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General Info
The Tamandua, sometimes referred to as the ant bear,
is a medium sized anteater. They weight about 7-19
pounds. My experience is healthy adults average on
the larger size over 10 pounds. They are about 2
feet long not counting the tail. The tail is roughly
another 2 feet in length and is prehensil
e.
Most are about the size of a large house cat or
small dog. The standard coloring is tan with a black
vest and is why they are often referred to as
collard anteaters. However they also come in all
blond, all black, all tan, gray and with faded vests
when present. The color varies based on the region
they live in the wild. The actual collared anteaters
are hard to find now and most in captivity are
non-vested or only partly vested.
Though considered arboreal it will spend time on
the ground looking for termite mounds and traveling,
unlike it's close cousin the pygmy or silky anteater
(Cyclopes didactlus) who is strictly arboreal or the
Giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) who is
fully terrestrial. Some even live in the savannas
where there are few trees. Unfortunately because it
will travel on the ground this leads to the most
common sighting of tamanduas in the wild by the side
of the road, hit by car. Considered a nuisance
animal in their native lands they are also hunted
for the tendons in their tails to make rope. They
are also killed on site as many consider them a
threat because they have been known to kill dogs.
They are considered a threatened species.
In the wild they eat mostly termites, ants and
some grubs and fruits but avoid any ants that have
strong chemicals like the warrior fire ants but will
eat the workers and eggs. They have been known to
raid bee hives in the wild. They love honey and
sweets but may well eat the bee larvae too. They may
occasionally eat fallen fruits or flowers since they
have a fondness for them in captivity. I often see
it mentioned a person wants a tamandua or other
anteater because they have ants. Tamanduas are not
an effective form of pest control though some
natives are said to keep them for that reason. First
they will often not eat ants that are not native to
where they live in the wild and much prefer to avoid
the warrior ants. They also do not destroy any
termite mounds they do feed from in the wild.
Instead they eat from many nests always leaving
enough behind for the nest to recover, making them a
primitive sort of ant farmer. Though not tending the
crop of ants they only harvest what they need and
leave the rest to continue to grow. Also tamanduas
held in captivity who were offered termite mounds
from their native habitats fared quite poorly.(1) So
anyone hoping to get an anteater to control their
ants should not be thinking about getting one of
these lovely creatures but instead call an
exterminator.
When I first began looking for information on
keeping Tamanduas in captivity very little
information was readily available. I have a great
love for these animals however so did not let this
apparent road block stop me. I have talked with
handlers, private owners, zoo vets and keepers and
stud book keepers. I also managed to get my hands on
several articles and studies on tamanduas and giant
anteaters who have very similar requirements and
health issues. I gained a great deal of knowledge
about the care of these animals but also sadly
realized many who already had these animals were not
informed of how to properly care for them. This was
not due to the owners not caring or trying to do
right by them but simply a lack of readily available
information like I myself was confronted with. The
worst case I have come across was a business who
regularly dealt with exotics. they were experienced
and caring but when they acquired their tamandua
believed the seller when he told them to feed it
rotten eggs. The result was a very sickly animal
that died very prematurely. Other problems are not
so sever. Some seek answers but often seemingly
small things like chronic loose and excessively
smelly stools are all to often excepted as normal or
unavoidable by owners. This is not the case however
and many of the most common problems can be resolved
with a proper diet. Seeing the need for a good easy
to find source of information on captive tamandua
husbandry I felt obliged to try and help with this
care sheet.
Diet
Based on the stomach contents of
wild Tamanduas their diet consists of about 51%
crude protein, 11% fat, 14%ash(minerals) and 4.58
kcal/g (caloric content) on a dry matter basis(2).
Thus it is said they have similar dietary needs to
that of an obligate carnivore like a cat and in fact
need taurine like a cat does for a healthy heart.
This does not mean you can just feed them cat food.
They need less calcium than most animals and they
need only very little retinol(vit A). They do have
some special requirements. They are hemophiliacs so
need High vitamin K in their diets to aid in
clotting. High B12 also helps. Supplementing vit E
can be a problem but wheat germ oil is high in
natural E and is good since their wild diet is high
in E. They also require a good source of Potassium.
