Camel Voluntary Dental Radiographs at SDZWA, presented for the ABMA's 2026 Behaviour Month

Dromedary Camel Voluntary Dental Radiographs Two Dromedary Camels at the San Diego Zoo voluntarily participate in their own veterinary care. Karima and Zara started this training endeavor only knowing how to target and over the course of a year and some change learned how to station on a chin rest, hold still for radiograph equipment, and eventually do the behavior while holding an open-mouth. These videos showcase the beginning and the end of that training journey. First the camels learned to target their chins to a V-shaped apparatus that would later become their free-standing chin rest, then they learned to hold still throughout all the desensitization practices, then grasped the open-mouth behavior, and finally put it all together to complete open-mouth dental radiographs.