Article reprinted with permission of Veterinary Medicine –
November 02, 2017D. Veterinary Medcine is a copyrighted
publication of Advanstar Communications inc. All rights
reserved
EXOTICS
Enrichment for Small
Mammals
What Owners Need to Know
By Stacy Pritt,
DVM, MS, MBA, CPIA, DACAW,
Debra Hickman,
DVM, MS, DACLAM, DACAW
Laboratory animal veterinarians are greatly concerned with caring
for small mammals away from their natural habitats—giving them
the best life possible while they're under these researchers' care.
Share their wisdom with your pocket-pet-owning clients.
Mammals have exploded in popularity as pets over
the past few years. Clients with these pets actively
seek opportunities to enhance the lives of their
small mammal pets just the same as they want to
supplement the lives of cats and dogs with games,
hiding spaces and toys to play with. However, clients
are not as educated with regards to appropriate
toys for small mammal pets. Since this market is
rapidly growing and new items are available with
regular frequency, veterinarians seeing these pets
must be knowledgeable and up-to-date about what
is available, what is suitable for the pet and the
owners’ lifestyle, and how to evaluate the items that
accompany these pets on trips to your office.
Over the past decade, several reputable pet food
companies have invested in research to improve our
knowledge of small mammals' nutritional needs and
enrichment preferences, resulting in drastic change
in veterinary recommendations. Much has also
been learned about these species from the field of
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laboratory animal medicine, where they are used in research
to help develop cures and treatments for devastating
diseases. Thanks to all of this work, veterinarians now have
the opportunity to recommend or sell high-quality products
from reputable vendors that enrich the lives of these pets.
What’s Missing in Captivity
Because small mammals spend most of their time within a
constrained cage environment for their safety, the challenge
for veterinarians and owners is to ensure that these animals
have opportunities to engage in species-specific behaviours
that improve their overall well-being. For example, a wild
mouse will spend a significant portion of its time foraging
over a distance that measures in miles. When its domestic
counterpart lives in a cage with food provided in a hopper
or crock, there is a missed opportunity to allow the mouse
to engage in a preferred behavior. A simple solution to this
can be the provision of some or all of its food in a manner
that encourages exploration of the cage environment and
foraging for food.