CHAPTER

49

Feeding and Nutrition of Anteaters

Eduardo V. Valdes and Andrea Brenes Soto

The superorder Xenarthra (former Edentata) is grouped

into two orders, Cingulata (armadillos) and Pilosa (anteaters and sloths). These are special mammals that show
unique traits: (1) the existence of secondary articulations called xenarthrales located between the lumbar
vertebrae and the spinal column; (2) the presence of
fused pelvic bones; and (3) very low metabolic rate and
variable body temperatures, which allow xenarthrans to
conserve energy. They are also highly specialized, but
diverse in terms of dietary needs. Xenarthrans include
strict folivores such as the three-toed sloth (Bradypodidae), omnivore-generalists such as the two-toed sloth
(Choloepus spp.), specialized carnivores such as the giant
anteater (Mymecophaga tridactyla), and the tamanduas
(Tamandua tetradactyla, T. mexicana). Armadillos vary in
their diet, with certain species feeding mainly on ants
and termites but others, such as the common Dasypus
novemcinctus, are omnivorous.

ANTEATERS
A few studies have been published on the dietary habits
of anteaters that show the type and composition of prey
selected by these animals in the wild. The natural diet
of giant anteaters (Mymecophaga tridactyla) is composed
96% of ants and 4% of termites (Camponotus and Solenopsis spp.).16,23 In Brazil, this species of anteater may
consume approximately nine different ant species, but
in June they switch to consume termites.11 Some anteaters, such as the tamandua, are highly specialized predators, consuming mainly ants and termites, but preferring
the reproductive and worker castes.10,17 Occasionally,
anteaters will consume other invertebrates but avoid
prey with large jaws, strong chemical defenses, or spiny
bodies. Anteater tongues may reach out 60cm with an
amazing mobility (150 times/min) and may consume
up to 30,000 ants/day.27 Silky anteaters (Cyclopes
378

didactylus), a nocturnal animal that lives mainly in the

trees, will consume termites and beetles, but their main
diet is ants. Medical issues (e.g., hair loss, conjunctivitis)
has been observed when feeding silky anteaters captive
diets in Peru consisting of a mixture of dog milk replacer,
sunflower oil, barley, and yeast, with vitamin and
mineral supplements.26 Studies on the nutrient content
of several species of termites have found that fat, ash,
and nitrogen levels vary based on termite castes. Species
that tended to be high in ash were low in fat and nitrogen. In the case of Grigiotermes metoecus, they are high
in ash because of geophagy, with soldiers low in fat, but
reproductive and alate forms were high in fat. Alate
nymphs of Procornitermes araujoi had 24% fat; soldiers
and workers of Armitermes had 42% ash and 3.64%
nitrogen. In their natural environment, tamanduas
feed almost exclusively (95% by volume) on termites
(Nasutitermes spp.) and ants (Crematogaster and Camponotus spp.), with the rest of the diet consisting of
stingless bees, heteropterans, unidentified insect pupae,
and seeds.2

NUTRITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
Nutritional Disorders
There have been a number of varied disorders seen in
anteater species relating to nutrition. Rear limb paresis
progressing to complete flaccid paralysis and extensive
hyperostosis of the thoracic, lumbar, and coccygeal vertebrae has been reported in T. mexicalis.3 The symptoms
probably were related to vitamin A toxicosis or excess
vitamin D and/or calcium.21 Similar lesions have been
reported in tamanduas in European zoos that had
been consuming a diet with high levels of vitamin
A (>20,000IU/kg dry matter [DM]).5 However, in one
study of the natural diet of T. tetradactyla, the authors