The most common diet is equal parts Leaf-Eater
and cat food. The leaf-eater is high in Vitamin K
and fiber to help maintain fecal consistency. Some
feed higher Leaf eater than cat food ratio. Though
animals do well enough on this diet I do not believe
it is truly complete and is used more for
convenience. In fact it has become fairly common for
anteaters on a long term kibble diet to have a sort
of MBD due to vitamin A toxicity and to much
Calcium. The same holds true for insectivore
kibbles.
They like and do well on diets that include raw
beef but steps to ensure safety must be taken as
they have been known to get Salmonella or choke to
death when fibrous tissues from the meat becomes
entangled around the tongue(3), though I've only
seen this in reference to horse meat one needs to
keep it in mind. I also had a friend with a tamandua
that had a tongue problem. She could not lick and
was drooling and making chocking motions. It lasted
a couple weeks and they had her to the vet examined
under anesthesia. They could not see in far enough
to see the cause but after manipulation the last
time she woke up just fine, apparently having
dialoged the obstruction.
While some anteaters can be gluttons and highly
food motivated some are hard to get eating when
newly acquired. They usually love the flavor of milk
so a kitten milk replacer can be used for flavor
short term. Vinegar is also palatable. Honey may
also help. We tried anything and everything we could
think of. The mixture ours finally ate was milk
replacer, baby cereal, powdered oat meal, yogurt,
honey, and sugar. If yours wont eat you need to try
anything and then wean them onto a healthier diet
once they are accepting something. A good dealer
will make sure yours is healthy and eating before
you get it but you need to be prepared. Some remain
picky. It could be a few days after arrival before a
tamandua will first eat in a new home so you don't
need to panic right away.
Raw Beef
Diet
I was quite against the idea of raw
meat being fed to anteaters till it happened to me.
Many zoos do use raw meat in their mix. Based on my
research it just seemed a bad idea so I was against
it and avoided it too. Boy was I so very wrong!
One day I was giving the dogs beef bones and my
girl was begging so held one out to her. Instead of
giving a disgusted hiss and walking away as expected
she grabbed it and dug in with her claws and did a
pretty good job of stripping the bone of fat and
meat, not as good as the dogs but good considering
what she has to work with. She then went on a hunger
strike refusing all food but beef. We came to a
compromise of mixing raw beef up in place of kibble
in my "simple diet" 3 cups beef instead of one cup
kibble due to the water content. Not only have they
done well they have thrived. Pua has even put on
weight since her illness up to 13 pounds she's never
been over ten since we got her and got her over her
initial problems. The vet was impressed enough to
ask what I was feeding to have them gain weight so
well and look so good at their last visit. He never
had any complaints. My vet is an X-zoo vet. Once I
added beef heart Pua gained even more muscle and is
17 pounds but it's muscle not fat.
To top it off it reduced that skunky smell. I
tried changing the fiber source in case it was
because of the flaxseed and didn't want to harm them
if they were overdosing on something, did not effect
the smell. I at first tried to mix the kibble simple
diet mix with the raw meat simple diet sometimes but
to long doing that and they start to get more skunky
again, especial stinky Stewie. Skunky pee smell also
comes back if stressed or ill. Pua tends to get a
bit skunky pee when in heat, because it does stress
her body still gets that old bologna smell when
she's ready for a mate.
The diet is
3 cups ground beef
3 cups feeder insects
1 cup beef heart
1 cup flax seed
1/3 cup wheat bran
1/3 cup spinach or fresh thyme(1 teaspoon of
dried thyme. Thyme is higher in K and iron than
spinach)
3tbls black strap molasses (for iron)
2 tbls nutritional yeast (for iron and B
vitamins) (They have very high iron needs)
Always add vinegar, cider preferred.
Reasons behind some of the ingredients
Spinach is very high in Vitamin K so can
not be left out of this diet without supplementing
another way. Thyme is a good alternative to spinach.
Insects: If bought in bulk some insects will work
out to only a dollar a day in the amount of insects
fed. And it's just a good idea for some insects to
be in the diet of an insectivore mammal. You can
also by 100% pure silk worm Pupae pellets on Ebay.
These are great as their nutritional value is
similar to ants.
