Poo in a chair - Pua

[shais_mom]

she is ammmmaazzing!
I just sat with my mouth agape looking at your pics!
wow!

[Husky15]

Is Pua an anteater? If so, I never knew it was possible to own one. That's pretty amazing. I am looking forward to seeing the questions answered as well. Very fascinating.

[gini]

Hi everyone, just so you know - Tamandua "is" the name for an anteater - from Central and South America.

There are some that have very bushy tails too, but I believe those are another breed of anteater.

[GreyhoundGirl]

Whoa! She's beautiful! I've never seen anything like her... Cool.


* goes back and reads posts, which serve as FAQ.

[TamanduaGirl]

Was spending my distracted time distracted elswhere today. Most of the quastions were answered in my first post about her in this forum. I suppose it was a bit to early to use a nickname but that's why I had her real name taged on. Oh well. First thread was here http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=117999
Not that I mind saying again but I'm not sure I'll have enough time to them all before I go home but will go through them and reply. You might get quicker answers with the link if you don't see a reply yet here. Plus it's windy and the power could go out again. I'll answer all questions here though too cuz it's hard for me to remember all that were asked where and there are probably some new questions too.

[TamanduaGirl]

Yes she's a Tamandua which is a medium sized anteater. Giant anteaters, Tamanduas, and Sikly/pygmy anteaters.

She gets a complex mix of things turkey or shicken breast, liver, flaxseed and red beans for fiber, and sinach for vitamin K are the prime ingredients or simple basicaly replace the proteins with a quality cat food(nature's varriety). She's not so fond of the simple diet by it's self. For the whole recipie view the other thread about her or read the whole CareSheet: http://www.phoenixexotics.org/cs-tamandua.html

She uses a few stratigicly places washable pee pads for releif. One being in my closet. This does mean she still thinks all closets are fair game so must keep an eye on her.

A guy in FL but it took a long time to get her over a year.

Yes she's very cuddly. More so than I expected. She's a little clingy and needy really.

I'm not sure of the origination question is specific to her or her species. I'll asue the latter for now. They range all over south america and part of mexico. But there are two species of Tamandua and her kind is more southern. Tamandua Tetradacyla.

No she doesn't tear up furniture during daily activity. She did shread the arm of a love seat that was to near her cage when she was in it and wanting out. She will reach out and grab anything near, hoping to pull or claw her way out. But she really is hardly ever in there when awake and has chosen to go in there and nap on her own recently. And she did pull a part of the door jam loose when wanting out of my room at night, which is what she usualy get's time out in her cage for.

I think she makes a great pet but the diet is high mainenance. Eveen if you use a more common simple mothode most have to tweek it to fit each individual. They need to be kept warm and are considered delicate. You really need to know what you are doing with them for their sake. As for the person, she is very sweet and affectionit and not really destructive but heard of some that are more destructive than she is but then most aren't kept with as much interaction as a real house pet.

A male would make a better pet. Female tamanduas cycle about monthy and do spot blood. During ans for a period after this she is more restless and active, leading to the clawing at the door and more roaming around the house or my room at night. Her pee is a bit skunky but she doesn't have a body odar. Most are very messy eaters. It's instinct to claw at their food source.

eek the power just flashed off a moment. I'm going home early. It will be near impossible to get Jupiter crated to go home in the dark if it really goes out.

I'll check the rest of the posts later.

[Giselle]

I don't know much about exotic animals, but she is very adorable. Wouldn't you just love to wake up to a face like that? I'd love a cuddly thing like her!

[Randi]

LOL! What a sweetie I had no idea you could have an anteater as a pet - although.... it made me think about the post John (Jonza) posted a few years back, can't remember what thread is was - could have been " Dear Phred"

Here's a picture John posted.



Let's hear more!

[RedHedd]

Her fur looks soft! What does it feel like?

I've never heard of anyone having an anteater for a pet. Is it legal to have an anteater for a pet where you live? Where do you live?

[ramanth]

She's beautiful! How unique!

My aunt had a zebra for a short time.

[TamanduaGirl]

I'm in Oregon. Yes she's legal here. You need permits for things they consider dangerous or threatening to the envornment and anteaters don't count.

Tamandua is Tupi for antcatcher so can mean any anteater, especialy in south america. In north amaerica Tamandua usualy just means one of the two with Tamandua as part of their scientific name. The bushy tailed ones are the Giant anteater and what most people think of as an anteater since they are most known. The Silky anteaters have fur on their tail but it's short.

Pua is Tupi for Heart

That joke ad is funny but reminds me of this crazy old man came in my store but I wont bother wih that story right now.

Her fur is actualy fairly corse. I usualy compaire it to a goat but well not a soft furred breed of goat like angoras. It's not real corse like pig coarse and she's softer underneith. *runs and does a feel test* coarser than the guinea pigs

I pet a zebra once he like most was realy nippy. Sure pretty though.

[gini]

I hope you don't mind if I post this for people on your thread. I do it because it is absolutely fascinating.

Thank you for the opportunity to learn so much through PUA!


http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural...rica/tupi.html

[wolflady]

I just have to say again, that it's so interesting reading about Pua! I think she has gained a whole set of fans here at Pet Talk since you joined!

Do you have to trim those long nails? *snicker*

**hugs**

[TamanduaGirl]

Do you have to trim those long nails? *snicker*

Yes and Poo is not thrilled with you that you reminded me as that was in the plans for the day. I like to file them to to keep a point though not a sharp point they aren't naturaly sharp but she uses the long claws as her fingers since her actual fingers are stuby. They do continue to grow if not worn down and she hasn't shown any intrest in tearing upen boxes and things for enrichment and wear the claws. Just trimmed today will file later.It's kind of like when I trim Kat's claws do a few let her rest do a few more. Now I'm sure it would be much harder if I tried this in the evening when she's awake. She has little and big thick claws so I use the cat nail trimmer and a guilotein dog nail trimmer, depending which claw.

and thank you.

[luckies4me]

CUTE! I saw one at the Exotic Expo in Hillsboro last time I was there and I've been smitten ever since. Where abouts are you? I'm in Eugene. Can I come visit? hehehe.