# Bark chippings for outdoor enclosures/Encrichment for exotic mammals.



## suity (Aug 4, 2009)

Hey again folks. The kinkajou enclosure is 99% finished now, just have one little question. I'd like to layer the outside bit with bark chippings similar to what you'd find at a children's play park. The ground can get quite muddy and this substrate will give them something to dig around in without them getting too messy even when it's wet.

I've seen some pictures of people using this in their coati or raccoon enclosure and was wondering what brand is safe to use.

We have a big bag of the stuff, says it's from conifer trees and is designed for laying in flower beds. Would this be okay? It doesn't mention any pesticides or fertilizers or anything.

And also, we have loads of great ideas for enrichment for the kinks, but I'd love to hear what you guys with raccoons, coatis or kinkajous use for enrichment inside the enclosure. Things we are thinking of atm are lots of logs, branches, ropes and ledges of different textures and sizes, tire swings, parrot toys, large logs with holes drilled to put insects, fruit and honey inside. We want to keep them healthy physically, mentally and emotionally so if anyone has any good enrichment ideas I'd love to hear them.

Thanks everyone.


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## stubeanz (Mar 28, 2007)

ive found with bark chip that when its quite deep and it gets wet for whatever reason then it tends to rot on the bottom layer and grow fungi within a day or two and so i dont use it in winter but will occasionaly use it during summer.
for enrichment a good idea i use with lots of mammals is to get a big cardboard box and fill it with shredded paper then put treats such as bits of fruit veg or insects inside then put some holes in the sides. then put it in the enlosure and watch the mayhem lol obviously this would be quick enrichment and not long term like logs with holes in etc but it keeps then busy for a good hour.
stu


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## africa (Sep 12, 2008)

I use forest floor chips from our local sawmill,it smells divine,all our enclosures bar the skunks have covered roofs so that stops it getting so wet but it is changed regularly anyway,we have it delivered by the lorryload :gasp: in the skunk pen which is not covered apart from the sleeping area we rake it over to keep it fresh and again it is changed regularly.:2thumb:

I also use the shredded paper idea and our kinks have got a large log with deep holes drilled in fo honey. In summer when they tend to use the outdoor part more we put their fruit all over the place,in winter it is in the indoor part. Our kink enclosure opens into the house for supervised play, they love to investigate everything-particularly the fruit bowl in the kitchen where they tend to take one bite of everything given the chance!

We get fire hose from the local fire station to make ladders,swings etc from, it washes down really easily and is phenomenally strong.

Another idea is to hang a log vertically with holes drilled in it and then pop a drainpipe which is sliced at intervals over the top so they have to move the drainpipe 'slices' up and down to get to the holes- Jen at Gentleshaw(Trigger) gave me this idea for the kinks.

We have hanging tyres in the raccoon enclosure and a totem pole made from a treetrunk. They also have a variety of ladders,shelves an hammocks to play in and some macaw toys hanging down which they absolutely adore and a tree tunk on the floor which they dig at.

The raccoons also have a large container of water with bath toys in and other things to 'wash'! I wouldnt use this for the kinks tho!


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## suity (Aug 4, 2009)

Haha that sounds like a brilliant (but slightly messy!) idea. That will be lots of fun for them, I'll definitely try that. Another thing I was thinking of for the really warm evenings was freezing a whole pile of fruit in a bucket of water and letting them chew it out. Also, and I don't know if this is normal for kinks or not, but apparently these two have worked out how to easily unscrew the top of a plastic squeezey honey bottle. The previous owner gives them a bottle once a week and they unscrew the top and use their long tongue to get all the honey out, sounds fun!

Can they have acacia gum? That's something I've never seen mentioned in all the research I've done. I don't see why they couldn't have it and it should help recreate a part of their tree sap diet in the wild. Also, what are the best pollen based products? And can they be ordered online?

Does anyone know what flowers you can find in this country that I can grow in the garden and give them from time to time?

They're currently being fed a combination of many different fruits, the odd insect and a dry dog food. I'd like to try and find them as many different things I can to be able to give them something new every now and again and keep them happy.

