yeah birds are crazy fragile but I like them from a pet side, where I work only sees dogs and cats but occasionally a bird or pocket pet comes in for a nail trim. I know a few people with snakes and bearded dragons and they're all really cool but never had one myself. We had Cockatiels for a bit when I was a kid and my friend has a super awesome Conure. I had ferrets up until a couple years ago they're awesome. If you clean the cage once or twice a day and make sure they're bedding is clean they just have a slight musk. I have co-worker who also works at the wildlife center and she's brought in baby squirrels a few times but emu's sound fun. 

Yeah i do part time in a dog kennel, part time assisting, and tech school right now so I'm around animals a lot. Hoping to intern somewhere that does exotics next year to see how I like 'em from a medical side. 

[@Sailorsadie]
I know a Vet whose got a slight bird fear so that's not uncommon. I'm kind of scared of horses.