Comportamento de calopsitas (Nymphicus hollandicus) mantidas em cativeiro sob duas temperaturas e enriquecimento ambiental

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of environmental enrichment and elevated temperature on the behavior of cockatiels (Nymphicus hollandicus) kept in captivity . Sixteen cockatiels were housed individually in cages and fed commercial diets for parrots and seed mix, with water provided ad libitum. Under these conditions , two experiments were conducted . In the first experiment , we assessed the effect of temperature on the behavior of birds . The experimental period of eight days , divided into two steps of four days each. In the first step , the birds were kept at 25 ° C during the day and night , and in the following step at 35 ° C during the day ( 6:00 to 18:00 ) and 25 ° C at night (18:00 06:00 ) . The relative humidity was 70 % . The behavior of the birds was assessed by filming from 6:00 to 18:00 with camcorder . To be subjected to elevated temperatures ( step 2 ) , were not observed ( P > 0.05 ) changes in undesirable activities , however, the birds showed ( P < 0.05 ) higher feed intake , more time spent on the perch and smaller in ground and stayed asleep longer , and occurrences of birds flapping or biting the pot supply. In the second experiment , the animals were divided into two groups , control and enriched with eight birds each , all placed in a climatic chamber at temperature of 35 ° C from 06:00 to 18:00 h and 25 ° C from 18:00 to 06:00 , relative humidity of 70 % . The experimental period was 12 days , divided into three steps every four days - before, during and after the use of enrichment. Environmental enrichment was made with cabbage stalks and behavior assessed by filming . There were no behavioral differences ( P > 0.15) between control and enriched . During the enrichment step , all birds (control and enriched ) showed (P < 0.01) increase of body surface temperature which remained elevated after removal of enrichment. It follows that increasing the temperature from 25 to 35 ° C decreases the movement of the birds , but does not increase activities classified as undesirable . The use of cabbage stalks as environmental enrichment does not alter the behavior of birds kept in captivity at high temperature.