Last week, I talked about keeping tarantulas as pets. Something I’m sure you all spend your free time dreaming about. Moving along the line of exoticness, today we will delve into the idea of keeping a monkey as a friend.
As an obvious first piece of advice, I will tell you this: if you’re going to keep an animal that usually is not domesticated as a pet, you must anticipate that the animal will act like a creature that is usually not domesticated. That is to say: wild.
If you think you can handle a pet that makes a great companion, as well as being a carrier of disease (tuberculosis, Ebola, and herpes), is a challenge on top of demanding constant attention, and, most of all, is a wild animal, then you might be up to it.
First, when you think of a pet, you probably picture something more docile like a cat or hamster (both animals that have evolved into domestication over thousands of years). You will find little of that in a primate. Most monkeys that you see are in the period of infancy. This is when they have a cute and soft appeal. Once they begin sexual maturity, aggressiveness sets in, not to mention unpredictable behavior and the loss of any training you might have given them.
Monkeys have little tact when it comes to hiding their emotions. If he feels the need to do something, he won’t have any shame in doing so. Biting and scratching will come with the package. Like people, monkeys will have their bad days.
If you have dangerous chemicals in the house, HAVE SOME LOCKS. It should never be assumed that there is a place in your house they cannot reach, open, flip over, eat, or “soil”.
Your pet also will need vitamin D among fruits and nuts. Vitamin D will require oral feeding (and remember what we’ve mentioned about monkeys’ bad days).
They will need a cage at least 4X6X6 feet. Actually, an entire room isn’t a bad idea. And while we’re on the topic of confinement, know that while social animals like us are descended from these characters, their social patterns probably aren’t safe for visitors and anyone the ape isn’t familiar with.
