Bubbles and Behavior: The Effect of Enrichment on Dogs

Enrichment is popular for most mammals, whether we’re considering dogs in pet homes or dolphins in a zoo, partly because we recognize how intelligent these animals are. Reptiles have historically been neglected in research since they are not obviously intelligent, and what literature exists is conflicting. In this week’s episode Jade digs into one of her special interests, the intelligence of reptiles and the effect of enrichment on them by reviewing a few studies.

Kis, A., Huber, L., Wilkinson, A. 2015. Social learning by imitation in a reptile (Pogona vitticeps). Animal Cognition. 18: 325-331.

Borgmans, G., Palme, R., Sannen, A., Vervaecke, H., Damme, R.V. 2018. The effect of environmental provisioning on stress levels in captive green anole (Anolis carolinensis). Anim Welfare. 27: 35-46.

Case, C.B., Lewbart, G.A., Doerr, P.D. 2005. The physiological and behavioral impact of and preference for and enriched environment in the eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina). Applied Animal Behavior Science. 92: 353-365. 

Bashaw, M.J., Gibson, M.D., Schowe, D.M., Kucher, A.S. 2016. Does enrichment improve reptile welfare? Leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius) respond to five types of enrichment. Applied Animal Behavior Sci. 184: 150-160.