Controlled Deprivation and Enrichment

Environmental enrichment for reptiles in European zoos: Current status and perspectives

“…This example illustrates how taxonomic bias affects the amount of information readily available for zoos. Also, most enrichment practices in non-mammalian species are modelled on enrichment practices designed for mammals, which can be problematic when applied without proper modification and/or evaluation (Mendyk & Augustine 2023 ). At its inception, environmental enrichment was designed as a means of promoting activity and countering behavioural or welfare problems (a reactive, rather than proactive, approach) in mammals, mainly primates (Young 2003 ).…”

“…In our follow-up survey we focused on retrieving information on specific enrichment techniques. This resulted in a wide diversity of responses and raises the question as to whether some of these reported enriching techniques should indeed be considered enrichment (Mendyk & Augustine 2023 ). For example, one of the most commonly reported enrichment techniques in five out of seven reptile groups in our study was the use of different food items: can feeding reptiles with multiple types of food/different prey be considered enrichment or is it simply a matter of basic husbandry?…”

“…For example, one of the most commonly reported enrichment techniques in five out of seven reptile groups in our study was the use of different food items: can feeding reptiles with multiple types of food/different prey be considered enrichment or is it simply a matter of basic husbandry? Discrepancies in what qualifies as enrichment for reptiles may be another contributing factor to the taxonomic bias (Riley & Rose 2020 ), particularly when approaching enrichment from a mammalian perspective (Mendyk & Augustine 2023 ). Perhaps, what some consider enrichment is just controlled deprivation (Burghardt 1996 , 2013 ).…”

Sensory Stimulation as a Means of Sustained Enhancement of Well-Being in Leopard Geckos, Eublepharis macularius (Eublepharidae, Squamata)

“…Welfare is a long-term state that comprises the sum of experiences of an animal and its derived affective state [3,4,19,20]. For these states to be realised, coping abilities-physiological, behavioural, or cognitive-are important factors, too, such as being allowed to choose and the ability/self-efficacy to reach desirable outcomes [2,[21][22][23][24][25][26] under conditions of their substitute habitat in the terrarium. In other words, "[...] an animal's behaviour is interpreted in terms of what it is intending to achieve, its active and positive engagement in goal-directed behaviours, the rewards it may experience when goals are achieved, and frustration when thwarted, and the wide range of pleasurable experiences that animal may have.…”

“…A fundamental problem in animal husbandry in general, as well as in terrarium husbandry in particular, is the lack of stimuli and the resulting lack of behavioural and cognitive opportunities, which has a negative impact on animal welfare [7,20,22,26,30,32]. Depending on the needs and abilities of an animal [33,34], stimuli can be offered that specifically create behavioural opportunities to promote behavioural preferences and thus well-being [20,22,30,32,35], which is referred to as environmental enrichment. It is a means to reach a higher degree of animal welfare as well as an essential element of good husbandry, cf., [3,7,10,36,37].…”