Primates are so intelligent - they need constant stimulation. In zoo's they have whole teams of people who work to keep them happy, healthy and stimulated.

Kepping one loan one is upsetting - they need others of their kind.

I think , personally, no. Unless you had alot of land, time and money then no.

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Two big babies Tammy the terrier and Ellie the yorky!

Two noisy Chins Betty and Bubbles.

Cornsnake Guss the old grouch

Royal python Savannah

I both agree and disagree with primates being kept as pets....Let me clarify....other exotics we keep such as lizards,snakes ect quite happily occupy our vivs and don't as such require vast amounts of space as primates do/should.I just don't think there are set ups adequate for their needs in the home.

However where i agree is when certain species are threatened or in danger of becoming threatened in their natural habitat,then there is most definately a need for these species to be kept to ensure their survival or for possible re-introduction into the wild.

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www.heavenlyhogs.co.uk

that is one of the most misinformed posts i have seen to date.

yes they are safer in captivity, but where would they rather be. would they rather be in the wild, with lots of room (alot more room than a parrot cage), with other monkeys (unlike yours) with their parents (unlike yours) and with freedom(unlike yours)?

these animals have evolved to live in the wild, to say "why should these animals have to ... fight for food, ... fight for territory and worry about being eaten by a predator" is rediculous. they live in the wild, they have lived there for millions of years, and continue to do so. that is nature - you cant just collect every single wild monkey there is and put them into homes - it is better for the monkeys themselves to live in the wild.

i can see your point with the whole human situation. however, the way to tackle it is not to remove all monkeys from the wild, but work to protect monkeys in the wild. there are not enough conservationists, zoologists atc working out in the field. if you feel truly passionately about the subject then you can make a differance by helping to protect such animals out in the wild. i hope to do a similar role with reptiles at some stage. that is the thing to do, not argue that the wild is dangerous so they should stop living in the wild.

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Kitty...I cant afford to take my children on holiday this year...and we dont take them to Dysneyland.
I have four children and sometimes they have to wait for my attention.

Should they got to another family of be put in a care home??


...I would say grow up but that is not very nice.

i personally feel that zoos are there to make money where by personal owners are there for themselves and the animals best interests at heart.

kirk

ok just to point out to carby......... he didnt live in a parrot cage!!!!!!! he had plenty of space!!!!! and i cant remember your other comment but u need to get full stories before throwing accusations

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and to bluetongued. i dont need to grow up. i done a lot of that lately. i didnt mean it how you people are making out. i meant IN MY OWN OPINION which we are all entitled to that i dont think there is anything wrong with keepiing monkeys as pets as long as the owner knows whats what and undrstands the commitment. as long as the human is prepared to put the monkey first and give it the time, money and space it needs then there is no problem. i didnt mean go drag all the monkeys from the wild but captive bred primates are NOT wild and never have been

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but equally they are not recently domesticated..there is a huge difference between a dog which has been domesticated over thousands of years and primates..even a dog can turn on its owner, primates are much more unpredictable still, however small they may be. and i would never regard them as a 'pet'.

as for knowing and understanding the commitment..companionship is a pretty big factor for most primates, and companionship of their own kind.. you've said before you were getting a companion for your marmoset. Does he have his friend yet?


Please don't think i'm deliberately trying to have a go at you, it's just whenever these questions get asked in other threads your offline and don't see it or respond to it, so whilst your online iwas curious.

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Kirk, that remark does rather generalise. I can't help but get the impression that the majority of private wild animal keepers keep animals as fashion accessories, to draw attention or to keep up with, or better, their colleagues in the hobby.

Captive species are rarely, if ever, able to be returned to the wild. But zoos have certainly had more success at it than private keepers. Even if money was the primary motive for operating a zoo (which I don't believe it is), their by-products of, entertainment, education and conservation surely justify that - provided that welfare is not breached.

Money, conservation, education, entertainment... these are all justifications for keeping animals in captivity. How many of these apply to private keepers? Welfare is not a justification, but poor welfare is certainly a reason not to keep an animal captive.

I am all for allowing private keepers to keep what ever species they like within certain parameters. Whatever justification a keeper has for maintaining animals in captivity, it is no indication of the ability of that keeper to keep them correctly and happily.

Its perhaps worth pondering on the fact that if such draconian animal keeping laws existed during the former decades of the 20th century, then we would perhaps be without many of the UK's leading zoos (Chester, Paignton, Howlett's, Port Lympne, Welsh Mountain for instance) which were founded by private keepers.

Kitty, I think I understand your point though you have not worded it very well. Those threats to wild-living animals you list are no measures of those animals' wellbeing whilst those threats remain unrealised.

If an individual has been brought up in captivity (particularly hand-reared ones) and has no experience of the realities of a wild life then it can live very contented. Animals cannot long for something they have no knowledge of. I think in many cases, animals just deal with the prevailing conditions (be that wild or captivity) and that emotion, in an overall sense, is not much of an issue.

If a primate is hand-reared and only knows the company of humans, it will see their company as more valuable than that of its own kind. If this is the situation, the monkey has never known others of his own kind, and there is constant (or near-constant) human company then there can be no argument against it.

katie - he is dead i am afraid to report..

if this is the case, why did you tell all the primate keepers on Monkeybird Exotics Forum this:

also... in your post telling the story of your marmosets death, you say



and yet you know have a wanted advert out for female marmies on the monkey bird forum.. AND have been asking rory about whether or not he can find you some more!!!!! in fact, when you contacted rory this evening, regarding finding you another 2 females, you made out like mckenzie was still alive..

basically you lied kitty. you told us you had had him neutered, built him a large enclosure, and wanted two females to join him!!!!! at this point, you had already posted news of his death on another forum! what, did you think this is the ONLY forum we come on????

you try and tell us you have grown up and taken advice on board, yet your "pet" dies, and within hours you are asking us to find you others.. AND lying about the state of mckenzies health!!!! where is that growing up kitty???

you might have been close to him kitty, and you might have thought he was happy.. BUT if you had a proper enclosure for him BEFORE you got him... i am afraid he may still be alive now... how happy does that make him now he has been killed by a log in his cage falling on him???

yes, we all make mistakes, yes, shit happens.. but for heavens sake kitty, learn from your mistakes and do not try and bullshit us please!

Nerys

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