Flaxseed is for Fiber they need high fiber and flax
seed is healthy but does get a bit gooey when ground
and water added so don't want to over do flax That's
why the red beans.
Apple cider vinegar does a much better job of
digesting things for them. It aids the digestion but
is antimicrobial as well as an added defense against
possible infection from the meat, but I've had no
issues. Pua also drinks as much vinegar with her
meals as she wants. Always add diatomaceous earth.
DE and vinegar are best added to the mix. For my two
a cottage cheese container is about a days worth so
add a days dose of DE each and vinegar each to that
amount of food roughly. They both will seek out and
take sips of vinegar anyway. Aside from the spinach
and flax it's similar to raw feeding a cat. I
sometimes add natural minerals. I'll sometimes toss
in a bit of something special like half an orange or
tomato or something ground up. Some wheat germ oil
should be given for Vit E which also helps if to
much retinol is given like you add cheese or give
cheese for treats, it inhibits ratinol absorption.
The vitamin A content of the recipe is all
Caratinoids which the body only converts into real
vitamin A if it needs it so you wont get the
toxicity seen with food high in retinol. To much
retinol causes spinal problems. You can rotate types
of insects but the best are silkworms and silkworm
pupae as they are nutritionally very similar to
ants. You can use some portabella mushroom in place
of the molasses. You can use bee pollen in place of
yeast. It's good to rotate some items so the diet is
not to static.
The female has been the healthiest she's ever
seen and her fur is even softer, her tail and ears
don't need oiling any more either. It does 'sound
bad' and seems a risk to feed raw meat to an
anteater but it's proven the opposite for mine. My
little girl has so much more energy and is so
playful again. She even has decided she will expand
her tastes and enjoys fruit baby foods and some
juices, and she used to have kind of brittle claws
when trimmed, but no more. Some times I've cheated
and used nail clippers to nip the tips off. I still
prefer filing.
I do not mix any water with it. I've never heard
of anyone feeding a solid diet like this before
either but that even proved good for them. They have
to work at their food like they would in the wild.
They claw little bits then pop it into their mouth
and go for more. As I said a lot of the zoo diets I
found do include raw meats and I had never liked the
idea. When weaning wild tams onto food a common way
to do it is sprinkle ground raw beef on termite
nests as beef is most palatable to them. So I'm not
the first to feed raw beef. I'm just the first to do
it in this way. They never had any problems with
sinew and the ribs either. I do tend to think part
of the problem there is a random floating string of
sinew in a gruel verses sinew firmly encased in a
chunk of meat they know they are eating. If the
female is in a lazy mood and wanting liquid food I
will blend the beef mix above with water and a bit
of juice then strain it but that takes a lot of the
nutrition out of it too and she has recently refused
this. She did need to go back to the gourmet soup
food when convalescing from her illness however.
Other keepers have since used this and seen
similar results with weight gain and over all better
health and appetites, and even success with babies
where none were before.
Treats
Treats can include melons whole
sliced or mashed. Many love breaking apart the
melons themselves for an enrichment activity. They
then claw it to mush and lick it up. Stewie had fun
with coconut parts. Other treats given include blue
cheese, oranges, avocado, banana, crickets, yogurt,
mealworms, apple sauce, grapes, pumpkin, ants,
termites, cucumber, grapefruit, papaya, baby food,
honey, tomato, coconut, apple whole or sliced,
molasses, frozen treats, other fruits, fruit juices,
spray cheese and feeder insects. Mine loved KMR milk
and would take meds mixed in this if needed but
stopped liking it. I also occasionally trap termites
for her to eat out of the woods and she finds ant
nests for herself on walks. sometimes she will take
crickets if ground up for her and likes cheese in a
kong toy. Her tastes often change. She now wont
touch milk she liked yogurt for awhile then stopped
and likes spicy things like guacamole, tomato sauce,
and V-8. She loves ketchup, babr-b-q sauce, and
spray cheese and of course ants.
Do use sugary treats sparingly as they are prone
to diabetes.
Housing
Housing of tamanduas varies widely.
