• Captive Animals Show Signs of Boredom.
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[quote] [quote] [IMG]http://images.sciencedaily.com/2012/11/121114172820.jpg[/IMG] ============================================================ Caged animals, like this hamster, can experience boredom from lack of activity, research suggests. (Credit: © Rebecca Hanson / Fotolia) [/quote] Wondering if your caged hamster gets bored? It's highly likely if the critter has nothing to do all day. Those are the findings of University of Guelph researchers in the first research study to empirically demonstrate boredom in confined animals. The study appears today in PLOS ONE, published by the Public Library of Science. The study's authors hope the results encourage the development of better housing systems for captive animals. "Ideas about how to assess animal boredom scientifically have been raised before, but this is really the first time that anyone's done it," said Rebecca Meagher, a U of G postdoctoral researcher and the study's lead author. It's well-established that living in unchanging, inescapable environments induces boredom in humans, including prisoners who report that they are highly motivated to seek stimulation. "But we cannot rely on verbal self-reports from non-humans, so motivation to obtain general stimulation must form the basis of any objective measure of boredom in animals," said Prof. Georgia Mason, who holds the Canada Research Chair in animal welfare in Guelph's Department of Animal and Poultry Science. The researchers presented captive mink with stimuli ranging from appealing treats to neutral objects to undesirable things, such as leather gloves used to catch the animals. Half of the animals in the study lived in small, bare cages. The other half lived in large "enriched" cages that were enhanced with water for wading, passageways for running, objects to chew and towers to climb. The researchers found that animals in confined, empty spaces avidly seek stimulation, which is consistent with boredom. Those mink approached stimuli -- even normally frightening objects -- three times more quickly and investigated them for longer. These animals also ate more treats, even when given as much food as mink in enriched environments. When they were not being tested, mink in empty cages spent much of their waking time lying down and idle. Among them, those that spent the most time awake but motionless showed the keenest interest in stimuli. "We don't know whether mink or other animals truly feel bored in the same way that humans do," Meagher said. "We can't measure that type of subjective experience. But we can see that, when they have little to do, then just like many bored humans, they may look listless, and, if given the chance, eagerly seek any form of stimulation." Guelph neuroscientist and psychology professor Mark Fenske, an expert in human cognition and emotion and recent co-author of a comprehensive review of boredom research, said the study is an important addition to the literature. "Surprisingly little is known about boredom, even though it is associated with significant adverse consequences for health and well-being," he said. "Being able to now study boredom in non-human animals is an important step in our efforts to understand its causes and effects and find ways to alleviate boredom-related problems across species." Meagher and Mason hope the findings will prompt further research, including looking at whether intelligent animals such as primates and parrots are particularly prone to boredom in captivity, and why under-stimulation causes problems. The research was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and Guelph's Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare, where Mason is an associated faculty member. Journal: Rebecca K. Meagher, Georgia J. Mason. Environmental Enrichment Reduces Signs of Boredom in Caged Mink. PLoS ONE, 2012; 7 (11): e49180 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0049180 ============================================================ Source: [URL]http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121114172820.htm[/URL] [/quote] I can confirm this, the way that my dog always acts is the same way I do when there is no internet.. Walks in circles, seeks food, sleeps periodically, barks at anything nearby.
Huh, so there is an explanation on why my dog barely moves.
Pit them in fights to the death.
I'd be pretty bored in prison too
This is why ya take your pets on walks and play with them
first zoo problems
Too bad the problem is that if kept out of containment too much, they'll try to run to the world. ANd this is why keepingthem in is not good either. This is why I don't want pets my family's dog notwithstanding, I don't wanna keep them contained nor am I fond of letting them loose and prone to escaping. What kind of pet would even be like that? one that needs niot be contained nor actively wants to run away?
[QUOTE=TehDoctorz;38458053]Pit them in fights to the death.[/QUOTE] [img]http://yesandnotyes.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/hamster-fight.jpg[/img]
A cat.
[QUOTE=Worldwaker;38458825]A cat.[/QUOTE] Cats aren't animals, they're demons.
Explains why hamsters sleep 24/7.
This applies to humans too. I know i get stir crazy when i'm stuck in the house all day.
[QUOTE=Worldwaker;38458825]A cat.[/QUOTE] Depends on the cat. My step-brother has a cat that he doesn't let outside of his apartment because she hasn't been nudered yet and because he's a bit worried about it being a bad neighborhood. She often sits at the door meowing, darts across the rooms and jumps up against walls randomly, follows you around a lot, and randomly starts meowing. (He does treat her well though, she's very social and he plays with her a lot. Also he and his girlfriend sometimes takes her out for walks)
I once took the hamster wheel away from my sisters hamsters cage because it was running on it non-stop making a racket in the middle of the night during schoolweek. It wandered around for a while, then just sat in the middle of the cage, closed its eyes and looked depressed. I felt bad and put the wheel back when I woke up few hours later (I endured to noise for quite some time).
My two dogs just sleep all the time but to be honest that's just because they're lazy. When they actually are bored they run around and play with each other.
If you have to keep a pet in a cage it's probably not worth having. Cats and dogs master race pets
The title struck me with the thought "[B]well no shit[/B]".
I thought this was a given for warmblooded animals? I say warmblooded because I don't know how reptiles and fish are concerning boredom, given that the reptiles I have are content to simply eat, sleep, and shit.
Seriously; no shit! But on the other hand, some animals seem to tolerate boredom much better than humans.
Having more than one cat means they rarely get bored. My 2 cats are always playing.
My ringneck parrot screeches like a fire alarm when his bored.
[QUOTE=Blu_ninja;38460258]My ringneck parrot screeches like a fire alarm when his bored.[/QUOTE] My Cockatiel has taken to plucking feathers. Pretty sure it was a skinner box thing initially of when he plucked, we gave him attention. Now he's got no feathers on his ass, legs and the lower part of his chest. When he sits he looks pretty normal, then you turn him over and he's bald, stupid bird.
[QUOTE=SadisticGecko;38460114]I thought this was a given for warmblooded animals? I say warmblooded because I don't know how reptiles and fish are concerning boredom, given that the reptiles I have are content to simply eat, sleep, and shit.[/QUOTE] Well mammals have a more complex brain in regards to emotion.
[QUOTE=SadisticGecko;38460114]I thought this was a given for warmblooded animals? I say warmblooded because I don't know how reptiles and fish are concerning boredom, given that the reptiles I have are content to simply eat, sleep, and shit.[/QUOTE] I know that Betta fish can get bored. If you don't shift around their decorations or let them get pissed at their reflections every so often, they get bored and try to bite their own tails off.
[QUOTE=Vodkavia;38457880]My gold fish must have all died of boredom come to think of it.[/QUOTE] Gold fish are great with their 3-second attention span. "Holy crap a castle...holy crap a castle...holy crap a castle..."
I have a pet hamster, male too, he must be really bored, he humped his bowl the other day.
Well no shit, I always see my cousins hamster chewing on the bars of the cage. If that isn't a sign of boredom then god knows what is.
[QUOTE=carcarcargo;38461678]Well no shit, I always see my cousins hamster chewing on the bars of the cage. If that isn't a sign of boredom then god knows what is.[/QUOTE] Probably his teeth grow bigger and it annoys him so he bites it also when hamster wants to get out they usually would bite or try to lift the cage trapdoor, at least mine does it, even though he has something to bite on all the time, carrot or small piece of wood he would still bite the rods, once they learn a habit they don't stop.
We should let animals use computers (with internet of course). Then I dare you to look at their browsing history.
Well no shit.
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