Babysitting

There are perks to having a Tenrec.

Many people think "Oh its spiky and scared of me what good could it be?".

Well, once socialised to you and your household, Tenrecs become an amazing, low maintenance pet! Other than some spot cleaning, feeding and daily dose of strokes and kisses they are quite independent!

As the tittle of this post Babysitting I'd like to talk about when the family goes away and the Tenrecs must stay.

We are going away for this weekend and are leaving the Tenrecs in the care of my boyfriends brother. He is not very interested in them and has never held them or paid much interest... Luckily, this doesn’t matter!


In the case of you not being there for 1 or 2 days the Tenrecs are fine as long as they have food and water and a clean cage.  It really also helps to leave pre-prepared meals for them like meal worms or chicken in the fridge to be given to them every night. This gives them their fresh food every night and the care taker isn’t put through too much of a hassle.



When you get home from your weekend away make sure you give them lots of love! They may be a little groggy because you weren’t there to hold them the previous 2 days but they will come around quickly.

Food Glorious Food!

"What's for dinner Mom?"

"Yeah! I'm SOO hungry!" 

Everyone knows the struggle of "What's for dinner?". Needless to say its not any easier with these little buggers.

Like any child Tenrecs have their favourite food and their least favourite food. As a general rule worms are a delicacy and never looked over, but you do get the VERY picky eaters, like Bubbles. Bubbles has a taste for Iams dried cat food and the occasional dried meal worm with a sprinkle of Calcium powder.

Her sister, on the other hand, has eaten things from pear baby food to egg and spinach! She is the complete opposite to her sister! She is ferocious with Super Worms and hunts them down with lightning accuracy!

The list of things that are safe to feed Tenrecs isn't terribly well known. Here are some that we know are OK!

BUGS:

Mealworms

Waxworms

Superworms

Silkworms

Crickets

Cat food is considered a staple and should always be available. High Protein GOOD QUALITY cat food is best. Iams Kitten food is high in protein but like Bubbles, some Tenrecs only like certian brands and flavours of cat food. Best is to ask your breeder what they used.

It should be emphasised that cat food and bugs DO NOT meet all of their dietary requirements. Calcium and multivitamins should be introduced through a powder on their dried food or as a liquid in their water. Zolcal-d is a water based supplement that has Calcium and Vitamin D3. It is considered the best by many. 

Other than conventional bugs and dried food you can give them flash frozen mealworms. These are not as nutritious as living mealworms but our Tenrecs love the crunchy snack. This is also where I introduce calcium into their diet. Sprinkled over the worms. Any brand should be fine. Most exotic pet stores and fish pet stores would have these. They can be pricey depending on the brand but are a delicious snack for the Tenrecs.

Some people advise that too many dried worms can cause constipation. While I have never experienced this from dried worms we did have Bruce go through a bit of a culture shock when we got him. He developed a lump in the bottom of his abdomen and didnt want to eat anything. This was due to stress mostly and new kinds of foods. 

In this event we introduced Soft Kitten Food, Pumpkin and Veggies. Pumpkin and Kitten Food are natural laxatives for them. Best is canned pumpkin. This is not available where I live but eventually regular boiled pumpkin did the trick and the lump passed! 

With regards to veggies and fruits in our experience the boys were never really interested but most veggies and fruit are fine. One of the Tenrec breeders we follow gives apple, melon, courgette, carrot, occasional pear, peppers and sweet corn. Tenrecs natural habitat is in the vegetation bed of Madagascar. Most fruit and veg is naturally available to them when they choose to eat it. Think of veg to a Tenrec as grass to a Dog. More of an extra for the sake of digestion instead of a dietary staple.

I have seen Buttercup eat broccoli and spinach and then go ham for some Pear Purity (baby food). And the next day steal some boiled chicken and run off with it! She eats EVERYTHING! 

Chicken, Ground Beef, even Liver can be given to them on a weekly basis (the same with veg). Keeping them interested in their food can be more tricky than actually thinking of things to feed them. All meats should be cook and unseasoned. I take a bit of meat and put it in a small bowl, then cover the meat in boiling water. This cooks the small piece through in a few seconds and then you can chop it up nice and fine and serve it to them once cool. They tend to like meat more than veg and it is better for them to have more meat and protein than veg since the veg tends to give them the runs if they eat too much.

Other than these basics I would advise against most other foods. Tenrecs are natural insectivores and should be fed more insects than other regular foods. 

