You have read often about the good work being done at Aviarios Sloth Sanctuaryhere on ZooBorns. Sloth Sanctuary owner Judy Avey-Arroyo is always at work to raise the orphaned baby Sloths that arrive to be healthy and strong. Since the babies are growing up without their mother's antibody-filled milk, they're much more at risk of infection. In the video below, you'll learn of two little ones who are suffering from mange -- a skin infection that is caused by parasitic mites.
But it's another of Judy's proven home remedies to the rescue! The babies get a total body hair cut to remove the place the mites would live. Then, a soothing balm of sulfer and lard skin gets slathered from top to bottom to suffocate any remaining mites. But to keep the babies from licking it all off, the babies are wrapped in colorful bandages... which end up looking a lot like onesies. Watch it all in the video below.
On February 2, a brand new baby Two-toed Sloth came into the world at Schönbrunn Zoo. This is the third offspring of parents Alberta and Einstein, who have lived together in the zoo since 2006. After more than two weeks, the first pictures of the Austrian Zoo’s new addition have finally been revealed.
"Newborn two-toed sloths use the stomach of the mother as a cradle and climb, well camouflaged, into the cuddly fur. As a consequence the baby was very difficult to photograph," explained Zoo director Dagmar Schratter.
As described by keepers, the little one has tousled hair, big black eyes and a nose like a wall socket. The little animal measures just under 8 inches (20 cm) and weighs less than a pound (400 grams). Its gender is not yet known.
The slow moving animals originate from the South American rainforest where they feed off leaves, flower buds and fruit. The creatures get their name from their two toes with which they hang upside down, almost completely motionless, from the rainforest branches. They sleep in this position for a minimum of 14 hours every day! The development of the baby is almost as slow as their everyday lives, with the offspring only attempting to hang by themselves after six months.
A young Sloth born at Bristol Zoo Gardens has finally gone on show after 10 months intensive hand-rearing by keepers. Sid the sloth was born in the Zoo’s nocturnal house, Twilight World, last April, weighing just 500g (1.1lbs). Her mother, Light Cap, was taken ill shortly after giving birth and underwent a spell in the Zoo’s veterinary hospital which prevented her from caring for her baby. Despite making a full recovery, Light Cap was no longer producing enough milk to feed her baby and the youngster, who was named Sid after the sloth in the popular Ice Age movie, had to be cared for round the clock by a team of dedicated keepers.
In the first few months of her life, Sid needed feeding every three hours, including through the night. She was fed a combination of puppy milk formula and goat’s milk. She also had checks by the zoo vet on an almost daily basis to make sure she was developing well. The hard work has paid off and now, after almost a year, Sid has re-joined her mother on show in the Zoo’s nocturnal house, Twilight World. She has developed into a strong, healthy and inquisitive youngster, with a particular penchant for green beans.
Wednesday mornings are baby sloth bath day at the Aviaros del Caribe-Sloth Sanctuary in Costa Rica. First they get shampooed, then get rubbed in an organic concoction to keep them parasite free, then they drip dry for a little before they are toweled off. Afterwards, they get a colorful treat for being so good, and drift off into nap land. You can read more about these babies on the Sanctuary's sloth blog.
This video, from a recent documentary, includes an ad but was just too cute not to show.
Filmmaker Lucy Cooke's full length hour-long documentary "Too Cute! Baby Sloths" premiers this Saturday, December 17th at 8pm EST on Animal Planet. The film (and trailer below) features lots of baby Sloths, the residents of The Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica, the world's only Sloth sanctuary. Most are orphans whose mothers have been killed by power lines or cars. These orphans have a new, if slightly unconventional mom in celebrated Sloth whisperer Judy Arroyo.
Two of the biggest stars of the film (and trailer) are Violet and Sebastian - the sanctuary's first ever twins. While Lucy was filming they both got sick with a skin condition and had to pay a visit to the sanctuary 'slothpital'. Violet got wrapped up in pink bandages and Sebastian was given specialized sloth pajamas made out of sports socks! (Sebastian in his jammies above)
Judy now has over 160 sloths at the sanctuary which is a lot of mouths to feed. The sloths chomp through 40 tons of vegetables every year. You can help keep these slothful friends fed by making a donation to the Sanctuary today!