Chapter 49 Feeding and Nutrition of Anteaters

reported that the mean vitamin A value of Nasutitermes

spp. was 24,773IU/kg. Most of the invertebrates used
in zoo diets will have much lower vitamin A levels,
ranging from approximately 60IU/kg (snails) to
2400IU/kg (earthworms, crickets).5,25 Requirements of
vitamin A in domestic animals such as dogs and cats
range from 5000 to 10,000IU/kg DM.20
Other nutritional problems, including vitamin K
deficiency, liquid feces probably caused by high levels
of grain and lactose products in the diets, and constipation caused by lack of fiber and tongue problems, have
been observed in anteaters kept in North American and
European zoos.18,19 Similar to domestic cats, low blood
and plasma taurine concentrations have been associated
with dilated cardiomyopathy in giant anteaters and used
as early diagnostic indicators.1,28 Taurine whole blood
levels below 300nmol/mL, (normal range = 300 to
600nmol/mL) and plasma levels below 60nmol/mL
(normal range = 60 to 120nmol/mL) might be associated with the presence of cardiomyopathies in giant
anteaters. The use of dog chow as a food item has been
given as the reason for the taurine-deficient dilated cardiomyopathy in giant anteaters.1 Dogs, unlike cats, do
not require taurine in their diet, provided there are sufficient sulfur amino acids for taurine synthesis. Similarly, symptoms of taurine deficiency have been reported
in young tamandua when fed cat and dog milk replacers.15 Vitamin K deficiencies in anteaters had been
reported in the past. This suggested that ant and termite
eaters have the tendency to have hemorrhagic problems
unless supplemented, particularly when the animals
had been treated with antibiotics.12 In the last decade,
diabetes has been reported in T. tetradactyla in zoological institutions.24 In one case, the animal had been fed
a mixture of primate and feline dry chows (see later). At
the Cleveland Zoo, two tamanduas have been diagnosed with diabetes. Retrospective studies on the health
and nutrition of tamandua in Association of Zoos
and Aquariums (AZA) institutions are presently being
conducted at Ohio State UniversityCleveland Metro
Parks Zoo.4

nutritional needs and nutrient requirements of insectivorous mammals, presenting another significant challenge for captive-kept animals. Because anteaters are
specialized carnivores, the nutrient requirements established for domestic cats and dogs may be used as models
when developing and evaluating the nutritional value
of their diets in captivity. These data might be able to
provide a range of nutrient values that can be used as
general guidelines. Historically, in zoological institutions, anteaters are fed diets that consist of mixtures of
different ingredients; these may include milk products,
eggs, ground raw meat (horse or beef), dog chow,
canned dog food, yogurt, commercial carnivore diets,
multivitamins, trace mineral supplements, human
protein supplements, and fruits (e.g., ripe bananas,
oranges, limes, avocados, mangos). Normally, the ingredients were offered as a gruel mix, with additional
vitamin K possibly added. Diets that include these
ingredients have been previously described and were
extensively used when zoos first added anteaters to their
animal collections.7-9,12-14 These diets, developed at
Lincoln Park Zoo, led to some success in maintaining
and reproducing anteaters. However, until the early
1990s, North American and South American zoos had
a poor record of keeping and reproducing tamanduas.3
Poor survival during the early years was probably related
to their specialized dietary requirements. Several problems with the first diets used in zoos led to the development of new diets in the early 1990s.
One of the diets, developed in the early 1990s was
based on a study of the nutrient composition of the
natural diet of tamandua in the Llanos of Venezuela.21
The goal of this study was to obtain baseline information through the collection and analysis of termites, one
of the tamanduas main prey items, as well as tamandua
stomach contents. The summary of the results is given
in Table 49-1. We found that the consumed diet of freeranging tamandua contained 50.9% crude protein,
11.2% fat, 13.9% ash, 31.3% acid detergent fiber,
0.11% calcium, 0.41% phosphorus, 2.52g/g retinol,
44.35g/g -tocopherol, and 4.58kcal/g of gross
energy on a dry matter basis. This information was used
to help with the formulation of tamandua and anteater
zoo diets in North American institutions and elsewhere.
For example, after adjusting nutrient levels (e.g.,
calcium), the Toronto Zoo was able to replace or modify
the traditional Lincoln Park Zoo diets (Table 49-2). This
or similar diets are also used in other North American
and Central and South American zoos.22 With the development of commercial insectivore pellets (see Table
49-2), feeding anteaters has become easier, although

Anteater Diets in Zoos

It is difficult to mimic the natural anteater diet in zoos
by providing specific ants and termites to consume, as
in the free-ranging state, so alternative food choices
available in the market are used to develop their diets.
The selection of these foods becomes a challenge if we
want to provide good nutrition and be able to satisfy
behavioral needs. However, little is known of the exact

