still is full of animals, headed by my dog and cat. Betty is a Jack Russell terrier who goes everywhere with me. She's one of the few dogs who doesn't mind going to the vet because she goes there every day and plays in the office or sleeps under my desk while I work. My Somali cat, Harold, looks like a long-haired Abyssinian, with a reddish-brown mane and fox-like tail. He is extremely social and affectionate but finds Betty too hyper for his sophisticated tastes. I keep 10 snakes, each in a private heated cage, in my basement. Most were raised from eggs and are relatively old, ranging in age from 10 to well over 20 years. I have a 14-year-old leopard gecko that used to belong to one son who is now in college, some tree frogs and a "Pac Man" frog that is over 12 years old.

I also am interested in clinical and nature photography, as well as technical writing and lecturing to veterinary groups. I have articles and photographs published in a variety of veterinary textbooks, journals and magazines. I go on snake hunts every year, but just to see and photograph them, not to collect. I am an avid scuba diver and do most of my diving throughout the Caribbean, although I have visited Cocos Island off Costa Rica and Fiji. My most exciting dives were with the schooling hammerhead sharks at Cocos, cage diving with great white sharks at Isle Guadalupe, Mexico, and bumping into a 8-foot-long alligator in murky water with only 2 feet of visibility in the Cooper River, South Carolina, while diving for fossil shark teeth.

Degrees
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Illinois, 1978

Areas of Interest
Dogs and cats, reptiles and amphibians, small exotic mammals, laser surgery, photography

Personal Interests
Scuba diving, digital photography, traveling and seeing nature

Recently attended Continuing Education

North American Veterinary Conference, Orlando, January 7-12, 2006. Serving as NAVC Exotics Session Coordinator 2006-2010. Dr. Barten coordinates the small mammal, reptile, zoo, wildlife, aquatics and avian sessions, a total of 90 lectures and several laboratories over the 5 days of the conference. He attended courses in small mammals and reptiles, also dentistry and dermatology.

106th Annual Penn Veterinary Conference, University of Pennsylvania College of Veterinary Medicine, May 2-3, 2006. Dr. Barten was an invited speaker who gave four, hour-long presentations on reptilian medicine and surgery. He also was able to attend talks on controversial and emerging topics in small animal veterinary medicine. He found time to visit Valley Forge, see the Liberty Bell, and enjoy a Philly cheese steak sandwich at the original cheese steak restaurant.

Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians Annual Conference, April 22-27, 2006, Baltimore, MD. Dr. Barten attended 3.5 days of lectures on reptile medicine and presented one paper, Aneurysm in the dorsolateral neck of two bearded dragons, Pogona vitticeps, by S. Barten, J. Wyneken, D. Mader and M. Garner. Attendees also got behind the scenes tours of the Baltimore aquarium.

North American Veterinary Conference, Orlando, January 13-17, 2007. Dr. Barten is the NAVC Exotics Session Coordinator and coordinates the small mammal, reptile, zoo, wildlife, aquatics and avian sessions, a total of 90 lectures and several laboratories over the 5 days of the conference. He attended courses in small mammals and reptiles, also ultrasound and internal medicine.

Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians Annual Conference, April 14-18, 2007, New Orleans, LA. Cutting edge topics on reptilian and amphibian medicine and surgery, a behind the scenes tour of the Audubon Park Zoo, and some local snake hunting and photography with members of the Louisiana Gulf Coast Herpetological Society.

Ultrasound training course June 22-24, 2007, Grand Rapids, Michigan. We have a new ultrasound machine and we're learning how to use it better.

Affiliations
Chicago Veterinary Medical Association

Illinois State Veterinary Medical Association

American Veterinary Medical Association

Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians

Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles

Chicago Herpetological Society

Society of Aquatic Veterinary Medicine (scuba diving veterinarians)