I'm getting a child-like pet...any tips on childproofing the house?

Question

This is an odd question, sorry about that. But I figured that in the "pets" section if I asked this I'd get a lot of dog and cat specific answers...and this animal can get into stuff a lot easier than most domestic animals!

I am getting an animal that is more like a child than a dog or cat in the way that it can get into things. It's not a monkey, and yes I am doing *years* of research on it before I get it, hence the question. It's a tamandua.

They get into stuff similar to the way little kids do-- open cabinets, fridges, doors, etc. I know many kids get around "standard" childproofing and I really need some good ideas on what parents do for their toddlers-- things that actually work better than simple door latches. Any help here is great. Oh...and tamanduas can climb as well as monkeys can, so keep that in mind.

I'm really just trying to brainstorm and be as ready as I can *long* before I actually get the animal. Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

um i waz gonna suggest bubble rap lol but u wont need that well sum of my aunts and uncles  just put sum exstra doors u noe near the basement, kitchen, ect so the kids ***** go in the kitchen or basement cause they ***** open the door lol jus a suggestion hope i helped

Answer 2

my son's favorite items are my tools. i found a hole next to my plug-ins one day thankfully he didn't find the opening. i think the biggest advice is make it so that you have to do two unlocks at once. that's what i did on my knife drawer. my son is also able to open medicine bottles-he did that to me when he was 2 and a half. For the longest time i paddle locked my desk drawers. Good luck.

wow that's a neat lookin creature. i would be leery of the walls being scratched up.

Answer 3

you could visit http://www.learning-graph.com/articles.h... for tips

Answer 4

I don't know but those things look pretty cool        have you tried talking to those people that come out a baby proof homes FYI my girlfriend thought of that and hoped it would help she wants one now

Answer 5

buy the same  safety stuff you would for a child. door locks and plug guards. from childcare shops.

Answer 6

Thats like an anteater right? cool

I don't have kids of my own but my grandma goes on and on to my aunt about not having any sharp edged tables low to the ground(can slip and cut yourself or worse) also with regular kitchen tables align your chairs so it can't climb from the chair to the table if you ever leave food there. Get those plastic electrical socket covers so there is no risk of electrocution and try and cover any multi outlets if you can behind a couch or something. Cover toilets and consider either padlocking or finding a higher place to store any cleaning chemicals and things like that. Hmm and thats all I can think of right now.

Answer 7

Okay the tamandua is way cool :) Better then any ol monkey.

Is all I can recommend is buying a few child safety products in the baby isle and trying them out when your tamandua arrives. Some of the baby locks work very well on cabinet doors where we keep cleaners ect. Sometimes too well because I can't get them open.

It's just going to be a trial and error kind of thing. We bought all the products and some work while some don't. I guess it depends on the child/pets ability to problem solve.

Like for my son I use regular rubber bands on the cabinet doors, he can't figure them out but my daughter can take them off. So we switched to those plastic locks. We've also put little pieces of strong silver tape on the corners of some cabinet doors were the locks won't fit and they still can't get them open. Silver tape also works well on door locks, last thing you need is a pet/child locking themselves in a room lol. They also make devices to baby proof you door k***s.

As for climbing don't forget to put your breakables away. My children still destroy everything nice. And anchor down furniture pieces.

Answer 8

I'd love to help, as I child-proofed my own home pretty effectively. However, the one difference is that babies/ toddlers can't climb.  That's where you 'd have a problem.  Simple door latches work well for toddlers,but  by the time they are able to get around them, they are old enough to know better...so, I'm stumped!  You might have to hit the hardware store and get some heavy duty latches that are trickier to open.  Good luck!