379

380

Section 6 Xenarthra

TABLE 49-1 Selected Chemical Analyses of Termites (Nasutitermes spp.) Consumed by Tamandua (T. tetradactyla)
in Their Natural Environment: Comparison With Tamandua Stomach Contents
TERMITES
Analysis

DM (%)
CP (%)
Fat (%)
GE (kcal/g)
NDF (%)
ADF (%)
Lignin (%)
Ash (%)
Ca (%)
P (%)
Mg (%)
Fe (ppm)
Zn (ppm)
Retinol (/g)*
-Tocopherol (g/g)

Workers

Alates

Overall

24.7
66.7
2.2

27

4.6
0.2
0.4
0.13

41
48.8
40.2
6.9
23.4
13
13
3.7
0.24
0.36
0.15
394
144
0.65
40.4

29.4
58.2
15
6
30.8
25
17.2
4.1
0.26
0.38
0.14
246
184
7.4
92.5

Stomach Contents

17.8
50.8
11.2
4.6
32.2
31.3
16.1
13.8
0.1
0.4
0.1
652
163
2.5
44.3

ADF, Acid detergent fiber; CP, crude protein; DM, dry matter; GE, gross energy; NDF, neutral detergent fiber.
*Conversion factor: 0.3g retinol = 1IU vitamin A; 1mg -tocopherol = 1.49IU vitamin E.

not perfect. The gruel-type diets such as the one developed in Toronto, are better than previous anteater gruel
diets because the nutrient profile is generally closer to
the one found in the natural diet, avoiding excesses, like
the ones previously reported.3 However, this diet still
lacks sufficient amount of daily fiber (acid detergent
fiber [ADF]) if compared with the natural diet (see Table
49-1). The addition of artificial fiber (e.g., Solka-Floc,
International Fiber, Tonawanda, NY) or commercial
insectivore pellets to the gruel diets may improve their
fiber content (see Table 49-2).
During the 1990s, a new diet was introduced aimed
at simplifying the giant anteater diet through the elimination of milk products, including yogurt, and the elimination of raw meat, among other dietary ingredients.
These changes also aimed to improve the nutrient concentrations, eliminate the presence of potentially
harmful components, improve diet consistency, and
improve stool consistency. This diet consisted of a finely
ground mixture of equal proportions of a dry cat chow
and a higher fiber primate chow.6 The diet may be
offered dry or wet (thin paste consistency with the addition of water). The composition of this diet mix is given
in Table 49-2. Certainly, this diet has the advantage of
being simple to prepare in contrast to the gruel-type
mixes. However, simplicity does not mean that the diet

is better in terms of nutrients when compared with a

more natural anteater diet (see Table 49-1). The main
drawback of this mix is the very high level of starch
(calculated value above 20%) and other soluble carbohydrates (above 20%). Starch content is extremely low
in the natural diet of specialized carnivores, such as
tamandua and giant anteaters. Because of the reported
cases of diabetes in tamandua, the use of this mix of
traditional high-starch commercial diets (primate and
feline chow) is not recommended.
With the development of commercial insectivore
pellets in the early 2000s (see Table 49-2), feeding anteaters has become easier. This relatively new commercial insectivore pellet, with less than 10% starch content,
is a better alternative to the primate or feline chows.
Some institutions will use a combination of the new
gruels (Box 49-1) and the commercial insectivore pellet.
Although the diets presented in Table 49-2 and Box 49-1
represent an improvement from the original gruel diets
from the 1970s, they are still highly digestible, unlike
the natural anteater diets. A study of the metabolic rate
and food digestibility in free-living southern tamandua
has found that the dry matter digestibility is low, averaging 50%, mainly because of the presence in the digesta
of large portions (51.5%) of matter with little metabolizable energy content, such as sand and fiber.2 The field

Chapter 49 Feeding and Nutrition of Anteaters

381

TABLE 49-2 Chemical Composition of Selected Tamandua Diets

DIET
Analysis

Tamandua Gruel*

Complete Tamandua

Mazuri Insectivore pellets

H2O, %
DM, %
CP, %
ADF, %
NDF, %
Lignin
Starch, %
Sugar, %
C fat, %
Ash, %
Ca, %
P, %
Mg, %
K, %
Na, %
Fe, ppm
Zn, ppm
Cu, ppm
Mn, ppm
Mo, ppm
S, %
Cl, %
Se, ppm
Co, ppm
Vitamin E (mg/kg)
Vitamin A (IU/kg)
Vitamin D (IU/g)
Vitamin C (mg/kg)
GE (cal/g)
Sat FA g/100g
PUFA g/100g
Omega-3, g/100g
Omega-6, g/100g
Lysine, %