From fancy enclosures of 100'x100' to kennels in the
home of 2x3x6 and free roam of the home during the
day. I feel a minimum of 4x4x6 for one if they get
free roam when awake but larger is preferred. If
they are to be kept in the cage most of the time It
should be closer to 10x10x6(feet). However they are
housed they need things to climb on and some
exercise. They need room to roam as well. mine loves
to explore and gets weekly walks on woodland trails
when weather allows. She loves to run the trails.
The male loved to run circles in the living room
each night. They need warm constant temperatures so
if the enclosure is outside they need a portion of
it enclosed and protected from the elements. Ideal
temps for health is 65-80. The heat should never
drop below 65f in the indoor portion and they should
not be allowed outside on days with frost advisories
in effect. They should be kept at temps below 90f.
If temps reach or exceed 90f then measures should be
taken to keep the animal cool. The male could get
heat sick at 85 and seen both shiver at 65. 75F is
the ideal.
Be sure there are no sharp edges on the caging or
objects present in it for them to cut themselves on.
They will reach out and claw at anything near their
cage so be careful of anything they could get hurt
on or get their claws stuck in or shred. They need
den boxes or covered housing of some sort even
hollowed out logs are appreciated. They need heat
whether in the form of a heating pad or a heat lamp
if the room is allowed to get cool. Mine also will
wear sweaters but is not advised if not supervised.
They are usually only on for walks or till she warms
up at home. Mine love a pouched hammock I made them
my female took to it the first night. Branches
shelves and other layers for climbing on are
important. Try to avoid wood walls directly to the
outside of their enclosures as some have been known
to claw their way out.
Contrary to most information you will find I will
say Tamanduas are not solitary. They love attention
and love to have a companion of their own species.
They seem to be much healthier and happier in a home
setting but if they must be housed separately like
at a zoo they should have a friend. One simply needs
to take the time to introduce them slowly. I will go
so far as to say they are quite social. They may not
live in family groups but they have been proven to
share territory with multiple other tamanduas in the
wild. They have their own instinctual social
rituals, such as poking each others hands and feet
with their claws as part of their bonding and love
to play wrestle with each other. When I only had the
female she suffered from separation anxiety and
would cry for me. If one can not be a part of the
family, I believe, they need their own family in the
form of another tamandua companion. She has been
more easily startled and upset since we lost the
male but she is happy and plays with me a lot.
Health and
life span
Anteater Pox
Healthy Tamanduas are thought to have a captive
lifespan of about 9-11years, the oldest having
reached 19. Tamandua mexican has a lifespan of 16 so
tamandua tetradactyla could well be similar with
real quality care as the info on life span is
limited and based on cases before care and diet were
improved with studies. Their normal temp is about
93.6F give or take a little. Tamanduas generally
respond well to canine medications when needed. Try
to find a good vet that can get information from a
zoo vet. There are some medicines like certain
antibiotics that should not be given.
Health problems include but are not limited too;
abscesses, wounds that don't heal, bleeding,
intestinal parasites, External parasites, ringworm,
a condition called anteater pox that they usually
recover from with no lasting effects and is not
zoonic, respiratory conditions from nasal discharge
to pneumonia, eye infections and irritations, heart
problems, lethargy, kidney and liver disease,
strokes, seizures, weight issues from obesity to
anorexia, dry skin, dehydration, ear infections,
mites, fleas, fungal infections, salmonella and
other bacterial infections, intestinal obstructions,
and foreign matter wrapped around the tongue. My
female nearly died from Streptococcal Toxic Shock,
so take care around anyone who has a sore throat
that might be Strep. We don't know were she got it
but it might have incubated from the time we visited
a ranch. Cows can carry it.
My male died from an auto immune problem. This
seems more common in bottle fed or young that were
weaned to early. They really should not be weaned
till 8 month minimum to a year. Mom will let them
nurse some up to a year in the wild and defiantly
not wean them till at least a months. Many wean at 6
months because they can eat the liquid food but that
does not mean it is good for them. However if one
does need to be bottle fed for some reason getting
them onto the beef diet above as soon as possible
plus some colostrum till 8 months to a year would be
ideal.