Hmmm, about that bark you use. Can it be conifer based and the same type you use in flower beds?

Thanks so much for your help.


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## africa (Sep 12, 2008)

suity said:


> Haha that sounds like a brilliant (but slightly messy!) idea. That will be lots of fun for them, I'll definitely try that. Another thing I was thinking of for the really warm evenings was freezing a whole pile of fruit in a bucket of water and letting them chew it out. Also, and I don't know if this is normal for kinks or not, but apparently these two have worked out how to easily unscrew the top of a plastic squeezey honey bottle. The previous owner gives them a bottle once a week and they unscrew the top and use their long tongue to get all the honey out, sounds fun!
> 
> Can they have acacia gum? That's something I've never seen mentioned in all the research I've done. I don't see why they couldn't have it and it should help recreate a part of their tree sap diet in the wild. Also, what are the best pollen based products? And can they be ordered online?
> 
> ...


Ours is conifer based,we use it on the garden too, we have also used Coco shell which smells nice but disintigrates quickly.
Our kinks love nasturtiums and they are really easy to grow you can either plonk some seeds in the garden or in a large pot, they eat the leaves and the flowers. Haven't given mine pollen or acacia gum bit you can get hold of both. Ours will eat primate pellets and monkey biscuits. Bananas,mango,papaya,passion fruit and water melon are their favourites.They like honey sandwiches for a treat and marshmallows very occasionally.


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## suity (Aug 4, 2009)

Ahh Africa, I was hoping you'd reply ! I have Oreo on facebook and saw his great new enclosure, it looks awesome! I will get some pics of the kink enclosure when it's all finished, which will hopefully be tomorrow.

That's a great idea with the fire hose and also the tree trunk with the drainpipe.

The outside of the enclosure is half covered with corrugated perspex. This will give them a large, dry, sheltered area but I didn't want to cover the whole thing as obviously they would get rain in their home environment too.

Thanks so much for replying. Would it be cheeky to ask you to maybe send me some pics of your kink enclosure and some of the stuff you have inside it? My email is [email protected] . Any other info you could give me would be brilliant also. I've researched these for years and talked to many keepers but everyone has slightly different ideas for them, I've never talked to you about them so maybe you could give me some last minute pointers and ideas of what to expect .


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## africa (Sep 12, 2008)

suity said:


> Ahh Africa, I was hoping you'd reply ! I have Oreo on facebook and saw his great new enclosure, it looks awesome! I will get some pics of the kink enclosure when it's all finished, which will hopefully be tomorrow.
> 
> That's a great idea with the fire hose and also the tree trunk with the drainpipe.
> 
> ...


Have sent you photos via Oreo's Facebook and added you to mine and Mimi's:2thumb: loads of photos on mine of the kinks if you look back through my albums. Our kinks are Lilah,Eva and Baloo and theres some of Lola who came to stay for a while.:2thumb:


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## suity (Aug 4, 2009)

Thank you so much ! All your creatures are incredible! I'll send you a message on facebook tonight if you don't mind, I have a couple of questions you could maybe help me with when you get some time !

Thanks!


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## Cranwelli (Mar 24, 2009)

I know it's off topic but I must say I'm highly jealous of Africa's animals.


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## africa (Sep 12, 2008)

Cranwelli said:


> I know it's off topic but I must say I'm highly jealous of Africa's animals.


:blush::blush:


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## suity (Aug 4, 2009)

Africa's animals are AMAZING ! She's been a great help for me getting ready for the kinks  thank you Sallie!

Here's some pictures of the enclosure. Still some branches, ropes, shelves and enrichment tools to be added!



















The kinks arrived on Wednesday, they are AMAZING ! There's some pics in the exotic mammals picture section 

P.s sorry about the mess of the garden!


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## africa (Sep 12, 2008)

suity said:


> Africa's animals are AMAZING ! She's been a great help for me getting ready for the kinks  thank you Sallie!
> 
> Here's some pictures of the enclosure. Still some branches, ropes, shelves and enrichment tools to be added!
> 
> ...


Fab, bet they love it!


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