Monkeys as pets?

WolfSong2000

Please, God, don't do it! It's just cruel for the animal, and to be honest I'm amazed it's even legal here in the UK...you said it yourself when you mentioned that the animal would be kept on a chain, permanently - that sound like any kind of decent life to you? Primates do not make good pets.

EmmaD13

http://www.monkeysanctuary.org/

May I instead suggest that you adopt your husband a monkey for his birthday or christmas?

If your husband is serious then I would suggest you contact and, if you can, visit the Monkey Sanctuary. I stumbled across them when looking for voluntary work with animals. The keepers put in a tremendous amount of hard work to keep the monkeys healthy and happy. The majority of their monkeys are rescued from the pet trade, owners who can no longer keep them as they've reached sexual maturity, become aggressive etc. Even in this country monkeys in the pet trade are often young monkeys whose mother has been killed to get them illegally brought into the country.

It's a hard job making sure monkeys receive the right diet, as volunteers we used to bake cakes, prepare the fruit and veg and even go out on walks picking wild leaves to help keep the monkeys healthy. The keepers would then check the leaves when we came back as some of the leaves which we thought were the same were a different plant that was poisonous to the monkeys.

Monkeys fed incorrectly very quickly become ill, lose their teeth, suffer from diabetes which can lead to more problems including blindness - can you and your husband provide the right care for a monkey. Do you even know what a marmoset would eat, how and where it sleeps etc.

We spent afternoons making toys for the monkeys to play with, most of which lasted 5 minutes for them to rip apart and find the hidden food etc. Bored monkeys end up with neurotic ticks and become stressed, rocking back and forwards, head nodding, even pulling their own fur and biting the ends of their own tail. Can you keep a monkey stimulated enough to make sure it didn't become like this, providing a mate isn't the answer.

Please think carefully and speak to experienced people before even considering trying to buy a monkey. Wildlife belongs in the wild.

lostinrates

The problem is that animals that were classed as 'dangerous' and needed DWA licences for a long while have been downgraded quite recently (sorry no date), so more easily sold and kept as pets.

Expect more of this sort of thing in the future

lowis

please do not get a pet monkey! it is a foolish, arrogant, selfish and cruel thing to do.

although the monkeys may seem nice and normal and from a good back ground, chances are it will have been ripped from its parents at a young age (or the parents will most likely have been slaughtered to get to the babies).

i can't believe that anyone with half a brain in the 21st century, would consider getting a monkey for a pet. they are not domestic animals...they get big, their teeth get big, they are strong, they are very destructive, and as a result they usually end up abondoned in monkey sanctuaries.

please talk some sense into your husband.

moomin5

Yeah i agree with OP there are much more suitable family pets than a monkey. I'm sure they do look like cool pets to show off, but really when you take an animal on you need to be able to provide for its needs in this case it sounds like it will involve a lot of work, expense and not be the pet he's expecting.

I'm sure sites promoting their sale will make them sound like easy, ideal pets as they want people to buy them. To be honest i don't know how people can think its ok to keep an animal chained up and wearing a nappy, what sort of a life is that?

I hope peoples posts have provided you with the information you need to make your husband realise its a very bad idea.

foreign_correspondent

oh, I forgot to say, but as well as rubbing their perineum over everything (including the kids toys, kitchen stuff, clothing etc:eek: )....

... do consider monkeys what are famous for doing all the time at the zoo - you may find that you do not appreciate the sight of a furiously masturbating monkey whilst you are trying to eat breakfast. :shocked:

I think your husband has seen too many walt disney films and does not comprehend the reality of what he is suggesting.:rolleyes2

endure

Point hubby in the direction of the RSPCA. You know it makes sense.

Fat_Fairy

oh my god that is terrible, please ask your selfish husband how he would feel, kept on a chain and denied company from his own species............i feel outraged!

McKneff

foreign_correspondent wrote: »

oh, I forgot to say, but as well as rubbing their perineum over everything (including the kids toys, kitchen stuff, clothing etc:eek: )....

... do consider monkeys what are famous for doing all the time at the zoo - you may find that you do not appreciate the sight of a furiously masturbating monkey whilst you are trying to eat breakfast. :shocked:

I think your husband has seen too many walt disney films and does not comprehend the reality of what he is suggesting.:rolleyes2

:rotfl: :rotfl:
right on - lol

eslick

this is one of those threads you see the title and think oh my ... are they for real