1
00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:11,320
So today we're in the Grimsby Institute's
 meerkat enclosure.

2
00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:15,600
I'm just going to be giving you
 a brief overview on meerkat

3
00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:18,280
health care and overall husbandry.

4
00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:23,040
So a little bit about meerkats
Meerkats are endemic to Africa.

5
00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:24,840
They live in big troupes. 

6
00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:28,640
So with loads of individuals
 all in kind of like a family unit,

7
00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:31,400
they are omnivorous. 

8
00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:35,880
So that means they'll eat things
 like bugs other mammals,

9
00:00:36,160 --> 00:00:38,960
fruits, veggies, that type of thing.

10
00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:43,960
So I meerkats are related to Mongoose.

11
00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:48,040
So that's why they do have that kind of
 like mongoosey kind of look to them.

12
00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:53,160
So very similar to Mongoose as well, 
they will face off against 

13
00:00:53,160 --> 00:00:57,120
venomous snakes in the wild,
 but they'll all attack them,

14
00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:00,920
kind of like in a pack,
 which is a really cool behavior.

15
00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:05,320
So what we do with our meerkats
 at Grimsby Institute,

16
00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:08,440
we feed them a diet of leafy greens

17
00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:12,200
like carrots, that type of thing, things
 that are really high in carotenoids.

18
00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:15,320
So which are precursors to vitamin A

19
00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:20,080
Because usually in captivity, meerkats
 can suffer from vitamin A deficiencies.

20
00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:25,840
Also, as you can see, we are outside,
 which is a must for keeping meerkats

21
00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:30,920
because they do like to have a little bit
 of a bask in the sun. Sometimes.

22
00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:32,440
when it's really sunny. 

23
00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:35,520
You can see them basking in
 kind of like this.

24
00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:38,720
Warming their little tummies up 

25
00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:41,120
Also, meerkats as you can
probably see behind me

26
00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:45,280
it's really important that we have levels
 within their enclosure.

27
00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:50,280
This is so they can exhibit natural
 behavior of periscoping,

28
00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:55,480
so looking out for any predators,
 that type of thing in the wild,

29
00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:56,960
they'll be doing this. 

30
00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:59,720
obviously, just in case
 there's any venomous snakes around

31
00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,920
any larger mammals
 or birds of prey, that type of thing.

32
00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:08,360
So coming from Africa,
 even though these guys are outside

33
00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:13,280
they're not outside all year round,
 they do have access to inside.

34
00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:17,840
Inside their enclosure
 is a very big heat bulb.

35
00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:20,080
This just prevents
 it from getting too cold

36
00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:23,600
obviously coming from places like Africa,

37
00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:26,960
where it's really, really warm.
In captivity as well

38
00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:30,040
All the things that we feed
 them are insects.

39
00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:33,440
So morio worms, locusts, crickets.

40
00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:36,400
Sometimes you also give them
 already pre killed

41
00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:41,320
scorpions, which is what
 they would predominantly eat in the wild.

42
00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:43,960
So I think it's about 20% of their diet

43
00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:47,240
is comprised of scorpions,
 which is really cool.

44
00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:49,200
So in the wild, what they do 

45
00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:50,000
It's been observed. 

46
00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:53,520
They nip the tails of, so they nip
 the stinger off very quickly off the scorpion

47
00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:55,280
and then they all
 just kind of pounce on it

48
00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:59,200
and attack it that way, it's a 
really cool behavior.

49
00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:04,800
So when we're feeding the meerkats,
 we don't just give them it in bowls.

50
00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:09,200
It's really important that we do
scatter feed them for two reasons.

51
00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:14,720
one, enrichment, so this encourages that
 foraging behavior within these animals.

52
00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:17,960
Also, another reason why we

53
00:03:18,920 --> 00:03:22,000
scatter feed these
 animals is because of fighting.

54
00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:25,880
So if they're all in one
bowl, fights can break out quite easily.

55
00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:29,800
However, if it's scatter fed
 they're spread out quite evenly,

56
00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:32,920
so they're less likely
 going to attack each other.

57
00:03:33,640 --> 00:03:36,800
So in the Grimsby Institute's enclosure,

58
00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:39,920
we have a double door mechanism.

59
00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:43,320
The enclosure also goes down
 a little bit deeper,

60
00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:46,960
so it has a round about two
 to three feet of substrate.

61
00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:48,160
This is so as well. 

62
00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:51,920
The animals kind of exhibit
 the natural behavior of digging.

63
00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:56,120
It's really important that we must
 allow them to exhibit this behavior.

64
00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:02,040
So meerkats are immune to certain
 types of snake venom as well

65
00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:04,880
that biologists have found out,
 which is something quite interesting.

66
00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:08,440
This is why they can attack and mob

67
00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:11,680
venomous snakes when they do
 come into contact with them.

