# Keeping sloths



## StephYates (Sep 9, 2013)

Hello,

I am very interested in keeping sloths, to breed and rescue in the UK. My question is, does anyone know the steps of how to go about this and if there are currently any breeders known in the UK? I am not trying to 'mother' a sloth as a pet but being able to keep them, in a suitable environment (like a zoo maintains) is something I am very passionate about and trying to decide if this can be possible where I live.

Thank you for any help


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## MrJsk (Jul 29, 2012)

It's a bit contradicting to breed AND rescue. By breeding, you are potentially adding to the number of sloths that will need to be rescued?


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## UndergrowthSupplies (Nov 17, 2011)

Just how many Sloths do you think there are in the UK that need rescuing? 

I know a fair few people who keep exotic animals but not come across anybody with a Sloth yet so i don't think they are very easy to find


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## StephYates (Sep 9, 2013)

I'd say bred sloths would only need rescuing if they were not living under ideal conditions, which I intend to provide...obviously it is debatable to people if conditions provided in zoos are ideal or if ideal is only from the natural environment but that's a different thread.
I do know of people that own sloths to breed and own as pets in the UK but I'm unaware of the exact number.. you never know the number of people that buy exotics as a trophy animal and are completely incapable of providing them with the correct care so rescuing them is always an option.


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## MrJsk (Jul 29, 2012)

StephYates said:


> I'd say bred sloths would only need rescuing if they were not living under ideal conditions, which I intend to provide...obviously it is debatable to people if conditions provided in zoos are ideal or if ideal is only from the natural environment but that's a different thread.


I mean once you sold the offspring, you can not 100% guarantee that it will end up in good hands. How long would it be before the person who buys from you gets bored and sells it on.. that could lead to the sloth being in need of rescuing.

Unless you plan to keep all offspring??


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## StephYates (Sep 9, 2013)

As far as I'm aware the average litter size is 1 with a gestation period of 6 months so it would definitely depend on the size of the sanctuary and the number of breeding females and how often pregnancy occurred, but they are all variable factors. I would never sell to someone wanting a sloth as a pet,rather it would be to like places or zoos. But as I said, that would be dependant on how large scale this could become, which I'm not sure is likely.


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## MrJsk (Jul 29, 2012)

StephYates said:


> As far as I'm aware the average litter size is 1 with a gestation period of 6 months so it would definitely depend on the size of the sanctuary and the number of breeding females and how often pregnancy occurred, but they are all variable factors. I would never sell to someone wanting a sloth as a pet,rather it would be to like places or zoos. But as I said, that would be dependant on how large scale this could become, which I'm not sure is likely.


Fair enough :2thumb:

You have obviously thought this through good and proper. Oh I see, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. Do you know if there are many breeding / conservation projects going on for sloths in zoo's??

If you go ahead with this, it would be interesting to see the updates of your progress. Good luck, hope it all works out well : victory:


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## elmthesofties (Aug 24, 2012)

StephYates said:


> I would never sell to someone wanting a sloth as a pet,rather it would be to like places or zoos.


I'm not too sure on the exact regulations so tell me if I'm wrong...
What I've heard is that most zoos in the UK swap their animals instead of buying them. And I'm not sure how many private collectors there are, because I am under the impression that sloths are not the easiest animals to house and I'm not sure if any of the captive bred species are in any danger of becoming extinct.

Just something to research, because I would imagine you'd probably be wanting a small amount of income just to assist with feeding and keeping them.


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## mrcriss (Nov 2, 2010)

Even the sloth sanctuary situated in the Costa Rican jungle doesn't purposefully breed them!

I don't think there'd be much chance of you getting any from zoos either.

I've known one person that said they were getting a sloth, but it all fell through. 

In my opinion, there are among the few animals that I believe should just be left in the rainforests (excluding zoos obviously). They're already becoming popular in the US pet market, and I reckon they can do without a similar situation developing throughout the world! 

I KNOW that you certainly won't be "rescuing" any in this country.:whistling2:


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## Specialist Wildlife (Feb 1, 2008)

*Sloth rehoming*



mrcriss said:


> I KNOW that you certainly won't be "rescuing" any in this country.:whistling2:


And I would agree with that MrCriss.
We have rehomed a few Sloth and relocated a few more for the EU studbook and I probably have over a dozen really good zoos waiting for Sloth as part of the studbook.
They are hard to provide good facilities for and even harder to breed and really dont make good 'pets' in any way.


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## OniExpress (Sep 11, 2010)

Ryelle said:


> Just how many Sloths do you think there are in the UK that need rescuing?
> 
> I know a fair few people who keep exotic animals but not come across anybody with a Sloth yet so i don't think they are very easy to find


I _have_ seen them for sale before, somewhere around £2k-£3k each. I don't actually remember seeing anyone mention keeping them, though obviously people do. I wouldn't personally be opposed, but they're probably not in my Top 10 if I won the lottery.


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## stubeanz (Mar 28, 2007)

As people have said rescue pet sloths just don't exist.

'Pet' sloths do exist though but they are incredibly hard to keep, mainly due to a problem they have with their gut bacteria. 
when being transported sloths can stress quite badly, causing them to loose a lot of the beneficial bacteria in their gut, if they loose too much it will be fatal, even zoos have this problem.

I would leave sloth keeping to highly experienced private keepers and good zoos.


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