International Giant Otter Studbook Husbandry and Management

cub weight growth curve in Graph 2 and more weight data and cub development information in
Chapter 4.
The cub is grossly underweight or emaciated if one can very easily see and/or feel bones (esp.
the ribs, vertebrate, hip and tail bones) under the cub’s skin, the abdomen is sunken in or slack,
sides are sunken in beneath its rib cage, and its body looks shrunken or eyes are sunken in. Cubs
must have a normal body temperature and be properly hydrated before they are fed formulas or
foods. (See Sections 2 and 3.) If the otter’s fur coat is not in a clean, shiny, and waterproof (i.e.
water does not penetrate or even dampen the white underfur) condition, this can indicate health
problems. These animals can become sick (esp. with pneumonia), unhealthy, and they may
refuse to swim or die if the conditions causing this problem are not corrected (Duplaix-Hall
1975). See Chapter 2 Section 3 for problems that can cause poor fur coat condition.
Cubs should be weighed daily and at the same time every day, e.g. before the first feeding of the
day and after toileting. Cub weight changes after elimination and feeding and this is esp.
noticeable in very small cubs (see Section 4 below). The otter’s entire body, including its tail,
which is a significant amount of its total body weight, should be weighed. (Sometimes it is
easier to weigh cubs after the second feeding as animals usually get very excited when they are
waiting for the first feeding of the day.) A healthy normally developing cub that is reared with
proper handrearing practices should gain some amount of measurable weight almost every day.
If no weight gain or/and especially if weight loss occurs and continues (e.g. for more than 2
consecutive days), either the formula or/and handrearing practices may be inadequate or/and the
cub has other medical/physical problems. The problems must be solved as soon as possible to
prevent poor health or death.
The following factors should be closely observed and monitored daily. The information
gathered should be recorded either at every feeding, daily, or when applicable: Cub weights, the
types/brand names, ingredients, dilutions, and preparation of milk formulas and foods, feeding
regimens/schedules (frequency and when fed etc.), techniques and apparatuses (nipple/bottle
types), amounts eaten, willingness to eat, preferences (e.g. for specific food and feeding
apparatus types etc.), beginning and ending weaning dates, feces and urine condition and
frequency, physical and behavioral health condition, medications given, and behavioral and
physical developmental progress. Cubs can show subtle behavioral signs that may indicate the
gradual development of illness or other problems. If each of these individual behavioral signs
are not recorded, then the slow development of problems may be missed. Many times health
problems can become well developed before they are obvious and discovered. Often this can
make poor health conditions much more difficult to successfully treat.
The cub’s body length should be measured and recorded at least one time per week. An otter
should be measured from the tip of its tail to its nose and again from its tail base to its tail tip. A
body length - weight - age growth curve for the cub’s entire development and behavioral and
physical development records are needed for comparison studies in the wild and in captivity.
I.e. measurements and records should be taken from the earliest age to the latest age that is
possible. (See Chapter 3 for how weights can be safely and easily taken, via husbandry training,
when cubs gets older.) An incomplete weight growth curve is available (see Graph 2), but no
body length growth curve is known to exist.
Census information such as identification, family history, birth, death, transfer, acquisition,
wild/captive born location should also be kept. Record keeping is not only necessary to provide
continued adequate care to individual giant otters, it is also necessary that all institutions
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