HO Reuter, [14 Nov 2022 at 20:35:32]: Hi everyone! What would cause (orphan) rhinos to ingest mud? Could stomach ulcers or gut irritation cause them to eat mud in their mud baths, to the extent that their faeces is 90% black mud. A 5 months old heifer has good habitus, appetite for milk, but no solids yet and condition is good, but her faeces almost only black turf soil mud. In the meantime, her mud bath was taken away. Any other advice how to prevent them ingesting mud or soil? Bart Gazendam, [14 Nov 2022 at 20:52:48]: Hi HO, I have seen it in foals (eating sand in paddock) that either had something else wrong, ulcers, deficiency etc or due to complete boredom/stress/stereotype kind of behaviour where we couldn’t find anything wrong with them (after blood analyses, gastroscopy etc.). So perhaps if you can run blood might be worth it 🤷🏻♂️ Albertus Coetzee, [14 Nov 2022 at 21:11:17]: Hi HO, some of them seem to be more inclined than others. I am of the opinion that it is pica indicating some shortage in diet. In cases I had to deal with it seemed to be associated with nutrient/mineral/roughage/emotional problems. When put on a well formulated milk formula with roughage and some grazing with other orphans it seemed to stabilise. Using a creep feed as in other species one can rectify nutritional deficiencies. One specific black rhino was such a problem that her whole boma was covered with shade cloth to prevent mud/ sand ingestion. She also needed a couple of courses with oral psyllium mixed with milk. We took regular radiographs, but the mud/ sand persisted until we could not take radiographs anymore because of her size. She stopped - soon after being allowed in a larger area to browse on her own.
