Effect of dietary enrichment with wild food items on the proximal composition of muscle and fat of Caiman latirostris in captivity

SANTIAGO A. FLORES-MARISCAL; M. CARLA LÁBAQUE; MELINA S. SIMONCINI; CARLOS I. PIÑA.; PAMELA ML LEIVA

CHETUMAL

Congreso; XXV Working Meeting CSG-UICN; 2022

CSG

Animals’ diets, such a crocodilian, are reflected in their tissue’s chemicalcomposition. Therefore, the incorporation of items belonging to the wild diet intothe farm diet would be evidenced in the tissues of individuals, where each itemcould induce a change as a source of nutrients. Our objective was to evaluate theeffect of enrichment diet with wild food items of Caiman latirostris on the proximalcomposition (ash, moisture, protein, and total lipids) of caiman muscle and fat. Fourdietary treatments were offered: diet with insects (DI), with snails (DM), and with redmeat (DCR) and captivity diet (control, DC); the diets were offered ad libitum for 30 days.The proximal composition of the diets, muscle and fat of caimans under study wereanalyzed. Our work showed increases in total protein concentrations in the DCR and DIdiets, and an increase in total lipids in the DCR diet, with respect to the DC. The PCA ofmuscle tissue showed that the data from caiman fed the DI diet were associated withchanges in lipids and ash, and those fed the DCR diet were associated with few changesin all parameters of proximal composition. In the fat, it was evidenced that DI and DCRreduced moisture content, while DI reduced protein content with respect to DC. Dataindicate that DI and DCR diets are recommended for the feeding of C. latirostris incaptivity, since their incorporation would be a source of proteins and lipids that wouldfavor the correct development of caimans.