[13:32, 12/05/2022] Daniel Kriel: Any good advice on how to get white rhino's on boma to start eating/improve appetite? [13:41, 12/05/2022] Douw Grobler: Neil. Sometimes they are so stubborn to take food/grass in the bomas, one does not have any other option but to release them. We tried several tricks in the bomas in Kruger - burning grass helped in one or two stubborn cases; mixing fresh cut veld grass with the tef/lucerne helped in others. Spraying molasses on the grass helped in others. [13:42, 12/05/2022] Xander de Kock: How many days of not eating, before considering release? [13:47, 12/05/2022] Douw Grobler: 10 days. We did pushed a few to 12 days. Then load them and as you release them, they start feeding..... [15:56, 12/05/2022] Charles van Niekerk: Try best quality fine grass hay (teff) you can find. Have had some take lucerne silage as a preference. Feed small amounts often to keep it fresh. Shot of B vitamins if you can get at them with a pole syringe. If all else fails, rather move sooner than later. I would consider 10 days as max. [16:05, 12/05/2022] Ockert Botha: Would diazepam be an option? In anorexic cats, a low dose of diazepam always worked well? [16:06, 12/05/2022] Will Fowlds: I've tried midazolam drop out darts and it worked once ! [16:06, 12/05/2022] Albertus Coetzee: We also used midazolam with good success [17:41, 12/05/2022] Louis Greeff: We put molasses in water and on feed. 90 percent of time it works. Oom Coena Smit believed in Boxer tobacco. He used to put it on top of the lucerne or grass in a few places in the boma. He sometimes also used Dagga, and it worked. I am using Valium 30 mg once a day, it usually also stimulates appetite. The big thing is try everything and if they don’t eat, release on day 10. In 20 years, I have had an old cow and a crazy bull that did not want to eat at all. You do get them - just be brave enough to make the call early enough to release them.
