Bathing & Supplies
BATHING & NAILS
Tenrecs don’t get water baths with soap, they should instead be given sand & allowed to self bath. Tenrecs use the sand to exfoliate their skin to keep it healthy. They bathe by grabbing sand with their front paws, wetting it with their saliva, & then scrubbing it onto their face, head, back, etc. You want to use a container to put the sand in so they can climb into it to sand bathe & sand won’t go everywhere in the cage. The container should be no less than 8”Lx4”Wx4”H (large enough for them to easily move in). Reptile sand baths containers, ceramic or porcelain bowls, plastic bowls, etc are all good to use for their sand bath container. You want to give them clean sand safe for animals, reptile sand (never calcium/calc sand, it can be fatal if they ingest any of it because it clumps when wet & will cause an impaction inside of them), non dyed children’s play sand (you must bake it to sterilize it), or hamster/chinchilla sand (no chinchilla dust, it is too fine & could harm their lungs, eyes, & ears).
As for their nails, tenrec nails are long & need to be in order for them to be able to grip & climb. They don’t usually need their nails trimmed unless they’re not able to wear their nails down on wood while climbing, this is how they would wear their nails down in the wild. Only if you notice their nails starting to flop over when they walk or they’re getting close to curling into their feet, then do they need their nails trimmed a little. Don’t cut their nails short because then they’ll be unable to climb properly & may injure themselves if they tried to. If you need to trim their nails, use regular human nail clippers, baby nail clippers, or cuticle clippers.
RECOMMENDED SAND BATH CONTAINERS
RECOMMENDED SAND
RECOMMENDED NAIL CLIPPERS
Tenrecs don’t get water baths with soap, they should instead be given sand & allowed to self bath. Tenrecs use the sand to exfoliate their skin to keep it healthy. They bathe by grabbing sand with their front paws, wetting it with their saliva, & then scrubbing it onto their face, head, back, etc. You want to use a container to put the sand in so they can climb into it to sand bathe & sand won’t go everywhere in the cage. The container should be no less than 8”Lx4”Wx4”H (large enough for them to easily move in). Reptile sand baths containers, ceramic or porcelain bowls, plastic bowls, etc are all good to use for their sand bath container. You want to give them clean sand safe for animals, reptile sand (never calcium/calc sand, it can be fatal if they ingest any of it because it clumps when wet & will cause an impaction inside of them), non dyed children’s play sand (you must bake it to sterilize it), or hamster/chinchilla sand (no chinchilla dust, it is too fine & could harm their lungs, eyes, & ears).
As for their nails, tenrec nails are long & need to be in order for them to be able to grip & climb. They don’t usually need their nails trimmed unless they’re not able to wear their nails down on wood while climbing, this is how they would wear their nails down in the wild. Only if you notice their nails starting to flop over when they walk or they’re getting close to curling into their feet, then do they need their nails trimmed a little. Don’t cut their nails short because then they’ll be unable to climb properly & may injure themselves if they tried to. If you need to trim their nails, use regular human nail clippers, baby nail clippers, or cuticle clippers.
RECOMMENDED SAND BATH CONTAINERS
RECOMMENDED SAND
RECOMMENDED NAIL CLIPPERS
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