It was nearly two years ago when we rescued Pandabara the capybara. We shipped her from Alabama to Texas at New Years, 2022. I have posted a couple updates, but it was finally time for an in-person visit.

Panda gazes toward the Pond of Peril, home of Nessie the snapping turtle. Panda doesn’t go in there anymore.

Pandabara is two years older, of course, but she looks terrific. She is walking better, she has more confidence, and she has gained weight. Her cataracts are worse, but they are the only obvious sign of her advanced age. We don’t know for sure how old she is, but she’s probably around 10 years old.

I took these photos shortly after I arrived. You can see that she approached me readily and without concern. Then I brought her a piece of corn and she came right up to eat it from my hand.

Panda’s strong teeth can bite clear through the corn, cob and all.

Panda’s life is easy. She grazes on grass, checks the door for new corn deposits, messes around in her pools without actually swimming.

At night, Panda retreats to her grass shack. In winter it has a heated kennel pad and more blankets. When it’s very, very cold, she gets room service: corn and water delivered to her door.

Pandabara’s Boudoir

She doesn’t eat all day long. Sometimes she naps.

What is on the other side of the fence?

Melanie has horses, too. Some are hers, some are boarders. This is snack time.

But that is not the other side of the fence where Panda naps. They don’t really count because they are not capybaras. There is a second grass shack on the other side of the fence. It belongs to Snapper the capybara, Melanie’s other capybara. He and Panda do not get along (Capybaras are not chill. That is a myth.) and besides, Snapper is nocturnal.

I peeked inside. Here is Snapper and his annoying tortoise friend, Leopolda.

Instead of having two capybaras that romp together. Melanie has two capybaras who romp apart. We know of many owners who have this problem, and it is a challenge to have them in the house- or even the same yard- when they do not get along.

It is another myth that you must get two or more capybaras in order for them to be happy. Some capybaras are happy to bond with humans, others avoid humans and refuse to tame down. Some capybaras bond with other capys, while others fight. They are completely unpredictable, but if you are getting your first pet capybara, I recommend getting a single capy and expect to spend most of your time with it. Once more, they are not chill! These are wild animals, and they are best tamed when they are very young.

When I say nocturnal, I mean that Snapper comes indoors to eat late at night. Melanie stays up to feed him and naps on the couch. Snapper isn’t afraid of her but he isn’t particularly snuggly, either. He was wary of me and the first couple of nights I was there he wouldn’t come in. I had to leave the room so that he could come in to eat.

He got used to my presence after a couple of days, but I had to sit still, very quietly, no talking or foot shuffling. Melanie is a very experienced capybara owner, but some animals refuse to settle down. Prey animals are naturally wary, and I have had a few rabbits and guinea pigs that refused to become tame, while most of them settle right in.

People ask about capybara personalities and I guess I would say they are more like cats than dogs. Dogs seek human companionship- that was part of their domestication process. Cats, on the other hand, tend to be more independent and aloof. Capybaras can be very friendly and affectionate, but they are more likely to be aloof and independent. If we domesticate them as companion animals, we might expect them to become more reliably  friendly- in about 10,000 years. Domestication is not an overnight phenomenon.

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I recently had someone ask about becoming a capybara rescuer. The short answer is that wild herbivorous prey animals have very specific care requirements that are entirely different from domestic carnivorous predatory animals. Experience with rabbits, chinchillas, prairie dogs and guinea pigs would better prepare someone for capybara care than dogs and cats. Furthermore, caring for a very young wild animal is a radically different experience than dealing with a mature wild rescue animal. For instance, rescuing a bobcat cub would be much easier and not nearly as dangerous as taking in an adult bobcat. With mature rescue animals, there is always a risk that you are getting an abused animal that will never become tame. Pandabara is a sweetheart, and makes rescuing capybaras look simple.