How Much Do Servals Eat a Day?
Servals are the most beautiful wild cats with slim bodies, long legs, and wonderful spotted coats. They are natives of Africa and are mostly admired for their hunting skills and agility. However, most people wonder how much servals eat a day. The feeding habits of servals will be discussed in detail, including their preferred food, feeding cost, and the difference in their diet in the wild versus in captivity.
How Much Food Does a Serval Eat Per Day?
Servals are cat species, normally of medium size but with quite a huge mouth. The wild serval normally eats about 1-1.5 kg of food a day, although its diet mainly focuses on small animals such as rodents, birds, frogs, and insects. Due to the highly active way of life that the carnivorous animal maintains, one must consume much more to stay in top energy performance and make their agility hunting good.
Servants in captivity eat varying amounts of food depending on their size, activity, and overall health. A serval in captivity would need around 900 grams to 1.5 kilogram rams raw meat daily which can be a mix of chicken, rabbit, and small game for balanced and healthy feeding.
To compare this with domestic cat breeds, you might find it interesting how specialized diets are important for healthy development, as seen with professional cat breeders in Scotland who ensure their felines receive optimal nutrition. Learn more about their approach here.
What Is a Serval’s Favorite Food?
In the wild, servals are an opportunistic hunter; as a result, they consume anything they find their way to. They like to consume the following though;
Rodents: The mice and rats form a basic chunk of the daily ingestion as small mammals.
Birds: Using their great sensitivity of hearing and long-length legs, servals prefer to capture birds either by surprise from mid-flight when these are in tall grasses.
Frogs and Fish: Their hunt takes place underwater to get frogs or little fish.
Insects: GrassHoppers and beetles are one of the favorites because the cats are rather petite to supplement the meal even.
Since the hunting sharp edge does its work it means killing nearly half the attempts out, a proportionally greater capture than almost every one of their kind of those roaming free.
How Much Does It Cost to Feed a Serval?
Feeding a serval in captivity is not inexpensive as it has high dietary needs with the raw meat, bones, and supplements so feeding a serval may be priced from $10 to 20 dollars per day, even more expensive. Feeding a serval easily brings the cost up to above $300 to $600 per month. This is similar to the high maintenance cost of certain dog breeds, like the gray husky puppy, where careful diet management is crucial to ensure proper growth and health. You can read more about feeding and care tips for gray huskies read more
It’s a fact that servals need to be fed on an almost wild diet, with the best part being the diet must be well balanced. Most owners of servals feed them on raw diets available in the market, especially those prepared for exotic cats. Others have fresh meat from butcheries in their local towns. In addition to the raw diet, servals are supplemented with vitamins and minerals, which add more to feeding costs.
What Do Serval Cats Eat in Captivity?
Servants are typically fed a diet in captivity that closely mirrors their natural eating habits. Most of their diet in captivity consists of the following:
Raw meats: Chicken, rabbit, turkey, and game meats are common choices.
Organ meats: Servals require a variety of organ meats such as liver and kidney to receive essential nutrients.
Whole prey: Some owners or zoos provide whole prey, such as frozen rodents or birds, which gives them a more natural feeding experience.
Bones: Chewing on bones is essential for their dental health and adds to their nutritional intake.
Supplements: In captivity, they might need some extra supplements of calcium and taurine if whole prey is not regularly served.
They are not fed with commercially prepared foods meant for house cats as they have others’ nutrient needs. A serval well fed in the captive will remain healthy with its correct weight, excellent energy level, and a very well health condition.
How Servals Hunt and Digest Their Food
Servants are also skilled hunters. Since their hearing is acute, they can detect the least rustling of the grass from which their prey could be hiding. When a serval has identified its prey, it springs from the ground and uses its long legs to leap toward its prey with a high level of accuracy. This manner of hunting allows them to trap animals that hide within thick undergrowth.
Servants will devour their prey whole, and they ingest it along with bones and fur. That gives the serval some extra nutrients for further feeding and cleaning out its teeth. It is this well-balanced diet that has a servant’s digestive system perfectly balanced and in harmony.
Endnote
Knowing how much a serval eats in a day would be very important for it to receive the right diet, either in the wild or in captivity. The serval eats about 1-1.5 kilograms of food per day. It feeds on small mammals, birds, and other high-protein prey. Feeding a serval in captivity requires a thoughtful high-protein diet, with the cost of maintaining this diet running from $300 to $600 per month.
The feed should closely resemble their hunting strategy in the wild: a diet of live or fresh meats, bones, and supplements. It is very important to get the right balance to keep these wonderful cats energetic and healthy.