Creating an enriching environment for your pet!

We try so hard to keep our pets happy and healthy. We feed them the best foods, provide them with the space and environments they need, give them love and attention, and even bring them to the best veterinarians! There’s one other impotant area – environmental enrichment – that we sometimes overlook in our pets’ lives. Environmental enrichment is providing your pet with tasks or activities that will encourage him or her to perform natural behaviors such as digging, hunting, and gathering. Studies have shown that enrichment makes captive life more fulfilling for our exotic companions. Zoos work hard to develop their environmental enrichment protocols. For some examples of enrichment in a zoo, take a look at this link (below) to the Detroit Zoo. The more you know and understand your pet’s natural behaviors, the more creative you can be when you offer enrichment items. For example, ferrets are hunters, and will scurry down into tunnels underground. Birds, too, may scratch at the ground to find goodies in the soil. Reptiles find the best rock or log to rub against to remove their old skin. What are some ideas you incorporate into your pet’s everyday life to make his or her environment more enriching?

http://www.detroitzoo.org/Animals/Enrichment/Enrichment/