The animals should be moved from one enclosure to the other every 2-3 days to allow cleaning of the enclosures. Cows and calves can be kept together. Bulls should always be housed individually. The animals should not be exposed to humans, as they are likely to charge and injure themselves against the walls of the pen. The animals should be checked throughout the first day to ensure that they always have access to shade.
Hippos can develop severe sunburn if they are unable to avoid the sun.
Hippos must be fed high quality lucerne on an ad lib basis. An adult hippo consumes 30-40 kg of lucerne hay per day. A more diverse diet would be required if the hippos were to be kept in captivity for long periods. Horse cubes may be tried, as long as there is still some roughage in the form of lucerne or other hay. Hippos are not prone to develop complications during short-term confinement.