Question:
Anyone know anything about owning a pet monkey?
anonymous
2013-02-27 13:03:50 UTC
I took a "best pet for you" quiz and monkey was one of the top answers for me. I was thinking about getting a marmoset and i need to know EVERYTHING about caring for them.
Eight answers:
monkey
2013-03-01 07:05:01 UTC
I have many years of experience working with and studying monkeys both in captivity and in the wild. I've worked extensively with ex-pet monkeys and have studied the pet trade and animal welfare extensively. I hope that you will consider what I have to say.



It is not a good idea to get a pet monkey for a variety of reasons, which include your health and your safety; the welfare of the monkey; and the negative influence having a pet monkey will have on the survival of threatened monkey species in the wild.



No amount of effort or good intention on your part can change any of these problems. The fact is that monkeys are wild, not domesticated animals, and they will act accordingly. (It is important to know that being born in captivity does not mean domestication - domestication is a measurable biological process that happens over many generations of selective breeding). Even small monkeys can and do become dangerously unpredictable. Do you know that capuchin monkeys, which are about the size of a housecat, regularly hospitalize people, often disfiguring or disabling them for life? Some monkey owners will tell you that they have never been bitten - but if it it true it probably means that either the monkey has not yet reached adolescence (when the problems start... which may not happen for a few years) or that their monkey is so damaged, either psychologically, or physically, or both, that it is not acting like a normal monkey should.



All monkeys are intensely social animals that are hard-wired to live in complex social groups and to range large and complex territories all day long, every day. When they are denied the opportunity to do this, they suffer - and you can see this in their behavior. The problem is, that very few people that own monkeys have any idea what 'normal' behavior is, and so have no idea that their monkey is acting very abnormally!



To be kept as pets, monkeys are taken from their mothers as infants (and mom is just impregnated again as soon as possible to produce another baby to take away). Maternal deprivation is well-known to cause lasting psychological damage, and even sometimes hinders proper brain development. Human caretaking is no substitute. How can a trade that is founded on inflicting this on intelligent, emotional creatures be anything but wrong?



Plenty of pet monkeys are born in captivity so their owners tend to think that there is no relation to their pet-keeping and the capture of endangered species in the wild. But this could not be further from the truth. anybody working in the field knows that when people who live in primate habitat countries know that Americans and Europeans like to keep pet monkeys, more monkeys are caught (which includes a lot of killing, too) and kept as pets, used as photo props, and used in attempts at smuggling.



You must be an animal lover if you are interested in monkeys. Please, be realistic about it - keeping a pet monkey is a bad idea all around. I hope you will make the right choice!



(p.s. in response to the post that says the professionals feed monkeys on chow.. this is not true, and another huge issue for pet primates is that their owners almost always feed them inappropriate diets - hence high prevalence of diabetes and other nutritional diseases... and if you keep a monkey in a $500 enclosure there is no way that you are providing it with anything even approaching a suitable environment)
єναηgєℓιηє♥
2013-02-27 13:10:45 UTC
You're joking right? A marmoset is not a "pet" they should be properly cared for by an expert.



First, if you've done research, you'd know that you can't just have one. They are social animals. Social animals must be kept with others of their own kind, or they risk going mad (crazy).



Though monkeys are not domesticated animals. Which I'm sure you know if you've researched them. Wild animals do not make good pets.. And really, at no time in it's life will it actually be a "pet". Even if it is a sweet and cute baby, it will grow up, it will hit sexual maturity, and once that happens it will become increasingly aggressive and will become a danger to you and anyone around you.



Also, I hope you have a good job!

The monkey will set you back anywhere from $3,000 to $10,000 or more a piece.

Then the proper cage/enclosure is going to run you upwards of $20,000.

Then diet... Well, you can't buy "monkey chow". It must be prepared, fresh, daily.. And must meet all dietary needs. Monkeys are omnivores. This diet is going to rack up the bills as well.

And then you have to think of all the toys, games, ect you will supply them with.

Then all the things in your home that could possibly get broken and need replacing...

THEN, think about a vet.

What vet is going to see a monkey?

A zoo vet, that is who. have to looked up how much THAT will cost you? I don't have to look it up to know that it is going to be a LOT.



There is a chance it's not even Legal in your area!
stuff (:
2013-02-28 18:35:33 UTC
Well yeah, the quiz is likely a joke, monkeys should be left to responsible pet owners, not anyone...

BUT everyone on here is so uneducated. Marmosets costs around $2,000 NOT 3-10k (unless it's a Geoffrey's or pygmy). Why the hell would an enclosure cost 20k or more? You can build one yourself for under 2k...or less than $500 if you really know what you're doing. Can't just be fed monkey chow/should be left to professionals? The professionals feed them monkey chow (Zupreem/mazuri!!) lmao...yes they need more than this, but their diet isn't that difficult, unless you are comparing them to a cat or dog.



People, get your facts straight and stop hating on wild animal ownership. They are bred IN captivity. They are born IN captivity. They are not wild, they are not domestic, they are tame captive animals :P If you do your research, anything could make a good pet, not just cats or dogs...
Anon
2013-02-27 13:26:29 UTC
The first thing you need to do when preparing to care for a pet monkey is cleanse yourself. Monkeys HATE dirt.

Put your head into a deep bucket of water, breathe in and out 20 times and voila, all cleansed. Ask for further info once this step has been completed.







Monkeys aren't pets.
Nekkid Truth!
2013-02-27 15:34:27 UTC
any quiz that suggests a monkey for a pet, is probably intended for amusement purposes only, and not to be taken seriously.



monkies do not make good pets. They can carry disease, they are dirty, they cannot be trained, they get aggressive, they have gross sexual behavoirs, they are very expensive to care for, they need more room than most people can accomodate for them. Its a pet with a very long lifespan, and they do not adapt well to new handlers.



I know someone who has capuchins. She has a very large outdoor enclosure for them to use during the summer. One of her monks has diabetes, she is constantly at the (zoonotic $$$) vet to do bloodwork to be sure her organs are working properly. Never mind the cost of medicine. Monks also need special diets. If she plans a vacation, she has to plan things out to include her monks, or find someone trustworthy (that the monks also accept) to watch them.





forget the idea of a monkey. Primates do not make good pets.
?
2013-02-27 20:37:37 UTC
yes: don't



Poachers kill mother monkeys to bring those cute babies overseas...Then they are kept as pets until they hit maturity and become too difficult to handle. So they get tossed into a rescue and never get to live as they should in the wild.



Not to mention many of those species are ENDANGERED. So murdering an adult female to take her offspring away from the wild is depleting the wild numbers significantly.
Kayla
2013-02-27 13:06:05 UTC
Monkey's aren't pets.
anonymous
2013-03-01 11:21:46 UTC
They are pets but they tend to rip up your flesh alot.


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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