Catching up again with Mr. Mandua

Posted by: Tamandua.Girl / Category: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Let's see if I can get caught up and not forget to much.

So Mandua is slowly coming out of his shell. He was happily paying with the stuffed raccoon on his own on the 15th so let him be while I went with Pua to do her rounds. Later Pua went to the closet wanting to pull her rope up for a treat. Mandua had been down on the clothes bar but came up behind her and "attacked". Having been goosed she dropped her treat and turned on him. She backed him up onto the window shelf and I pulled him down. No injuries or pulled hair.

He has staked out the closet as his territory now, sleeping in there most nights. First night Mandua came down from the closet bed for food but was nervous and I had to carry him to the cage food bowl. Pua was begging me so I brought him over for a sniff. We have since compromised and I put his food on the window shelf.

Mandua finely decided to explore on the 18th and he found his way onto Pua's tower while I was playing with her. She went up there to chase him off but he shoved her off her tower instead.

I guess she needed knocked off her pedestal a little bit, lol. She still very much likes his scent and is good when I hold him for her to sniff. They just need some time to get used to each other and lay down some rules.

This happened before he peed on my shirt in the closet. Which came as a shock when I went to clean up and found crystals in his urine.

Crystals in Tamandua urine
I've not dealt with that before but Mandua's owner knew more about crystals and what can cause them. He has been quit inactive since he got here and not drinking a much. So I made sure he drank more, mixing water in his food and took him out for daily walks in the yard and after a few days his urine looks normal again. His urine stream has looked good and uninterrupted. I did call the vet about it but the vet tech said they need an actual urine sample to test and not just the crystals. That's a pretty difficult task with an anteater so very glad things cleared up.

He's has some issues int he yard behaviorally. After he gets worked up he starts charging me or any critters nearby like Jake or Quasi. It may be he's trying to play but I'm not sure. The one day he just wanted to nap in the yard then when I got him up and running around he started that. Last night we played first then went out and he was fine and just when I was steeling my nerve to let him get me when he charges to see if it's play or not.

Have played with him by hand a couple times but he does pinch a little rough for my taste. Still nothing like Eldorado pinches so we play till he gets rough then let him get the toy instead. Told he didn't play like that before so he may just need to learn to play gentler. Think he may be young enough to learn that.

So the 20th Mandua was sick of his soupy food & found his way to the drier & ate Pua's food while I was playing with her. Then he went behind the washer. He wanted to stay there. That's not a place to live so I lured him out as far as I could with a treat then moved him to the playpen. I was also worried about Pua's reaction as she would get really worked up and freaked out when Eldorado would get back there. He went back to sleep in the closet.

(looking over my tweets here) After playing with him in the tree house(Closet shelf bed) he curled up around the noid.

21st
Mandua came down at 8am explored a little then made his way to Pua's food. After a bit she realized he was there & was coming to chase him away. So I moved him to his food. After eating he came back but was looking behind the washer. Pua came out & they had a face off. Both stood claws raised. He backed off since he is smaller.

He went behind the sink, she decided that was far enough away & went to bed. He came out after a bit & went back up but went over the tower. He dug into the pet clothes basket and went to sleep there. He stayed there all day. He'd look up when I would go by and I brought him a drink a couple times. He woke before Pua and played with me then I took him out and he ran the yard, peed and had a nice formed but huge pile of poop.

Pua enjoys sniffing over his trail when she goes out.

Mandua sleeping oddly
Mandua sleeping oddly
I think doe to there being so much poop in him at the time though he later moved to lay on his side.

Mandua on the closet wall
Mandua on the closet wall

Treat time
Treat time

Feeling lazy
Feeling lazy

Got food?
Got food?

Chillin in the "tree" house
Chillin in the "tree" house

Mandua climbs the wall
Mandua climbs the wall

Eating over the window
Eating over the window

Climbing the closet wall
Climbing the closet wall
He managed to make it all the way up

Mandua in the pet clothes basket
Mandua in the pet clothes basket

Later in the day
Later in the day

Playing with me
Playing with me
He was nice a little bit then was pinching hard so I got the noid for him.

Wrestling a noid
Wrestling a noid

Poking a noid's eye
Poking a noid's eye


1 comments:

  1. S.K.Y. Says:

    If you ever do need to get a urine sample, I got a great tip from a vet tech. Buy a big soup ladle. Train the pet to let you hold the soup ladle around and under them for treats. Follow them around with the ladle until they're used to is. Then when they pee, sneak the ladle under them and catch it. It works well for dogs--don't know about tamanduas...