Zoo database

Bennett's wallaby

Macropus rufogriseus

Natural diet Bennett's wallaby

Grasses
Herbs
Leaves

Bennett's wallabies are herbivorous intermediates between grazers and browsers. They are considered bulk-feeders, meaning that they require a mouthful of food to properly chew and digest it.

Feeding advice Bennett's wallaby

Feed quantity per day

1-2% of body weight

Sample percentage calculation

If an animal weighs 12 kg and eats 2% of its body weight, it will get

12 x 0.02 = 0.24 kg feed in total per day

Feed composition

10% Concentrates
45% Grass, lucerne and other roughages
45% Browse

Proportions (fresh product)

0.1 x 0.24 kg = 24 g concentrates
0.45 x 0.24 kg = 108 g grass, lucerne and other roughages
0.45 x 0.24 kg = 108 g browse

Diet suggestions

In moderation

Lucerne hay

Not recommended

Fruits
Sharp or coarse food items (e.g. stalky hay)

Additional advice

Divide the “Feed quantity per day” over at least two feeding moments per day.
Supplement the diet with ad libitum grass.
Feeding sharp or coarse feed might cause oral traumas.
The browse used in the diet can be a mixture between dried and fresh browse (read more about browsers and grazers).
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. Besides this, scatter feeding is also advised (read more about feed enrichment and foraging behaviour).

Common diseases

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

Obesity
Lumpy-jaw
Nutritional myopathy
Dental disease

Feed quantity per day

Sample percentage calculation

Feed composition

Proportions (fresh product)

Kangaroo pellets

Kangaroo

KNZ Mineral-lick Wildlife

Alfamix kangaroo

Eddy van Donkersgoed

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