A proper diet , good hygiene, and a warm constant
temperature of about 75f will help in the prevention
of many of these concerns. But problems can still
come out of no where like my female's illness and
the male's passing from an auto-immune disorder,
that cause him to bleed out. A female recently had a
serious trauma when she could not use her tongue to
eat and drink. We all came to the conclusion
something was stuck in there but it never was seen
but was luckily dislodged while under anesthesia the
second time. Tamanduas are usually tolerant of
bathing and grooming. It is possible and sometimes
necessary to trim nails with dog nail clippers or
file them. I prefer to file them with a hand held
electric file to help maintain a proper shape. They
use their claws as fingers and if they get to long
it impairs the use. Just be cautious not to cut to
deep. You need to avoid the quick and if the nails
are to sort it effects their function. It's best to
just take the tip regularly as needed rather than
wait and have to trim a bunch which could be
traumatic and stressful.
Bathing is usually tolerated and they can be
given a bath as needed or monthly to every two
weeks. I've had to bath more often due to a contact
allergy. When I get to itchy it's bath time but have
been able to go longer between baths. Their skin
does get a rusty orange film that they rub onto
things to mark them. In between bathing if not
provided a pool they can be misted with a squirt
bottle and let them groom the water out. Moisture is
good for their skin. You may need to apply lotion,
baby oil gel works well, to tails, feet and
sometimes the ears. If you can keep the room they
sleep in fairly humid. Mine sleeps in the clothes
washer, when not being used and it keeps humid in
there from her breath and I have a blanket for her
to burrow in.
Enrichment
Most tamanduas love to tear things
apart. Boxes, paper bags, or pinatas with treats
inside are commonly considered great fun. Some might
claw holes in your walls so providing appropriate
things to destroy is a good idea. They also enjoy
rotten logs that have evidence of insects.
A ball with a rattle inside might be tossed about
and clawed. Other cat toys may be appropriate as
well. Mine likes rubber dog toys and rubber boots
some give them old shoes. A box of fresh dirt to dig
in is enjoyed. Stewie, the male, has taken very well
to training of simple tricks like stand and walk,
hold a spoon, and even paints. They can be trained
to come when called but do not rely on this being
effective outside. They are easily distracted and
very stubborn. Pua now pulls a rope up for a treat
at the bottom.
Swings and hammocks are sometimes considered fun
but mine never trusted swings and ropes, they move
to much.
Ropes to walk across and hang from are good or
use shelves and branches.
Insects and other treats can be used, see diet.
For an indoor tamandua a cat tree would be good.
Mine does enjoy the cat condo from time to time. I
would advise it not being allowed much unsupervised
access as fiber can come loose from clawing and be
hazardous.
Those housed in out door enclosures will
appreciate tree limbs or jungle gyms with shelves
for rest.
Some tamanduas are taken for walks on lead and
harness. I find an H harness to be the best. If the
belly is not to big you might add a belt for added
safety till you both are confident. I recommend
practicing in a fenced area.
Tame tamanduas enjoy wrestling and play fights
with their caretakers and petting and cuddling. The
cuddle time is done on their terms and they wont
stay just because you ask. Some are more cuddly than
others. My male is more independent but also more
sociable with strangers. My female loves to sleep
curled up inside my shirt, she enjoys being close so
much. My male trusted me enough he loved for me to
pick him up, lay him on my arm and fly him around on
my arm making airplane sounds, just like a kid. Most
exotics would freak out with that, even most
domestics but he would beg me to do it.
They are good swimmers and like water so a
child's wading pool on warm days would be good. Not
all enjoy getting in water mine loves going to the
river but usually avoids getting wet but if heated
up she has waded in and even swims but it has to be
just right.
They have a great sense of smell so using
different scents about their environment could
interest them and encourage them to move about. I
had an anteater owning pal send us some used
shavings with pee to sprinkle about the yard and Pua
liked knowing she's not alone.
Durable toys with holes for their tongues to
explore are good items especially with hidden treats
inside, consider the Kong toys with a bit of honey
or cheese inside.
