Living with Anteaters

So been awhile between posts on Eldorado. First few days he did good but he was out of his element, jet lagged, and scrawny. Now he is a good weight, settled, healed from all his injuries and ready to take on the world. So progress is very slow though he is calming down and tries to whack me less often. He lets me pet him during his ketchup treat. The biggest problem is when I let him out he wants to go to Pua. He ignores all her warnings so I have to keep him away. He will attack the blanket or towel I use to move him. He was really wound up about it one night and I had to let him attack a quilt and drag him away so I could wrap him up in it to get him back into the cage.

I've now heard from others that these Paraguayan vested tamanduas are more aggressive than the Guyana ones. No one knew that going in since they have not been available for so long. I used to say I had never heard of an aggressive Tamandua. I will have to revise that to I've not heard of an aggressive non-vested, regardless of age. So the Paraguayan ones are less suited for house pet type of pets though you will probably do okay with a baby even they can be intimidating I've heard though should tame down much better.

This boy is bossy more than he is scared of anything. The other night Eldorado took my finger gently and was poking then suddenly gripped it real tight and took a swing at me with his other claw. I've avoid all attempts of his to get me so far. Maybe I'm just not being bold enough but unlike Pua or Stewie if they did strike would just hit you and pull back, I've seen Eldorado sit there mauling the towel I grabbed him with for quit a bit after I've let him go.

Will he come around. Yeah but it's been a couple months and it could be many more. In the mean time Pua wont even think about trusting him until I do and can show her he's safe. They also seem as though they do not speak the same language. He doesn't give warning hisses for example and he just ignores hers. I think he was alpha tamandua of his territory and he still wants to be king of the jungle.

So, I hate to say it and it's not 100% set is stone yet but pretty sure, that Eldorado will likely not be staying here. There is a nice lady with fantastic set up not terribly far away, just annoyingly far. She's at one end of the state and we are in the middle. She has some anteaters already and her place would be more suited to him and she is used to handling wild critters. She will hold him while we "test out" her Guyana male to see if Pua will be happier with one of her own kind.

Her male is tame and really quite docile. Even her little girl can carry him if needed. He's apparently not phased by anything, other than smoke. This should make introducing him to Pua much easier. Eldorado will also do better in a better environment where he doesn't have to be fussed about trying to get to the girl(Pua) all the time and struggling his base instincts to fight for his girl, which means fighting me since I'm the one stopping him. I worry if i let him get to her and them tussle it out that it could hurt our relationship as she expects me to protect her.

We are responsible for Eldorado and if he doesn't wind up staying where he's going or coming back here then we will make sure he finds a great place. He's gorgeous so I'd love to keep him but I think it's in the best interest of all the animals involved to do this switch. I just have some things to straighten out first so he has a couple weeks or so to decide if he wants to be more friendly but I think he would be happier in a less house pet type environment than I can give. I'd want him to be something he's not and probably wont ever be.

Bottom line though. Pua hates him. That throws a serious monkey wrench into the taming bit.

Last night was a night where we had some baby steps in the right direction though. Afternoon tried to lure him out for a treat to see if I could slip a harness on while he was eating but he only came as far as the threshold of the cage. He was balanced on the wire so had one hand hanging in air and I put my hand under his for support. Without thinking about it he put his weight on me then later noticed and sniffed me but wasn't fussed about it. He cleaned his cup then went to groom.

Later he came out and went under the bed and just peaked out from under the corner near Pua's area. Then Pua got up and went for her wake up treat and he headed onto the washer. She hissed and acted like she might come down and get him so I scooped him up but told him he was a good boy as he wasn't bad about fighting that time. He did get out again later after Pua was closed in my room for the night.

He's still cutest when he's sleeping

Afternoon grooming
He let me scratch him some that day as he groomed but didn't go for that stuff today. He lets me pet neck and shoulders, plus ears and the head some but isn't comfortable with lower.

Hugging his tail

In the little house
Was the only pic he let me get

Having a treat
He didn't let me get a harness on him while eating this time. No touching under the arms or under the neck(throat area).

Healed tail
The other side has more scaring but he's using the end just fine now and is all healed, no more scabs.

Happily last night he didn't head straight for Pua.

seems to still like Pua's scent

Going up

Burrowing in the play pen
He came to the end and I let him sniff me and after a sniff he made a move to whack me but I pet him some anyway as he burrowed a bit more.

He climbed up on his cage and went all around the top confused about how to get back in for awhile though eventually found his way in. I filmed it but the video wont upload.

Lazy afternoon