Is behavioural enrichment always a success? Comparing food presentation strategies in an insectivorous lizard (Plica plica)
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| Category | Journal Articles |
|---|---|
| Abstract |
Staggering food availability through a delivery device is a common way of providing behavioural enrichment as it is usually thought to increase the amount of natural behaviour due to the unpredictability of the food source. Tree-runner lizards (Plica plica) are a Neotropical, scansorial, insectivorous species. We provided these lizards with an enrichment device that slowly released insect prey and tested its effect on the activity and frequency of a number of behaviours in comparison with a scatter control (where prey items were broadcast in the enclosure; standard food presentation for captive insectivorous lizards) and a non-feeding control. Both types of food increased activity and counts of several behaviours in comparison with the non-feeding control. However, we found the provision of the behavioural enrichment device led to a significantly lower frequency of almost all analysed behaviours in comparison with scatter control trials, mainly in behaviours associated with activity (unsuccessful strikes (=unsuccessful capture of prey) (p=0.004), locomotion (p=0.004), alertness (p=0.004) and the number of times a boundary in the enclosure was crossed ie. activity (p= |
| Publication Title | Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
| Volume | 183 |
| Pages | 95-103 |
| ISBN/ISSN | 0168-1591 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2016.07.009 |
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