The Feeding of Live Food to Exotic Pets: Issues of Welfare and Ethics |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Nairobi, Kabete, Nairobi, Kenya;2. Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.;1. Centre for Animal Welfare and Ethics, School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia;2. School of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia;1. Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA;2. Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA;3. Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, B203 Levine Science Research Center, Duke University, Box 90999, Durham, NC 27708, USA;4. Department of Neurobiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA;5. Department of Psychology and Neurosciences, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA;6. Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA |
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| Abstract: | Live food items are often fed to exotic pet species whether they are birds, amphibians, reptiles, or mammals. This raises issues of welfare, both of the animals fed live prey items and the prey itself. Concerns over live food welfare are particularly marked in the feeding of vertebrate prey items and evidence presented here shows the prolonged time taken for rodents to die. However, the welfare of all exotic pets relies both on providing optimal nutrition to the predator and ensuring, as much as possible, that their natural behaviours can be expressed. Does that mean that predatory species must be fed live prey? This article discusses this problem and seeks potential solutions. |
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| Keywords: | companion exotic animals live foods prey welfare |
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