Cage design for pair-housed macaques (photos 45-49)

 

 

 

Photos 45 & 46: Compatible companions need social space for "social adjustments" [USDA, 1999] and the option of visual seclusion to buffer potential social tension arising from the extreme constraints of permanent cage confinement [cf. NRC, 1998].
At a minimum, pair-housed animals should be allocated at least twice the cage space that is legally required for single- housing [Reinhardt & Reinhardt, 2000a; cf. USDA, 1991].
Double cages can be created by removing the dividing panels of twin modules (e.g., photos 43 & 44), or by interconnecting two adjacent cages with a short tunnel (photos 45 & 46; cf. Bellinger et al., 1992; Baskerville, 1999).


 
Photo 47*: A cage divider with a passage hole close to the back (not front!) wall diminishes the risk of squabbles over food, because the two animals can retrieve food at the front of the cage without seeing – and possibly begrudging – one another. The privacy panel also reduces the subordinate partner's needs for space by making it possible to quickly get out of the dominant's sight. This avoids antagonism while fostering affili- ation [Reinhardt & Reinhardt, 1991; cf. Maninger et al., 1998; Westergaard et al., 1999].


 

 

 
Photos 48 & 49: Standard double cage with squeeze back, privacy panel, two feeders and two perches for pair-housed macaques [Reinhardt et al., 1991a].
Double cages are arranged horizontally - rather than vertically - to avoid that partners compete over access to the preferred vertical dimension [Reinhardt, 1992b; O'Neill-Wagner, 1994; Watson & Shively, 1996], i.e., upper section of the cage [own unpublished observations; cf. Salzen, 1989].


  Effect of pair-housing and implications on husbandry and research (photos 50-62)

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