General Rehabilitation Abstracts

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Raising Mice for Food:

You CAN Do It!

​
Kathy Uhler

​Pocono Wildlife Rehab and Ed Center

Full Abstract

As wildlife rehabilitators, we know that some supplies are not always easy or cheap, but are essential to the operation of our facilities. Predator foods are no exception. For decades, Pocono Wildlife Rehab Center had rodents donated by Charles River Laboratories. Free rodents, pretty much all we could use, were ours for the picking up, bagging, and freezing. Suddenly, the supply stopped. The lab decided to sell their surplus rodents to a company from which we would then have to purchase. Our budget would not be able to support this, and we decided to raise our own. This presentation is the story of how we planned, procured equipment, and began breeding our mice. Raising rodents does require time, but the rewards are a plentiful supply of ethically raised, healthy, nutritious, and fresh food, and even live rodents for live prey training at a reasonable cost.

​Attitudes to

Pain Assessment & Management

in Wildlife Rehabilitation


Karen McKenzie , CWR

Michelle Willette,
  
DVM, MPH, DACVPM

Fellow Mortals Wildlife Hospital
​

Full Abstract

Pain assessment and management is a growing field in veterinary medicine. In the veterinary field, many papers have been published which survey the attitudes of veterinary professionals to pain assessment and pain management. From July 7 to October 15, 2020, a questionnaire was distributed to the wildlife rehabilitation community to survey their attitudes to pain assessment and management in wildlife rehabilitation. This session presents and discusses the data collected.

Crickets, Black Soldier Fly Larvae,

And Hornworms .... Oh My!

A review of the nutritional value of
common insects for wildlife


​
Kim Boykin, DVM, MS

Full Abstract

Providing an appropriate diet for captive wildlife can be challenging, especially for insectivores. The insects that are typically sold commercially have a natural inverse calcium to phosphorus ratio, as well as some other potential deficiencies. Capturing and using wild-caught insects can have some advantages; however, it is important to confirm whether such insects are toxic. This presentation provides attendees with a review of the nutritional contents of common commercially available insects, including house crickets (Acheta domesticus), black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens), hornworms (Manduca sexta), and mealworms (Tenebrio molitor). Additionally, insight into how to improve the nutritional value of these food items for your wildlife patients is discussed.