June 2016 TARONGA HUSBANDRY MANUAL: CHRISTMAS ISLAND CONSERVATION FLYING-FOX (PTEROPUS MELANOTUS SOCIETY NATALIS) AUSTRALIA Jane Hall, Taronga Conservation Society Australia 0 Only trained personnel with up-to-date rabies (Lyssavirus) vaccinations (titres to be checked every two years) should be allowed to work with flying-fox. Please refer to Department of Health guidelines for current health advice. (Guidelines for the Public Health Management of Rabies and Other Lyssavirus (including Australian Bat Lyssavirus) Exposures and Infections http://www.health.wa.gov.au/CircularsNew/circular.cfm?Circ_ID=13128). Cover Photo: Christmas Island flying fox covered in yellow pollen, Carol de Jong, Queensland Government Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Citation: Hall, J. (2016) “Husbandry Manual: Christmas Island Flying-fox (Pteropus melanotus natalis).” Christmas Island Nation Park, Department of the Environment and Energy, Christmas Island. 1 Contents 1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 5 2.0 Conservation Status .................................................................................................................... 6 3.0 Housing ....................................................................................................................................... 7 3.1 Containment ........................................................................................................................... 7 3.2 Shelter Requirements ............................................................................................................. 8 3.3 Substrate ................................................................................................................................. 8 3.4 Furnishings .............................................................................................................................. 8 3.5 Minimal Acceptable & Optimal Size of Enclosures ................................................................. 9 3.6 Capture & Handling Facilities ................................................................................................ 10 3.7 Temperature, Humidity, and Ventilation Requirements ...................................................... 10 3.8 Lighting .................................................................................................................................. 11 3.9 Utilities .................................................................................................................................. 11 3.10 Water Sources ....................................................................................................................... 11 4.0 Management ............................................................................................................................. 12 4.1 Personal Protective Equipment ............................................................................................ 12 4.2 Record Keeping ..................................................................................................................... 12 4.3 Individual Identification Methods ......................................................................................... 13 4.4 Hygiene and Cleaning............................................................................................................ 14 4.5 Feeding Schedule .................................................................................................................. 15 4.6 Capture, Handling & Restraint .............................................................................................. 15 4.7 Transporting Procedures....................................................................................................... 17 4.8 Pest Control ........................................................................................................................... 18 4.9 Sanitation .............................................................................................................................. 18 5.0 Behaviour & Social Organisation............................................................................................... 19 5.1 Optimal Social Grouping ....................................................................................................... 20 5.2 Age of Dispersal, Removal of Young ..................................................................................... 21 5.3 Introductions & Removals..................................................................................................... 21 5.4 Behavioural Ontogeny .......................................................................................................... 22 5.5 Parental Care ......................................................................................................................... 22 5.6 Behavioural Indicators of Social Stress or Social Changes .................................................... 22 5.7 Behavioural Signs of Illness ................................................................................................... 23 5.8 Enrichment ............................................................................................................................ 23 6.0 Reproduction ............................................................................................................................ 25 6.1 Age-specific Fecundity .......................................................................................................... 25 6.2 Breeding Seasons .................................................................................................................. 25 6.3 Mating System, Courtship, Copulation and Parturition ........................................................ 26 6.4 Gestation ............................................................................................................................... 27 6.5 Parturition ............................................................................................................................. 27 6.6 Infant development .............................................................................................................. 27 6.7 Neonatal/Infant Mortality .................................................................................................... 28 6.8 Contraception ....................................................................................................................... 28 6.9 Hand-rearing ......................................................................................................................... 29 2 7.0 Nutrition .................................................................................................................................... 33 7.1 Foraging Ecology ................................................................................................................... 33 7.2 Nutritional Requirements ..................................................................................................... 33 7.3 Working Diet Composition .................................................................................................... 34 7.4 Feeding sick animals ............................................................................................................. 35 8.0 Health ........................................................................................................................................ 37 8.1 Inoculations ........................................................................................................................... 37 8.2 Physical Examinations ........................................................................................................... 37 8.3 Neonatal Examinations ......................................................................................................... 38 8.4 Life Span ................................................................................................................................ 38 8.5 Parasites ................................................................................................................................ 39 Ectoparasites ................................................................................................................................. 39 Blood Parasites .............................................................................................................................. 39 Endoparasites ................................................................................................................................ 40 8.6 Major Disease Problems and Their Treatments ................................................................... 40 Dermatological diseases ............................................................................................................... 40 Gastrointestinal diseases .............................................................................................................. 41 Cardiovascular disease .................................................................................................................. 42 Respiratory disease ....................................................................................................................... 42 Urogenital diseases ....................................................................................................................... 43 Neurological diseases ...................................................................................................................