COMPARISON OF DAYTIME USE BETWEEN PLATFORM TYPES, MATERIALS, CEILINGSAND EXPERIENCES IN JUVENILE BLUE FOXES (ALOPEX-LAGOPUS)

The current European recommendations require that each weaned fox shal l be provided with a resting platform in its cage. In the present stud y, daytime platform use between two platform types (wooden side-U (n=5 8) vs, wooden corner flat (n=38)), materials (wood (n=112) vs. net (n= 38)), ceilings (23 cm (n=112) vs. 30 cm (n=36)) and pre-weaning platfo rm experiences (experience (n=58) vs. no-experience (n=54)) were compa red in juvenile blue foxes (Alopex lagopus) (total number of animals, n=264). The statistical analyses were based on the mixed-model approac h to the repeated measurements. The type comparison indicated that pla tform type significantly affected the amount of its use, The wooden si de-U was highly preferred by the test animals but use of the wooden co rner flat was minimal. Net proved to be a suitable platform material b ecause use of net platforms was not substantially lower than that of t he corresponding wooden ones and furthermore, foxes' faeces do not acc umulate on them. In both material groups platform use declined similar ly from the beginning of August until mid-November. The low ceiling wa s slightly preferred by females over the high ceiling even after the e ffect of weight on platform use had been eliminated. In males no such preference was observed. Pre-weaning platform experience increased pos t-weaning platform use significantly in the wooden corner flat group b ut not unambiguously in the wooden side-U group, The present results s upport the conclusion that the recent recommendations of European Conv ention should be subjected to reconsideration in order to provide more specific guidelines.