International Giant Otter Studbook Husbandry and Management
International Giant Otter Studbook Husbandry and Management
International Giant Otter Studbook Husbandry and Management
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problems <strong>and</strong> abnormalities that develop when enclosures do not provide the recommended<br />
conditions above. It is necessary that any enclosure, whether it is already in use or not, that<br />
does not provide at least the recommended minimum requirements be modified so that it<br />
does. I.e. this applies to any enclosure, whether it is already constructed <strong>and</strong> giant otters are<br />
being kept in it or the enclosure is being designed or modified to hold P. brasiliensis in the<br />
future.<br />
A significant amount of water will always be tracked, carried, or splashed onto the l<strong>and</strong> by the<br />
otters. Continually very damp or wet surfaces are caused by not enough l<strong>and</strong> area because<br />
of inappropriate l<strong>and</strong> to water ratios, substrates depths that are below the recommended<br />
minimum depth, or inappropriate substrate types or qualities (esp. hard or artificial<br />
surfaces, poor draining/slow drying soil, mulch bark pieces that have broken into small pieces<br />
<strong>and</strong> packed down). Surfaces also remain very damp or wet when there is not enough l<strong>and</strong><br />
area bordering <strong>and</strong> extending away from the water’s edge, more l<strong>and</strong> area is exposed to<br />
the water’s edge than recommended, inappropriate water area contour lines are used, or<br />
nestboxes, dens, or areas for natural underground dens are located too close to the water.<br />
Nestboxes (including bedding substrates), dens, <strong>and</strong> natural underground dens, as well as<br />
a significant proportion of the other l<strong>and</strong>/floor areas, can remain very damp or wet when<br />
any of the inappropriate enclosure conditions aforementioned exist. Note: wet or damp<br />
conditions can occur easily <strong>and</strong> rapidly or become worsened from rain or high humidity, esp.<br />
extended periods. Daily enclosure cleaning with water is not necessary when the recommended<br />
substrates are offered, but when unsuitable substrates are offered (e.g. hard surfaces) this form<br />
of cleaning can cause l<strong>and</strong> areas to remain damp/wet.<br />
Surfaces will not remain dry enough when an insufficient amount of l<strong>and</strong> area, because of an<br />
inappropriate l<strong>and</strong> to water area ratio, is offered. It is important to note that the smaller the<br />
amount of l<strong>and</strong> area available, the more difficult it is to keep the l<strong>and</strong> dry. This is one crucial<br />
factor that determines l<strong>and</strong> to water ratios for enclosures. It is also just one reason why l<strong>and</strong><br />
area percentages (in the l<strong>and</strong> to water ratio) must be increased proportionately <strong>and</strong> water area<br />
percentages must be decreased proportionately, as the enclosure size is decreased below 240 m 2<br />
(2,583 ft²). When more sides of the enclosure l<strong>and</strong> area than recommended are bordered by <strong>and</strong><br />
therefore exposed to water, a large amount of l<strong>and</strong> will remain wet/very damp. In these<br />
situations, esp. when enclosures are smaller than 240m² (2,583.4 ft²), otters will not be provided<br />
with enough dry l<strong>and</strong>. When the otters’ water area is bordered only by small areas/thin strips of<br />
l<strong>and</strong> or not enough l<strong>and</strong> area that extends in width in the direction leading away from the<br />
water’s edge (i.e. less than 5 m [16 ft] in width), this l<strong>and</strong> will remain wet/very damp. When<br />
enclosures are smaller than 240m² (2,583.4 ft²) in size, long water area contour lines/edges can<br />
also create insufficient amounts of l<strong>and</strong> area that extend behind the water. When long water<br />
area contour lines/edges are used in enclosures that are smaller or somewhat larger than 75 m 2<br />
(807.3 ft²) a large amount of l<strong>and</strong> will remain wet/very damp, because not enough l<strong>and</strong> area will<br />
extend behind the water’s edge. As well, with long contour lines in both situations above, a<br />
large amount of l<strong>and</strong> area will be exposed to carried/tracked in water.<br />
Substrates that are hard, poor draining, slow drying, non-absorbent, or artificial can also remain<br />
very damp or wet. These substrates include: concrete, cement, tile, artificial or natural rockwork,<br />
bricks, gunnite, wood, <strong>and</strong> poor draining or slow drying soil (with/without vegetation). (When<br />
otters are directly exposed to more than a small area of these l<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> floor substrates within<br />
their indoor <strong>and</strong> outdoor enclosures, these substrates are called “inappropriate substrates” within<br />
this manual.) E.g. even after continual use (i.e. regular digging <strong>and</strong> grooming throughout the<br />
entire enclosure <strong>and</strong> digging away large areas of vegetation/turf <strong>and</strong> exposure to water), soil (<strong>and</strong><br />
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