While I wouldn't recommend them as a pet, you should also know they poop once a month and lose up to 1/3 of their body weight when they do.

Yes, when I lived in Panama some neighbors had one in a small cage and I knew of others that kept them as well. To me it was cruel, even though they hardly move... just munched and munched and munched. Surely they were all 3-toed, though they do have 2-toed in Panama as well. Those claws can also break a hand.

People kept snakes, monkeys, iguanas, ocelots, parrots... you name it... all out of the wild.

Their faces look almost phony, like a "happy face."

Here's one you can easily have:

Here is a link that might be useful: sloth

The real thing is much cuter than that stuffed animal. They showed them on animal planet last night. They all had that happy face on.
Who wouldn't be smiling if they got to rest and hang out in trees for 20 hours a day though?

And poop once a month? That's fantastic!

Someone needs to create some designer breed of these and sell them over the internet.

Well this is a stupid idea and is the reason why there are so many exotic animal rescues.

I spent some time in Costa Rica where there are plenty of sloths. They are anything but cute. They live in the top of a tree and come down only a few times a year: to poop & to mate. They sleep so mong because they are totally lazy, can't even be bothered to pick the nits out of their own fur. Their fur is totally infested with parasites of the flora and fauna type, in fact when you look at them through your binoculars they actually look green. They are pretty gross - all the naturalists there consider them to be the bane of the animal kingdom. I suggest going to the zoo for your sloth fix and stick with more interactive pets.

Their hair is grooved lengthwise to allow the growth of algae ( for camouflage ), reason why they look green.

Yes they said on the tv program that something like 900 species of insects can live in their fur.

"Well this is a stupid idea and is the reason why there are so many exotic animal rescues."

Hey learn to take a joke there gammy. I was not serious about making them pets, just wanted to discuss these interesting and cute creatures.

In the tropical rain forests of Central and South America, there lives the world's slowest moving mammal - the sloth. Tree dwellers, sloths carry out pretty much every activity in a suspended position high in the canopy. That's right! Sloths eat, rest, give birth, raise their young, and sleep upside-down in trees. They climb down to the ground only to use the bathroom (about once a week) or to find a different tree. So, exactly how slow do sloths move?
When sloths are in trees, their average speed is merely 360-480 feet per hour. In the case of an
emergency, sloths can "accelerate" to 900 feet per hour. When sloths are on the ground, they move awkwardly and cover just 52.80 feet per hour!

Why are sloths slow? First of all, slow movements helps the sloth escape notice from predators like the jaguar, harpy eagle and anaconda. They look like a "lump on a log," so predators think it is just another termite or ant nest. Secondly, a sloth's diet is leaves, leaves, and more leaves. Leaves are difficult to digest, so a diet of pure leaves provides little nutrition. That means they must eat a lot of them to stay alive. The sloth has a very low metabolic rate and low body temperature. In fact, at night, sloths save energy by lowering their body temperature as much as 20 degrees to match that of the environment. That way they don't have to burn energy trying to stay warm or cool. We've noticed most sloths stay way up in the trees where they can bask in the sun and stay away from predators.

Like most plants and animals in the rainforest, sloths have developed relationships with other organisms to promote life- called mutualism or symbiosis. The surface of the sloth's hair has many groves and pits in which algae and fungus grow to turn the sloth greenish. The green color helps the sloth be better camouflaged. Fungi are basically mushrooms; algae are microscopic organisms that- like plants- use sunlight as food. Not only do sloths support plants on their bodies, they support insects as well. Several beetle and moth species spend a part of their life cycle living on sloths. The "sloth moth" lives in the sloth's hair and lays its eggs in the sloth's droppings.

quirky,
In all fairness to gammy, your posts on this thread indicate you would love to keep one of these as a pet.........I've reread the posts and there's no hint that you were joking.

lillie.............great info on sloths!

Gammy was rude, so let's not be concerned about being fair to him/her, whose point could have been made in a better way for sure. The chance of Quirky getting a sloth as a pet is zero, so lighten up Annz and Gammy. We're just chatting here.

Nice report, Lillie.

I admit it, I'd definitely be tempted if I saw that it was possible to get a sloth here.

{{!gwi}}

ââââ An example of an exotic pet that was a bad idea.ââââ

I don't know, Quirky - I think I'm a little too much of a worry wart to be a sloth-mom. I'd be worried about the timing of the once-a-month poop; taking it to the groomers to get rid of the icky parasites; worried that it wasn't getting enough exercise; wondering about the nutritional value of the leaves; looking for "Sloths for Dummies" books on Amazon. Whew! The worries just keep adding up!! Guess I'll have to stick to good ol' cats and dogs for now. (They are cute, tho, in a weird-looking sort of way.)

I am hoping you can help me. I am not sure if I should cook my sloths leaves or if I should feed the leaves raw? TYIA
Lorie
Geez I go away for a week or so and your in trouble again QQ. lol

It sounds kind of like my great grandmother- minus the fur and bugs.
OMG- I always wanted that gremlin- he is so stinking cute!

Here is a green one!
{{!gwi}}

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

When I think about all the different creatures on Earth, their different forms, habits, environments and needs, it amazes me. I get tickled whenever I watch old episodes of Star Trek and sequals that they couldn't come up with more imaginative people from other planets. Everyone looked like humans, just with different noses and foreheads, or maybe blue skin. At least with Star Wars they realized that there might be other shapes too.

An interesting post, Lillie, cool pic, Nancy, and a fun subject, QQ.

Sally

Quirky, good thing you didn't watch the rainforst program on TV last night. The sloth climbed high in the tree to evade a jaguar who wanted it for dinner. It got away from the jaguar, but a harpy eagle flew in snagged the poor little sloth, and he became dinner for the eagle.

If it was a rerun I might have seen the program already because I remember them mentioning that the eagles or some birds where the primary predator that the adorable little sloths have to look out for.

And this is a fun subject. Sloths have the power to make any subject a fun subject.

The difference between Star Trek's aliens and Star War's wasn't imagination it was hundreds of thousands of dollars of make up and special effects budget. Star Trek had a notoriously low budget and barely afforded to stay in production.

Sloths are cute but I'd prefer they all stayed in the rainforest rather than becoming a trendy exotic pet!

I poop once a month.

Hi,

I'm a big fan of sloths, i work in conservation and hope to promote awareness of them and their conservation.
I have been working on some designs and would be interested in all of your feedback.

Here's some links to my work

http://www.redbubble.com/people/wanungara/works/5780508-sloth

http://www.redbubble.com/people/wanungara/works/9190256-i-love-sloths

Thanks for your time! Let me know what you think

Here is a link that might be useful: Sloth

Here's a JPG of one of the designs I mentioned and a link below

Here is a link that might be useful: I Love Sloths

Oh my gosh, those critters look like they're stoned! LOL.