Objective: To explore appropriate nutritional intervention methods to reduce the adverse effects of stress response caused by long-distance transportation on experimental tree shrew.
Methods: In the first part of the experiment, according to the wild diet of tree shrew, the healthy adult tree shrew currently raised in this research group was fed with excess fresh economical fruits and vegetables, and the changes in body weight, activity status and remaining food intake of each group were recorded, and the experimental conditions were explored. In the second part of the experiment, tree shrews stressed by long-distance transportation were randomly divided into 3 groups, and they were given the above-mentioned nutritional scheme, simple conventional feed, and pure sufficient amount of diet respectively. Fruit and vegetable feeding, and whether the nutritional intervention method is effective is judged by the survival rate, survival status and body weight change.
Results: Tree shrew preferred to eat apples, pears and other fruits with higher sugar content, and mealworm dried had statistically significant changes in tree shrew body weight (P=0.019); the food intake of an adult male tree shrew per day was about 60g of Fuji apples + 10g of dried mealworms + 15g of standard feed; nutritional intervention methods can effectively reduce the mortality of tree shrew under transport stress (P = 0.020).
Conclusion: The nutritional intervention program can reduce the mortality of tree shrew during the stress period of long-distance transportation, and is beneficial to the recovery of the tree shrew's mental state.