Feeding a complete diet to primates using a variety of food ingredients

Just as with our personal eating habits, we want to offer our captive primates a diet that consists of varied ingredients.  This type of diet may not only benefit the nutritional status of the animal, but certainly can provide enrichment in terms of novelty and diversity in their daily routines.  However, there are important considerations when offering multiple food items to these animals.

First, a “cafeteria-style” feeding program is never a good idea. Animals rarely choose the best food item for them, and it is very difficult to balance numerous food items for vitamins and minerals without some careful planning.  Also, this type of feeding program often results in obesity and unwillingness to consume the more healthful food items, as the animal has filled itself up on its preferred food items (often high in sugar and/or fat). 

Second, the amount of water that a food item contains must be considered when designing feeding programs.  If you want to utilize multiple food items in a complete diet, then you need compare the nutrient composition of food items In order to do so, you must consider them on a “Dry Matter Basis” which excludes the water fraction of the food. That way, you can compare foods that vary dramatically in their water content. For example, a typical complete primate biscuit (~10% water) might contain 0.27% sodium when examined with water (“As Fed”), and 0.3% sodium on a Dry Matter Basis.  Carrots (~88% water) contain 0.07% sodium As Fed, but on a Dry Matter Basis contain 0.59% sodium. On a Dry Matter Basis, the carrots contribute more sodium to the primate diet than do the complete biscuits! So, when you are designing a feeding program for your primates, consider what each food item provides on a Dry Matter Basis in order to make fair and accurate comparisons.

Finally, not all nutrients are equal.  Finding the most available source can make all the difference in meeting the nutritional needs of your animals. For example, while many vegetables contain reasonable amounts of calcium, many also contain a compound called oxalic acid that binds calcium and makes it much less available for the animal to use for normal body functions. Oxalic acid is found in relatively high concentrations in broccoli, spinach, romaine, and carrots. In contrast, the sources of calcium that are used in complete primate biscuits are not bound by oxalic acid, and thus are much more available than in many veggie sources. 

It is possible to design feeding programs for primates that include a variety of food items and meet all of the known nutrient requirements of those animals, without contributing to obesity and diseases associated with improper nutrition.  Take a look at our tables of selected nutrient information to see how the diet you are using adds up.  If you have further questions about feeding your primate the best diet possible, please contact Mazuri at 1-800-227-8941.

Primate Nutrient Recommendations - Micro

Primate Nutrient Recommendations - Gross