Sloth’s Extreme Digestion & Bathroom Habits

The “Poop Dance”: Sloths have one of the oddest bathroom rituals in the animal kingdom. They only defecate once a week, and when they do, they lose up to one-third of their body weight in a single go.
A risky business: To do their business, they descend all the way to the forest floor—a rare event that leaves them incredibly vulnerable. It is estimated that 50% of sloth deaths occur while they are on the ground for this weekly trip. Before they go, they perform a little “wiggle” known as the poop dance to dig a hole.
Slowest metabolism: It can take a sloth up to 30 days to digest a single leaf. Their stomach is permanently full, making up about two-thirds of their body weight.

Green fur: Sloths are so slow that algae grows on their fur. This isn’t a hygiene issue; it’s a survival tactic. The algae turns their fur green, providing excellent camouflage against the rainforest canopy.
Moth buddies: Sloths have a symbiotic relationship with a specific species of moth (the “sloth moth”). These moths live in the sloth’s fur and lay their eggs in the sloth’s poop. In return, the moths die in the fur, decomposing and providing nitrogen that fertilizes the algae the sloth eats during grooming.