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Natural History
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Captive Husbandry
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Sloth Breeders

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Positive attributes of the species?
Interesting observable behaviors, Slow moving/non threatening

Negative attributes of the species?
Nature of their claws and the way they grab things makes them difficult to handle/maneuver. Kinda creepy. Not as adaptable to varying climates and household conditions.

Anecdotes/stories regarding your experience with the species?
My favorite experience was seeing one in a baby bjorn. They cling for dear life and its pretty sweet. However, they can pinch pretty hard while clinging so the baby bjorn gave a nice padding to their claws.

How well do they interact with people?
I found that their desire to interact with people was pretty limited. However they were tolerant of it.

What type of housing do they need?
Sturdy Wire, bigger the better, vertical and horizontal climbing opportunities were used.

How destructive are they for an average household (gnawing, climbing, etc.)?
They wouldn’t destroy a house intentionally but could cause damage to curtains etc with their climbing.

Do they have any potentially offensive odours?
They aren’t too bad.

How messy are their dropping and can they be litter trained?
I don’t think they would be litter trainable, and their droppings are messy, not horribly stinky.

What vet care should be expected?
I think the limited information we have on good dietary needs will increase likelihood of suppressed immune systems and result in higher than average trips to the vet.

At what age would it be best to get one?
I think getting a bottle raised baby/bottle raising one yourself would be the only chance of having a pet sloth that could truly be a companion pet.

What personal traits should someone keeping them have?
Someone should really love sloths. I don’t think a pet sloth is going to work out with someone who was just looking for an exotic pet. The difficulties in handling them and their sensitivity to varying environments make them in my eyes a poor candidate for a pet, better for a real hardcore xenarthra enthusiast.

Other consideration for owners of them?
In my experience I get a lot of satisfaction from providing exotic animals with lives I feel are better than they could achieve in the wild. Sometimes this is as simple as providing a meal that an animal loves. My experience with sloths suggested very little you could do to bring them joy. They show very little emotion and perhaps are equally passionless in the wild, but you either way you will constantly wonder if your sloth will ever enjoy its life with you.