Because of this, they do not need to eat a lot. Sloths have a very slow metabolism and the lowest mammal body temperature. Some species are only active at night while others are active day or night. They hang from tree branches by their long hooked claws. The algae will tint their, grayish brown, coat green. Due to their slow movement, they will have algae growing on their fur. A sloth has long coarse hair and moves very slow. The three-toed has 4 different species which are called the Brown-throated sloth, Pale-throated sloth, Pygmy three-toed sloth and the Maned sloth.Ī sloth is a mammal that weighs from 7 to 19 pounds and found in the rainforest of Central and South America.

The two-toed has 2 species which are called Linnaeus's two-toed sloth and the Hoffmann's two-toed sloth. Sloths are split into 2 types, the two-toed and the three-toed sloth. The babies stay with their mother for up to four years and ride around clinging to their mother's belly for weeks after birth. Sloths give birth to just one baby at a time, after a gestational period of between six months and eleven months, depending on the species. Mating and birth both take place in the trees. Sloth courtship starts when a female screams a mating call to let any male in the area know that she is available for mating. Aside from climbing, the only activity they engage in is swimming, so sloths in captivity would benefit from pool time. They are not very social animals and prefer solitude. In captivity, sloths will sleep 15 to 20 hours per day, which leaves little time for enrichment activities. Sloth EnrichmentĪ sloths life revolves around eating and sleeping. The leafy diet that the sloth eats is relatively low in nutritional value so the animal doesn't derive much energy from their food, which may be why the animal moves so slowly. It can sometimes take up to one month for the animal to fully digest one meal. Sloth DietĪlthough sloths have four-part stomachs to help them digest the tough leaves that make up the bulk of their diet, they are slow digesters.

An enclosure for sloths in captivity should emphasis vertical space more than floor space, with ample trees and branches for climbing. The only time they venture down from the trees is to relieve themselves or to swim. They spend the majority of their time in trees, even sleeping curled up in the crook of a tree. The Smithsonian’s National Zoo describes sloths as “a walking ecosystem,” because their hair harbors moths, ticks and more.Sloths are found in the tall trees of the tropical rain forests and cloud forests of Central and South America. In the wild, they live in northern South America and slink around the tree canopy, descending every few weeks to use the restroom, according to Andy Schertz, one of the Zoo’s curators and top sloth experts. Linne’s two-toed sloths - also known as southern two-toed sloths - are one of the few types of sloths not vulnerable to extinction. And here’s some more info about sloths for the curious: After that, the Zoo will provide it a mix of sweet potatoes, carrots, squash and biscuit gels cut into French fry-sized pieces. This baby’s older brother is named after a hairy Star Wars species: Wookiee.įor the first couple weeks, the baby will be nursing. Once the sex has been figured out, naming contest will happen. So the Zoo has sent a sample of its hair to an out-of-town lab to make the determination. The sloth’s genitals are too small to make it easy for the zookeepers to assign a sex without disrupting the pup’s relationship with its mother. It will be hanging out there - literally, 25 feet above the ground - for the next few weeks. The first thing the baby did after being born was to climb up on its mother’s belly and latch onto a nipple. In the meantime, here’s what we do know about the baby sloth: 26, at the Denver Zoo.īefore you ask, no, it doesn’t have a name yet, but the zoo will hold a naming contest - and we’ll let you know when that’s happening.

Charlotte, a 26-year-old Linne’s two-toed sloth, and Elliot, a 31-year-old, gave birth to a brand new baby on Jan.

Sloth baby