The visible spectrum for xtauh mostly overlaps with that of humans, although the xtauh eye is able to perceive some near-infrared wavelengths that the human eye cannot. Xtauh vision is, however, much more sensitive to low-light conditions due to the presence of a tapetum lucidum in the eye. Xtauh have forward-facing eyes with binocular vision, and therefore capable of depth perception.

Aside from the main eyelids, xtauh have a transparent, sideways-closing nictitating membrane. Among other functions, it protects their eyes from bright light and flying particles, allowing them to see even in adverse conditions.

Xtauh hear through the long, antennae curving to either side of their heads, beginning above the eyes. The antennae pick up sounds in a range that is downshifted to lower frequencies compared to human hearing; they can hear noises of a lower pitch than humans can, but are insensitive to a certain range of high-pitched noises. In water, the sensitivity of the antennae is much greater.

Xtauh have a greater sensitivity to meat- and protein-related smells than humans do, and are able to make finer distinctions between the quality and types of meat and other organs; otherwise their sense of smell is comparable to that of humans. Their sense of taste also does not differ greatly, although they are more likely to experience sourness as a pleasurable sensation.

A distinctly nonhuman sense that xtauh employ is empathy: the ability to psionically detect the state of feeling of another being. This sense can pick up some finer shades of feeling but is most sensitive to the most primal: hunger, fear, arousal, weariness. This sense can perceive direction, but has no “depth perception”; that is, there is no way to distinguish between a weak signal close up and a strong one at the limits of detection, except with the assistance of the other senses and by deduction.

Its sensitivity depends on the strength of the feeling, the distance at which it originates, and the capacity of the mind for feelings; in general, the smaller the organism and the less complicated its brain, the weaker the signal is. For practical purposes, the limit of detection is 15 meters or so from the xtauh's head for other xtauh and for many types of land prey, but less for fish; insects are barely detectable except at very close range.

The empathic sense is passive, like hearing; unlike hearing, it cannot be blocked by any action or device of the possessor, though it is possible for a wandering mind to cease to pay attention to it. It is possible, however, for thinking minds to “muffle” their own feelings so that the empathic sense cannot detect them easily. Xtauh frequently do so for reasons of privacy, though it is also fairly common for them to specifically avoid doing so when they wish to announce and emphasize how they feel.