See other Tenrec Parents responses here - Lesser Tenrec Survey

Handling Your Tenrec

They are SPIKY!
They are FAST!
They have TEETH!

And yes, they BITE!

BUT! The more you love them, the less the bites hurt....

They are not domestic animals. They were not bred to love you and come when you call.
They are exotic animals that are amazing to have as a pet as long as you keep your wits about you.

Tenrecs have their own personalities. Of the 4 we have only Hedgwick has ever bitten. He gets annoyed and lets you know about it! The better you get to know your Tenrecs personality the faster you’ll learn to read their moods.  

There have been many a time where I was holding Hedgwick and out of no where - CHOMP!

He didnt mean to hurt me... but I had just had some dinner. Or I had just fed them some worms and he makes this little face that says it all...

"But MOM!! You smell like FOOD!" 

 

 Hedgwick then proceeds to look all adorable so that he is forgiven and given more snacks!

"Mom look how cute I am! Rub my tummy."  

 The Girls on the other hand are an entirely different story. Since they are very new to us they are still very cautious about letting us handle them. Not to mention they are very quickly becoming VERY pregnant. They are slowly warming up to us though. Buttercup has an insatiable taste for worms and isn’t scared to ask for them! Bubbles is a bit more picky and pretty much only seems to eat cat food. 

Both of the girls are very skittish and tend to hide rather than come and see what is going on. They are also older than the boys and are not likely to become as tame as they are.

 

 Buttercup Left

Bubbles Right

Hedgwick and Bruce are the definition of tame. From coming when I open the door to check out what’s happening to running to me when I open the blankets on the bed. They have been socialised to the point of kisses and belly rubs without a fuss. (Except when there is food. Food is more important than ANYTHING ELSE!)

Basically if you are wanting to know how to hold your Tenrec and get them more accustom to you, start with picking them up. Let them sit with you on the couch under some blankets to help them feel safe. Slowly pet them. 

DO NOT feed them by hand! This will teach them to associate your smell with food and you will get a good CHOMP! 

Pick them up by the full of their torso or let them lie on your hand.

DO NOT pick them up by the feet or head or other extremity!

The more confident you are, the more comfortable they will be. 

Tenrec Introductions

Hi Everyone,
I’m the Tenrec Lady. I have blue and purple hair, a very soft loving heart and a kick ass attitude!
This is Hedgwick, he is mommy’s boy.

 Hedgwick is my first baby boy whom we rescued from an exotic pet store that had him in a tiny cage with only cat food to eat and no friends to speak of.

He is only interested in snuggling with his mommy and eating worms. Hedgwick loves snuggles and scratches behind the ear... and occasionally the taste of human flesh...

After having Hedgwick for about 2 months we decided it is time to get him a friend. 

Enter "Fifi" AKA Bruce.

Bruce started life off as a beautiful undercover female and promised to deliver many baby Tenrecs. He kept this game up until he had a comfy life with us and then decided to surprise the world with his transition into a little bugger of a BOY with an appetite for adventure, whatever the cost!

Despite both of our little babies being boys, they got along surprisingly well considering males normally tear each other to shreds. Hedgwick was extremely curious about his new friend and I think just happy to not be alone any more. They enjoyed running around and eating together. Hedgwick introduced Bruce to the delicacies of the freeze dried meal worm and taught him how to hunt the illusive human finger. Bruce never cared much for human flesh but rather to play hide and seek with the humans, sending them into sheer panic for the fun of it!

This is MY friend! Mine!

Nom Nom Nom... Mmmm food...

The boys had been happily cohabitating for a few weeks when Bruce’s' previous Mom phoned up with an emergency. She had to move house and there was no space for her Tenrecs. We pondered for a few days on how to help and finally managed to get all 3 of her males a new home and we (being the soft hearted squishy pushovers we are) took on 2 fully grown females!

They were to become our Baby Mama's! Taking in Bubbles and Buttercup was a huge stress on me at first. We were functioning just right with the 2 boys and we had just found space for their new cage in our kind of cramped apartment... Now we were throwing an even bigger cage and 2 pregnant females into the mix! Tenrec Lady was very reluctant at first, but my stud of a boyfriend insisted that we help.

Once having Introduced the girls we noticed an immediate change in the boys. They threw their friendship out the window at the first sniff of that Tenrec booty!

"Are we going to a new home?" 

"My girlfriend!"

"Keep her, mine's better!"

Now that the girls are settled, they are getting plumper by the day and we are expecting Tiny little Tenrecs by the end of the year!