WHAT IS ENRICHMENT?
Kinkatopia loves enrichment and so do kinkajous! Behavioral enrichment (aka environmental enrichment) is an animal husbandry principle that seeks to enhance the quality of captive animal care by identifying and providing the environmental stimuli necessary for optimal psychological and physiological well-being. Enrichment can come in many forms: activities, toys, food, smell, interactions, furniture, etc. It is paramount to keeping a healthy animal in both body and mind.
How Does Kinkatopia Execute Enrichment?
Enrichment activities are consistently circulated to avoid boredom. These are intelligent animals who need to be constantly stimulated. Activities include foraging toys and puzzles. Scent enrichment can be carried out by laundry, allowing the kinkajous to smell one another on used blankets and toys, and spraying fragrances in enclosures. Kinkajous rely heavily on scent so this enrichment can really engage their attention. As previously mentioned, we regularly change furniture in the enclosures. We also add new items or circulate to keep their environments new and exciting.
Food is a popular form of enrichment; especially in the form of foraging. Findings show that kinkajous become bored with the same meal items offered time and time again and in the same way (most commonly offered in a bowl). The more variety, the more adventurous their pallets are which allows for maximum nutrition and interest in meals (not limited to just the basic need for food). In the wild, kinkajous spend their awake time searching and foraging for food. Kinkatopia supports this natural instinct by feeding kinkajous in activities that promote the behavior.
Kinkatopia has the opportunity to utilize both kinkajous interacting with other kinkajous and humans as a large form of enrichment, contingent on safety and socialization. Each animal receives daily human interaction specific to their needs and boundaries. We also prefer to pair animals up for companionship. Kinkatopia strives for consistent stimulation to keep these intelligent animals enriched and satisfied.
We worked for 1.5 years with an exotic animal trainer and enrichment specialist to polish our program. We started this program in February 2019, and it will be an ongoing endeavor. This program is the first of its kind, and we plan to document our progress. It is incredible to see their minds work as they master basic commands that also make everyday life easier — like coming when called, targeting (helps with shifting), stationing (staying on point, helps with weighing and commanding control), and kenneling. At Kinkatopia, the kinkajous respond very well to this level of activity and pick up on it quickly!
Suggested Foraging Activities:
Use AmazonSmile, and select Kinkatopia as your chosen charity!
Many of the links on this page are for Amazon. By checking out with AmazonSmile, a percentage of your purchase will be donated to Kinkatopia. Load up your cart and then sign into AmazonSmile with all your normal log-in info and BAM! It’s a win-win for all!
Bonka Bird Toys is for way more than birds! There are all sorts of awesome, colorful, and entertaining toys for your kinkajous, birds, and small mammals. They also have incredible WEEKLY SPECIALS!
PLEASE SCROLL TOWARD BOTTOM OF PAGE FOR MORE INFO ON BONKA BIRD TOYS. WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
*Please be vigilant avoiding items with small pieces your animal could have a choking hazard with. It is our responsibility to assure our animals as safe. With that being said, don’t be afraid to reach out to me or Bonka with any questions or concerns.
*Filled with Peanut butter, jelly, cookie butter, honey, fruit preserves, marshmallow fluff.
Watch Lola kinkajou of Carolina Tiger Rescue pull the blocks apart for treats - click here for Vimeo video.
PVC Cap Vine
Watch Lola and Albert kinkajous of Carolina Tiger Rescue master this item - click here to watch Vimeo video. You’ll need to watch video to see how to construct toy. Note that the Amazon link is to purchase individual caps.
Busy Boards
There is no link for these! Use your creativity to secure kinka-safe items to a board. This will keep them busy for hours!
Love these ideas but don’t have the time to purchase them? Or figure them out? Here is a solution: Kinkatopia’s Customized Enrichment Boxes (Click the link for more info!)
*Foraging activities can also be as inexpensive as using paper towel rolls, Tupperware, empty water bottles, etc. Using the same concepts and applying to more cost-effective items can have the same effect.
Suggested Furnishings for Enclosures:
Hide boxes
I typically make mine out of plastic bins, I also see them made from wood.
OTHER IDEAS: Ball pit, perches, sliding board, cat trees, jungle gym, boxes, fake trees, milk crates, toy baskets, hammocks, etc.
*Links are just suggestions to show exactly what is being described.
kinkatopia recommends bonka bird toys
bonka bird toys has been gracious to supply enrichment items and toys for our kinkajous, monkey, and flying squirrel. I have been purchasing from bonka since 2016, but as soon as they heard about kinkatopia, they didn’t hesitate to help us! Their generosity is amazing and so appreciated.
they offer quality items for great prices … and! They have amazing weekly specials. I signed up for their weekly email which is super helpful to keep me up to date on sales.
here at kinkatopia, we alternate a range of colorful, hanging toys throughout all the cages. some are awesome for one-time destruction, which is awesome sensory enrichment. we use everything from swings to ladders for the monkey. seriously, this place is amazing. check them out!
WARNING FOR ALL ENRICHMENT ITEMS AND FURNISHINGS: I wanted to post a generalized warning regarding small pieces on toys that could be potential choking hazards ... or something that could risk your kinkajou getting tangled in.
In selecting toys and furnishings for their enclosures, it’s important to try to play the tape through regarding the items. Could they present danger? Do they have loose pieces? Could they tangle and cut off circulation?
I lean on bulkier items and always check toys to make sure parts are secure. That being said, it’s not a perfect system. Sometimes accidents happen. But we want to do everything in our power to make sure they don’t.