Back in June, we brought you the story of Sid the Sloth, who had to be hand-raised round the clock after her mother took ill shortly after birth. Well, the hard work has paid off as Bristol Zoo’s baby Two-Toed Sloth is now nearly four months old and has developed into a strong, healthy and inquisitive youngster, with a particular penchant for green beans. Senior keeper, Karla Tucker, is one of the team of keepers who has raised her. She said: “We are really pleased with Sid’s progress. She is very bright, alert and active, and is now four times the weight she was at birth. “We now feed her seven times a day, between 6am and 8pm, with milk formula and vegetables such as cooked sweet potato and green beans, which she loves. She still goes home with a keeper every night so that we can keep a close eye on her and give her evening feeds.” She added: “It will be a while yet before she goes on show with her parents in Twilight World, as she is still very dependent on us to look after her. She is a fantastic animal and she loves people. It is lovely to have this rare opportunity to hand-rear a baby sloth, although we only hand-rear animals as a last resort.”
Sidone (Sid for short) is a five week old baby sloth, being cared for round the clock by a team of dedicated keepers at Bristol Zoo. She was born in Twilight World to mother, Light Cap, and weighed around 500g (1.1lbs) at birth. But Light Cap was taken ill shortly after giving birth and had to receive veterinary treatment. After a stay in the Zoo’s on-site veterinary centre, Light Cap made a full recovery and was returned to Twilight World. However, she was no longer producing enough milk to feed her baby and keepers had no choice but to intervene to hand-rear Sid in order to save her. The youngster, who has been named after Sid the sloth in the popular Ice Age movie, is believed to be a girl, but sloths are very difficult to sex. She is being looked after by zoo keepers in a special room behind-the-scenes of Twilight World.
Now five weeks old, she weighs 537g (1.2lbs) and is growing well. But she has needed a lot of care from her keepers, including almost daily checks by the zoo vet, as explained by Bristol Zoo’s Overseer of Mammals, Rob Rouse. He said: “Four keepers have been intensively caring for Sid since she was three days old and we’re thrilled that she is doing so well. She is strong, healthy and very inquisitive, and she loves people.”
The Rosamond Gifford Zoo is pleased to announce the birth of its 44th Hoffmann’s Two-toed Sloth. Ocabo (Oh-cob-oh) was born on February 9; he is the son of Bite Lip and Beauregard. The name, Ocabo, comes from a Latin American word meaning “head,” and was chosen because of the young Sloth’s exceptionally large skull. After some initial supplementation from zoo staff, Ocabo is thriving and can be seen on exhibit with the other Sloths.
A one-week-old Hoffman’s two-toed sloth clings to its mother today at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo. The youngster was born on Feb. 15 to the 20-year-old, first-time mom. Despite the mother being new and inexperienced, animal care staff reports that she is being very attentive and caring to the youngster. The baby is nursing, clinging well, and appears healthy. The baby has not yet been named, and its sex is currently unknown. The mother and baby can been seen daily in the zoo’s Regenstein Small Mammal-Reptile House.
Photo 1 and 3 credits: Lincoln Park Zoo / John Kortas. Photo 2 credits: Lincoln Park Zoo / Julie Ann Platt
Keepers at Loro Parque, in Tenerife, were seeing double this September when mother sloth Bimba gave birth to two a set of twins. Following the birth, the Loro Parque veterinary team stepped in to hand-raise one of the babies as the mother was only able to care for one offspring. Staff member Kirsten became a surrogate mum, tending to the baby Two-toed Sloth at the on-site clinic and taking her "new baby" home every night, where it sleeps next to her bed in a make-shift cot with a toy gorilla for company (see the video!). Both sloths are healthy and progressing well and the park will reunite the twins at a later date.
Photo credits: Loro Parque Tenerife / Ulrich Brodde
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