Breeding
The first thing one must know if
they choose to breed these animals is what sex their
animals are. How to tell the difference was one of
the hardest thing for me to find out. People kept
telling me that you can't tell but you can. Everyone
had different explanations of the differences
however. It appears there is no difference on the
surface since the males gonads are internal and
their sexual organs are small and very similar to
the female. It's relatively simple however to tell
the difference. When you look at the openings of
their external sexual parts there is a marked
difference. The male's opening will be a hole at the
end and the female a slit down the middle but you
need to get hands on as the males have a line that
could appear to be a slit and the females have a
clitoris which could be mistaken for the head of a
penis. The males sexual mound tends to be more
pointed and crescent shaped. The whole thing gets
firm and the tip is inserted sideways into the
female. I got a good look at one of their attempts
to mate but no babies from it unfortunately.
Whether or not the male and female are housed
together will depend on how well they get along.
Mine have no problems and like to sleep together.
Mating generally takes place in the fall but could
occur at any time. Females cycle about every month
or month and a half. There may be some spotting but
care should be taken not to confuse this with a
bleed out. Try keeping a log of when spotting occurs
and have the vet look at a sample. Other signs are
restlessness and genital licking. Their gestation is
about 150 days on average. Females will need a
private den like place to give birth. All other
tamanduas should be kept away from mother and young.
Females give birth to one young at a time. Rarely
twins are born but the mother tamandua can not care
for more than one young at a time in the wild so one
is rejected. In the case of twins at least one young
should be removed and bottled and the other watched
closely. Rarely twins have been left with mom and
survived with supplemental feeding of both but this
would never happen in the wild and it's more common
for mom to reject one or even both so it is risky to
try leaving both with mom. It's a tricky decision
since mom's milk is best.
Baby tamanduas can be successfully bottle raised
with kitten milk replacer. Kitten bottles and
nipples have been used others use a dropped or
needless syringe and let baby lap it up. Other than
the event of twins or other problem such as mother
rejecting them I do not recommend pulling the young
and bottle raising them. Even wild caught tamanduas
tame down well and as long as they are handled
regularly babies raised in captivity will be tame
and loving to their owner. There is no need to pull
and bottle. Tamanduas have a very specialized diet
in the wild and it has been difficult to get a
decent diet formulated for adults in captivity. We
do not have a milk formula made for them. Kitten
milk works but we don't know what vital things may
be missing that will cause problems for them later
in life due to missing out as babies. We do not know
if there may be to much of something or other
imbalances. They do keep getting antibodies (colostrum)
in their milk the whole time they nurse, up to a
year. Shown by one male born with no immunity of his
own who only fell ill and died once weaned. For this
reason since they will be tame anyway I truly feel
they should not be pulled until strong, healthy and
eating at least some food mix diet barring other
reasons that may necessitate it. This means baby
should stay with mom till 6-12 months of age. I
personally think they should be left with mom till 8
months. They can start eating a diet mix by 6 months
but still need mom for awhile. Mom does not wean
them at 6 months but at 8 months to a year. My male
was pulled at 6 months and suckled on my fingers as
an adult. I got to fell first hand how that tongue
works inside.
Tamanduas are hard to come by, hard to care for,
but very rewarding and special. They can make very
loving pets when raised from a young age with
people. Even wild caught have become quite sociable
with people given enough proper handling. Down sides
are smell. Tamanduas do not have a noticeable odor
under normal circumstances but their pee does smell
skunky similar to a ferret. Most choose one place to
pee and one place to poop and stick to it but they
may mark and have accidents and they do dribble pee
similar to a rat which they can not help. Mine
trained relatively well to pee pads but it did take
some time and a few accidents. Some may refuse to
train and want to mark all over. She had many places
she chose to go but have narrowed it down to two
outside her cage. My female isn't destructive but
some can be. My male went trough a phase of tearing
holes in the walls. Mine are gentle but can play
ruff at time and most say theirs don't learn to play
with gentle claws. Accidents can still happen. There
are many health concerns to worry about and the diet
can be tricky and a lot of work. Please learn all
you can about the good and the bad before getting an
anteater.
For further info please join our group that
discusses these animals and their close relations
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/xenarthra_keepers/
References 1. Formulating Diets for Tamandua, A.
Ward, S. Crissy, K. Cassaro, E. Frank 2. Nutrition
of the Tamandua, S Oyarzun, G. Crawshaw, and E.
Valdes 3. Health survey, S. Morford and M. Meyers.
Main
Care sheet