68
00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:16,320
Also in captivity,
 the main disease is that these meerkats

69
00:04:16,840 --> 00:04:20,720
will typically face dietary disorders.

70
00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:22,200
So like a previous you spoke about, 

71
00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:25,880
so like vitamin A disorders,
 does that type of thing. Also meerkats

72
00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:30,440
that are kept inside can suffer
 from the same disease as reptiles.

73
00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:33,600
So kind of like a metabolic bone disease,
 that's because they're not

74
00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:36,880
given access to appropriate levels of UVB.

75
00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:41,040
So these guys dont need a UVB bulb
 because we have a very big UVB bulb

76
00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:43,240
in the sky, AKA the Sun

77
00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:48,960
other diseases, are usually tick
 or parasite borne diseases.

78
00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:54,000
So parasites and ticks in general,
 they should be given a screening

79
00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:59,280
at least twice a year just to make sure
 the worm counts are all OK.

80
00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:05,680
Also, diseases that ticks can carry
 as well can affect the meerkat

81
00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:09,640
So like things like Lyme disease
 or a variant of Lyme disease,

82
00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:15,200
can also affect these animals.
 So when health checking your meerkat

83
00:05:15,280 --> 00:05:16,200
it's really important 

84
00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:19,800
to remember that even though these guys
 are probably born in captivity,

85
00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:24,160
they are, in a sense still a wild animal,
 so they still do have wild behaviors.

86
00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:27,000
They will be a little bit
 more used to humans, so they will come up

87
00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:32,160
and touch you. But soon, as you go
 near them, usually though, they'll scarper and go away,

88
00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:37,640
Meerkats do have
 very long and very sharp teeth as well,

89
00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:42,440
so we need to take this into account
 before we do a health check on the animal.

90
00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:45,520
So if we are going to health
 check, obviously

91
00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:48,600
we need to make sure our surroundings
 are nice and safe.

92
00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:51,280
We need to make sure the animal's
 not really exhibiting

93
00:05:51,840 --> 00:05:55,880
any abnormal behaviors
 before we enter the enclosure.

94
00:05:57,120 --> 00:05:59,520
So signs that we would be looking for 

95
00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:02,320
of poor health in meerkats
 is not standing up.

96
00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:04,960
so not expressing
their natural behavior.

97
00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:10,240
Sluggish or lethargic movements.
If we have a look

98
00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:14,240
at the meerkat from a distance,
are the eyes crusty? that type of thing.

99
00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:17,440
If we are noticing these poor
 signs of health,

100
00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:20,560
then what's important to do
 is get the appropriate equipment.

101
00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:22,720
So in this case,
 it could be like gauntlet gloves

102
00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:26,800
anything like that, restrain the meerkat
 and then get somebody else

103
00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:30,040
to do the health check with you
 and follow the health check steps.

104
00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:32,840
So I started from the head,
and working your way

105
00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:34,280
all the way down to the body, 

106
00:06:34,280 --> 00:06:37,000
so checking the eyes, are they nice
 and clear and bright?

107
00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:38,800
Or are they quite gunky? 

108
00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:41,920
Exactly the same
 with the ears and the nose and the mouth

109
00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:44,720
It's quite good to do a capillary 

110
00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:48,560
refill time with these guys,
 which can detect things like anemia.

111
00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:52,080
So here's where we put our finger
 on the gum for a little bit

112
00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:54,960
of pressure, release
 and then we time how long

113
00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:57,960
the gum takes back to that normal color.

114
00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:02,120
So moving from there,
 then we'll check the rest of the body.

115
00:07:02,280 --> 00:07:03,920
So sometimes it could be difficult 

116
00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:07,320
to try to detect small lumps and bumps
 if you are wearing gauntlets.

117
00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:10,480
So if somebody else
 wants to restrain the animal,

118
00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:13,520
while you take your gauntlets off 
 and health check down

119
00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:17,600
That can be done. It is a mammal,
 so sometimes they are susceptible

120
00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:21,200
to things like mammary tumors,
 that type of thing.

121
00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:25,040
If not, let's pop
 the animal back and away we go.

122
00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:29,200
So the lifespan of a meerkat
 is typically eight years in the wild.

123
00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:33,120
However, in captivity on average,
 it's typically anywhere

124
00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:34,960
from about twelve to 14. 

125
00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:37,480
But if you look after the animals
 really, really well,

126
00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:41,000
let them have that
 as close of a natural diet

127
00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:44,200
as they possibly can and let them exhibit
 the natural behaviors.

128
00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:49,280
Then sometimes you can get around
 about 15 to 20 years out of the animal.

129
00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:51,240
So that was it for today. 

130
00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:56,560
So thank you very much for joining us and
 the Grimsby Institute's meerkat enclosure.

131
00:07:57,120 --> 00:07:58,640
I hope you've learned some stuff.