79
21
52.2
3.32
4.74
nr
2.8
24.6
15.6
5.96
0.9
0.69
0.08
0.85
0.376
145
58
11
7
0.3
0.52
0.58
1.34
0.16
541
2964
0.112
0.48
5789
5.99
3.43
1.53
1.8
3.74

74.4
25.6
31.6
10.7
23.7
nr
6.8
19.3
13.5
7.53
1.25
0.85
0.13
0.85
0.388
329
101
20
72
1.2
0.43
0.62
0.48
0.62
82.43
4960
2.31
24.32
4766
1.24
0.87
0.06
0.77
0.51

4.1
95.9
31
20.1
30.8
4.1
13.1
2.7
14.6
9.31
1.26
0.97
0.17
0.82
0.361
312
115
24
90
0.9
0.46
nr
0.64
1.49
84.8
7576
nd
nd
4449
4.27
3.75
0.34
3.2
1.71

DFPC 50:50 Diet

NRC Reference Ranges

6.51
93.5
30.9

20||

14.7
6.3
1.07
0.84

231
188

196.3
18,137

1.64

25-50

13.8-22.5

0.72-1
0.64-0.75
100-150
1-1.3
170-200
7.5-20
15-18.5
1.2-7.5
1.2

75-87

7.5 -10
250-379
1.4-1.75

0.88

*Disneys Animal Kingdom gruel diet.

Disneys Animal Kingdom Complete Tamandua diet (mix of gruel and commercial insectivore diet).

Mazuri Feeds.

DFPC = 50:50 mix of Iams Cat Food, Dry, and Marion Zoological Leafeater Primate Diet, Dry.6
||
Calculated value.

NRC requirements: Protein, fat, Ca, P, g/1000kcal metabolizable energy (ME); Mg, Na, Fe, Cu, Zn, mg/1000kcal ME; vitamin A = g
RE/1000kcal ME, vitamin E = mg/1000kcal ME; vitamin D = cholecalciferol = g/1000kcal ME; daily ME for exotic cats = 55-260 kg body
weight (BW)0.75; daily ME for dogs = 95-200 kg BW0.75; daily ME for T. tetradactyla = 107kcal/day (5.1kg BW).

382

Section 6 Xenarthra

BOX 49-1

Acknowledgment

Sample Anteater Diets

Ingredients

g/day

Katie Sullivan is greatly acknowledged for her assistance

with the manuscript.

Disneys Animal Kingdom Gruel Diet

Beef heart
Water
Banana
Chitin
Vitamin B complex with B12*
Honey
Hardboiled egg
Nutrigro powder
Flax
Vitamin E powder (40IU/g)
Calcium carbonate
Vitamin C powder

213
128
21
0.3
0.6
5
17
17
4
1.5
0.9
0.6

Zoological Society of San Diego Giant Anteater Diet

Mazuri Insectivore Diet 5MK8

750

Disneys Animal Kingdom Complete Tamandua Diet

Mazuri Insectivore Diet 5MK8
DAK Tamandua Liquid Diet
Flax Oil
Jello, sugar-free
Waxworm
Superworm
Avocado
Banana
Mango

293
161
5
25
3.2
14.6
8.1
67
40

Zoological Society of San Diego Complete

Tamandua Diet
Banana
Water
Mazuri Insectivore Diet 5MK8
Mealworms

2.74
710
216
0.17

*Goldline, 0.6g = half-tablet.

Grober.

Mazuri Feeds.

Zoological Society of San Diego mealworms fed a high-calcium diet.

metabolic rate of tamandua was found to be approximately 42% lower than that expected for a nonherbivorous eutherian mammal of its size, with a mean energy
expenditure of 449kJ/kg/day or 107kcal/day. Based on
this information, it is important to adjust the present
diets used in zoos to meet the lower energy requirements and lower digestibility coefficients found in the
natural environment. The latter might be achieved by
adding a source of indigestible fiber, such as chitin or
cellulose, to the new gruels or insectivore pellets.

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