Zoo database

Camel & Dromedary

Camelus bactrianus & Camelus dromedarius

Natural diet Camel & Dromedary

Grasses
Herbs
Leaves

Camels are herbivorous intermediates between grazer and browsers. Similar to cows, camels are ruminants, meaning they regurgitate the food back up from their stomach to chew it again. They can survive without food or water for long periods as they often travel through arid climates.

Feeding advice Camel & Dromedary

Feed quantity per day

1.5-2.5% of body weight

Sample percentage calculation

If an animal weighs 500 kg and eats 2% of its body weight, it will get

500 x 0.02 = 10 kg feed in total per day

Feed composition

10% Concentrates
60% Grass, lucerne and other roughages
30% Browse

Proportions (fresh product)

0.1 x 10 kg = 1000 g concentrates
0.6 x 10 kg = 6000 g grass, lucerne and other roughages
0.3 x 10 kg = 3000 g browse

Diet suggestions

In moderation

Lucerne hay

Not recommended

Fruits

Additional advice

Divide the “Feed quantity per day” over at least two feeding moments per day.
Supplement adequate vitamin E by feeding sufficient concentrates.
Supplement the diet with ad libitum roughages and/or browse.
The browse used in the diet can be a mixture between dried and fresh browse (read more about browsers and grazers).
Supplement the dromedary diet with a bit more browse compared to the camel.
Feeding fruits might lead to abnormal fermentation in the hindgut because of high sugar levels (read more about nutritional values of (wild) fruits and vegetables).
Stimulate foraging behaviour by hiding, stacking or hanging the feed (read more about feed enrichment and foraging behaviour).

Common diseases

An unbalanced diet may result in one of these more commonly occurring diseases/conditions:

Bloat
Metabolic bone disease
Dental disease
Nutritional muscular dystrophy (NMD)

Feed quantity per day

Sample percentage calculation

Feed composition

Proportions (fresh product)

KNZ Mineral-lick Wildlife

Birch leaves - 10-20 kg bag

Raspberry leaves - 10-20 kg bag

Camel Diet

Camala chunks (bactrian camel, lama, alpaca)

Mark Roordink

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