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Rhino Resource Center: Rhino Forums > Rhino Species > Indian Rhino > Diets and Mineral Block

Posted by: bigrobict Sep 26 2008, 02:56 AM

I have just taken over the rhino routine at our park and was wondering what do you all feed your rhinos. Also do they need a salt/mineral block? I have found a few things online that say in the wild they love salt licks so I was wondering if they need it. Thanks Robert

Posted by: Willem Oct 6 2008, 10:48 PM

I believe salt licks are of great importance and pretty crucial for good rhino health. I'm not an expert though. You might want to consult the husbandry manual: http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/index.php?s=1&act=refs&CODE=ref_detail&id=1165235881 At what park have you just started, if I may ask?

Posted by: bigrobict2 Dec 15 2008, 05:09 AM

I am at Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Goddard Kansas. Right now we have 3.0 Indian and 1.0 Black.

Posted by: CassandraS Dec 16 2008, 09:14 PM

For our black rhinos, we use a mineral pellet that we get in bags from the local feed store. It is a lot easier to add to their pellets daily than trying to protect a block from being destroyed.

Posted by: cydneyp Mar 4 2009, 07:33 PM

bigrobict, At Racine, we give our black rhinos 50 lb salt blocks, not mineral blocks. The reason that we do not use mineral blocks is because of the traces of iron and copper that could contribute negatively to the animals' over all health. At one point we did use mineral powder (at the time we didn't have concerns with possible toxic levels of copper and iron), and put it directly in with the grain. I was concerned that the animals were being forced to consume the minerals every time it was offered. Animals know when they need salt, so we then offered the powder apart from the regular pellet diet. Always having a salt block available for the animals seems to the best way for us to manage them. The rhinos have free choice to use or not use the block as their body needs it. cydneyp