# Have you ever had a pet sloth? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 30, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-pet-sloth/515758 "2009-10-30T18:48:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-pet-sloth/515758/1 "2009-10-30T18:48:56Z")
If so, I’d like to know your experience. In particular, I wonder how pet sloths get along with children and other pets. Are they especially scared of dogs? Do cats ever try to play with a sloth? Is it okay for a young child to play with a sloth? Also: What kind of foods are dangerous for a sloth to get into? Will I have to make special alterations to my house for safety reasons? Thanks for any advice. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-pet-sloth/515758/2 "2009-10-30T20:15:12Z")
While I haven’t actually had a pet sloth, I have handled captive ones, know a bit about their habits. I would not recommend a two-toed sloth as a pet, because they are larger, much more aggressive, and faster than three-toed sloths, and are capable of giving a pretty serious bite. Three-toed sloths are pretty docile. However, I would not recommend that children or pets be allowed to play with even with one of these. Although they are not very fast, if they did manage to clasp you with their claws they could exert enough pressure to give you a painful pinch. And three-toed sloths do not survive in captivity very well. I don’t know about what foods if any might be dangerous for a sloth. In nature they eat a variety of leaves. To keep one you would mainly need a place for it to hang on. When active, it will try to clamber around on things, and could do damage to furniture. They typically defecate once a week, descending to the ground to do so. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-pet-sloth/515758/3 "2009-10-30T20:29:27Z")
Never, ever, debauch a sloth. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-pet-sloth/515758/4 "2009-10-30T21:35:33Z")
Sloth is one of my pet vices, does that count? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-pet-sloth/515758/5 "2009-10-30T21:41:01Z")
To [expand](http://www.dianalutz.com/quotations/sloth.html) [upon](http://alassea.net/quotes/books/am.php) what **muldoonthief** alluded to. Does one properly pronouce “sloth” to rhyme with “both” or with “goth”? ---
**Author:** ![jgio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e79b87/32.png) [@jgio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jgio)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-pet-sloth/515758/6 "2013-02-20T09:12:13Z")
I know this post is a little late… and there is a good chance you will not see this reply but in case someone else reads it and was wondering, ‘sloth’ does not rhyme with ‘both’ or ‘goth’. it is pronounced like SLAWTH… although i’ve noticed people from .AU or the UK pronouncing it as though it rhymes with the word you suggested, “both”. And for the record, no sloth should ever be kept as pets. ---
**Author:** ![midnight-dreary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@midnight-dreary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/midnight-dreary)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-pet-sloth/515758/7 "2013-02-20T10:28:29Z")
I’m Australian, and I’ve never heard the word sloth pronounced to rhyme with both. do sloths actually ‘play’? I can’t see such a sedentary animal playing… ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-pet-sloth/515758/8 "2013-02-20T13:11:36Z")
[Kristen Bell] starts crying [/KB] ---
**Author:** ![CatherineZeta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@CatherineZeta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatherineZeta)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-pet-sloth/515758/9 "2013-02-20T13:28:55Z")
I’m obsessed with sloths, but from what I understand they’re fragile creatures who can very easily fall ill and die in an environment that’s not the jungle. Sloths who are used as “pets” or “rent-a-sloths” (whatever it was Kristen Bell had) are usually babies who’ve been taken from their mothers and their mothers killed by poachers. So sloths are not good pets for those reasons (aside from the fact that I’m assuming they’re illegal in most jurisdictions). If you’re into sloths I’d recommend checking this place out, or at least watching their videos on youtube! [http://www.slothsanctuary.com/](http://www.slothsanctuary.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-pet-sloth/515758/10 "2013-02-20T15:08:27Z")
Zombie Sloths = Band name 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-pet-sloth/515758/11 "2013-02-20T15:37:14Z")
Oh, heck no! Cleaning up poop once a week, yelling “Get off the table!” and then waiting 3 days for it to happen, uh uh. Sloths are way to much work. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-pet-sloth/515758/12 "2013-02-20T15:41:13Z")
Not as pets, but I’ve had them living in my house. Eventually they get jobs and move out. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-pet-sloth/515758/13 "2013-02-20T16:08:37Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Not as pets, but I’ve had them living in my house. Eventually they get jobs and move out. Not always - [ask **Astro**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=682596). StG ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-pet-sloth/515758/14 "2013-02-20T16:44:16Z")
I assume you don’t “Need answer fast”. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-pet-sloth/515758/15 "2013-02-20T17:29:58Z")
> [@CatherineZeta](#): > > If you’re into sloths I’d recommend checking this place out, or at least watching their videos on youtube! [http://www.slothsanctuary.com/](http://www.slothsanctuary.com/) Squeeeeee! Oh, my god, the baby sloths, so cuuute! ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-had-a-pet-sloth/515758/16 "2013-02-20T17:54:22Z")
I have a pet sloth. The technical name for it is “Labrador retriever.” It acts like a sloth in all respects. Except for the eating leaves and only pooping once a week parts.