Rodent House
- Thread starter MrHappy
- Start date
You're basically asking for the ability to build tiny habitats. Not sure how feasible that is. Also, plastic wheels are not a zoo thing, they are a pet thing. Zoos won't keep domestic rats, hamsters, and so on in general, because why bother? They're domesticated animals, not threatened with extinction in any way.
The naked mole rat seems to me to be the only real 'small mammal' that could live in a smaller terrarium-like exhibit.
I think it's important to note that the reason zoos can successfully keep reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates in little terraria is because typically none of them move much. In the wild they travel for food - in zoos they eat less and travel less. It's a balancing act between metabolism and consumption, but due to these animals being typically simplistic they don't need a huge amount of space to burn off excess energy or to track down more food to restore that energy.
Mammals are different (and so are birds, which is why zoos rarely keep birds in small cages like you might keep a pet in). Not only do poorly ventilated glass terraria cause myriad respiratory problems in mammals that can't easily regulate their temperature (again, mostly due to the difference in metabolism between cold-blooded and warm-blooded animals), they also need to move a lot more to keep their heart rates up and their metabolism controlled. Obesity occurs a lot more quickly in mammals and birds than other animal families.
Even something like the pygmy marmoset (which I have seen cited as an example of a good "exhibit mammal" here before) is usually kept in something at least two and a half times as large as the in-game exhibits (and usually with a mesh roof to let the air/climate in, or enough space that it doesn't matter). Squirrels, hedgehogs, and so on are all the same in this regard.
Most small mammals people want would be fine as habitat animals anyway, I believe. Tamarins/marmosets and meerkats seem to be the most often requested (and sloths), and I'd much rather build a small habitat for them.
Good feedbacks, Thanks.
It has to be said there are hundreds of rodents that are not domesticated but the assumptions here have led to the subject being about domestic animals. It might be better (and definitely would have been better wording by me) to think of it more as regular habitats where you have to design and build the enrichments rather than just click and place them.
In a similar way to pools and slides in RCT3, rodent tunnels and playgrounds should be fairly easy I would have thought, they could even use the coaster construction tools seen in Planet Coaster.
It has to be said there are hundreds of rodents that are not domesticated but the assumptions here have led to the subject being about domestic animals. It might be better (and definitely would have been better wording by me) to think of it more as regular habitats where you have to design and build the enrichments rather than just click and place them.
In a similar way to pools and slides in RCT3, rodent tunnels and playgrounds should be fairly easy I would have thought, they could even use the coaster construction tools seen in Planet Coaster.
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I think our local one had those 2 - right next to the petting zoo.. Don't know if they do anymore (after moving)
They actually had a quite extensive rat tunnel sewer exhibit - where they made a reconstructed very old sewer exhibit for the rats and you see the rats through some glass exhibits every now and then. Mostly to creep you out with rat sounds/darkness etc...
Seen some zoos with mice etc.. But those are really small exhibit - barely useable in PZ (imo)
I don't mind if very small exhibits were scenery, just to give your zoo a bit more flair.
Edit: Yeah, found a (not the best) photo online of the Guinea pigs in our old local zoo.
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Joël
Volunteer Moderator
I can answer that question;
Dierenpark Emmen did move the guinea pigs to the new park Wildlands (to a habitat on the right side of the path leading to the frontdoor of the large indoor playground).
Sadly the guinea pig habitat was removed during one of the recent changes in the park, so no more guinea pigs in Wildlands.
The rats can still be found in Wildlands, next to the queue for the 4D simulator.
Back on topic;
I think a ‘rodent house’ is a nice idea, but not easily doable in the current game, as it would require a lot of additional coding for the rodents to behave naturally in their custom extra large exhibits in Planet Zoo.
Which is why I'm all for tiny habitats instead. I always thought that'd be the more feasible solution; using existing features and mechanics.
You can also redesign the vivariums instead of glass optics
simply insert wire mesh and the different sizes you have been looking for for a long time.
Then mice and similar small animals are possible.
Even if they are just short animation loops.
Realistically, they could also be programmed.
Even if the movements of the animals could take up a little more space.
For example:
A rabbit hiding in a tunnel and coming out.
A resting rabbit that wiggles its ear a few times.
One that jumps over an obstacle, runs an arc and looks around.
A rabbit that uses a food bowl at a certain point. For this you can also plan several places, so that several rabbits eat from a bowl.
There are so many options.
Of course, only the size of the cage has to be sufficient.
This shouldn't be a big problem.
Even if programming takes time.
simply insert wire mesh and the different sizes you have been looking for for a long time.
Then mice and similar small animals are possible.
Even if they are just short animation loops.
Realistically, they could also be programmed.
Even if the movements of the animals could take up a little more space.
For example:
A rabbit hiding in a tunnel and coming out.
A resting rabbit that wiggles its ear a few times.
One that jumps over an obstacle, runs an arc and looks around.
A rabbit that uses a food bowl at a certain point. For this you can also plan several places, so that several rabbits eat from a bowl.
There are so many options.
Of course, only the size of the cage has to be sufficient.
This shouldn't be a big problem.
Even if programming takes time.
Like the rats animatronic in Planet Coaster. Great idea!
That could all work, yes. They wouldn't necessarily even have to remove all the glass optics - I've often seen small mammal exhibits with a glass window, but they have a strip of wire mesh at the top for more natural ventilation.
In terms of the game itself, my belief is that Frontier is hesitant to do this though because fast moving mammals and constant animations for them is expensive in terms of performance. The game already gets choppy if your zoo gets too large (this seems to improve with every update, but even so), so adding in all those extra moving bits might eat up even more of the framerate. If they can find the balance, then great.