Pet Meerkats

[4lph4d0g]

I was just reading in another thread their that a few ppl on here own meerkats as pets.

First off i am kinda shocked as i never new it was possible to have these as pets. Thats kinda cool learn something new evry day lol.

What they like? Do they make good pets?

What kind off care do they need?

I had a quick search on google about them as pets and found a site saying that they become agressive and stuff as they get older is this true? And they can go insane because they wont be offered enough attention?

I am very cautious about beliving things i read on random websites like that though as it seems to me it was a bit bias and trying to scare ppl. I know next to nothing about them as pets tho so who knows.

Do they need to be kept in pairs as they are sociable animals in the wild or are they ok on their own?

Is their any chance u meerkat owners could post a few pics of yours up in here as i really am intrigued by these animals.

I dont think i would want one as a pet as i dont no anything about them but . I allways like to learn new things about animals anyway

[Bluejen]

What are they like as pets???

hmmm depends how you plan to keep it and how much you value your house lol

One example is we know someone who came and found his meerkat had managed to remove all the keys from his keyboard!

Know other ones kept in outdoor enclosures (indoor/outdoor) and they're great.

I've heard enough tales though to know I wouldn't have them personaly lol

[Jamie]

Now I have that bloody advert tune in my head, "compare the meerkats.com"

[Nerys]

i have meerkats yes.

would i describe them as "pets" ??

no!

not like hamsters, rabbits, cats etc anyway.

i'd have to stick with recommending that firstly yes, keep them in more than ones.. and secondly..don't have them as house pets

mine have free range of a 34t X 18ft garage... they actually spend a lot of downtime denned up with one of the skunks they have pal'd up with.. they do have their own pen in the corner, but only use it to play in, not to live in!

whilst my guys are sociable, and interactive.. there are pics of my female sat on my knee for instance, and we watch meerkat manor together and so on.. they are not pick up and cuddle material in the same way some of the skunks are.

i've hear mixed reports of them as solitary house pets.. mixed from bad to really bad.. i only know of a couple of times were people have had them as "good house pets"

we don't tend to place meerkats into many homes... many people fail the initial vetting on enclosure and provision for companionship.

(they are fantastic little guys tho, and well worth the effort if you do have the time and space (and money) to get them decent house set up. i just don't feel that a zoozone and a lounge count towards a decent set up!)

hth

Nerys

[Zoo-Man]

Is a garage a suitable environment for meerkats? Don't they need outdoor accomodation? And isn't it unatural for them to live with skunks, which are from a different continent?

[Nerys]

its not the standard sort of garage colin, although it was probably built as one to begin with..

living with skunks, yep, totally unnatural i have to say, and i would not personally recomend going out and getting a meerkat and a skunk and treating them as one..

for some reason tho, they actually get on really well, they are fed seperately, and there are things the meerkats will eat that the skunk won't.. (the meerkats don't like cottage cheese, the skunks not too keen on fish..) on the times when i treat them with things

i've no idea why they have taken up with each other in all honesty, sometimes the skunk sleeps in his pen.. or in the meerkats pen (with them under the glider cage).. sometimes he sleeps under the rabbit hutch, and they sleep in the skunks pen.. they are all captive bred animals, from lines of captive bred animals.. they would live in the same area even if they were in seperate pens, if they were going to catch something from each other, they would o so anyway. these ones chose, at times, to sleep in the same den..as long as they all get on and there is no bickering.. then if they want to associate with each other then i cannot see the harm in it..

heres another unnatural one.. the female glider that was born here, has grown up with the meerkats and skunks using under her cage as a dens sometimes.. she is very used to them, and them to her.. i've seen her come down and chat to the meerkats and the skunk when they have been pootling about.. despite the fact both the skunk and meerkats eat mice as part of the diet from time to time, they seem to see the glider as part of the extended family in there too.. i'd not trust them with her without bars inbetween, just in case, but they do definitely all "know" each other..

but then, whats natural.. i have cat that sleep with chickens.. cats that guard rabbits.. rabbits that regard chickens as being "mates".. sometimes animals make bonds that do not involve us and that humans do not dictate.. its part of what makes them all unique eh.

meerkats and outdoors, yes, i would prefer them to have some outdoor access at least, at the moment i am working on new ferret pens, once it dries out this year, the plan is to knock a brick out of the garage wall and have access to an outdoor area (yet to built) which both the skunks and meerkats can use.. for the time being things like basking plates and bulbs (and D3 supplement) are used instead.




and incidently colin.. i personally still do not think that a lounge is the right place for a marmoset. which is how you have yours and is a view you know i have expressed before, normally to your displeasure, and i would imagine is the reason for the highly barbed comment about the way i keep my meerkats..
(though i would never do as you have done, and advocate barring people from forums just because you personally did not like what had been said to you)
with the right provision for basking and warmth, much in the same way as people keep reptiles indoors sucessfully, meerkats can do very well. my main point here, to the original poster, was that i dont think meerkats (or primates, or coatis for that matter!!) make good HOUSE pets..

N

[Evie]

Originally Posted by Nerys

and incidently colin.. i personally still do not think that a lounge is the right place for a marmoset. which is how you have yours and is a view you know i have expressed before, normally to your displeasure, and i would imagine is the reason for the highly barbed comment about the way i keep my meerkats..

N

I have no wish to get involved with a discission about marmosets an how they should or shouldn't be kept because I have no idea or interest, however I don't know where you got the idea from that Colin keeps his marmosets in his lounge. I can assure you that this is not the case.

[Razorphade]

Originally Posted by Evie

I have no wish to get involved with a discission about marmosets an how they should or shouldn't be kept because I have no idea or interest, however I don't know where you got the idea from that Colin keeps his marmosets in his lounge. I can assure you that this is not the case.

I think he is just getting all defensive over some constructive criticism, very entertaining actually.

[Evie]

Originally Posted by Razorphade

I think he is just getting all defensive over some constructive criticism, very entertaining actually.

How anyone deals with criticism is neither here nor there, I was merely pointing out that there was some incorrect information in the previous post.

[CE1985F]

Originally Posted by Nerys

and incidently colin.. i personally still do not think that a lounge is the right place for a marmoset. which is how you have yours and is a view you know i have expressed before, normally to your displeasure, and i would imagine is the reason for the highly barbed comment about the way i keep my meerkats..

N

I don't have a clue where you get the idea that colin keeps them in the lounge from! I can assure you that this is very unture.