Year: 2016

By Mary Lynn Campbell

a monkey caregiver's journal

In last month’s post for Primate Care, I began talking more about having a “A Monkey Caregiver’s Journal.” Therefore, I thought that it would be a good idea to devote an entire post to this very important tool. This is not only a great thing for you to have but it could be a special gift to someone else if they needed to be your monkey’s caregiver.

I can now see how important it can be to have one of these due to having monkeys who have come to me as rehomed monkeys. It would be wonderful to just be able to open a journal and have a record of many details about ­the earlier years of their lives. This type of tool would be worth it’s weight in gold to me because without it many times I must start blind in learning about my newest members of the troop.

So, now let us go to the list about what things would be helpful to put into “A Monkey Caregiver’s Journal.”

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By Janice Metzger

homemade monkey biscuits

This recipe for homemade monkey biscuits is packed with good, healthy nutrition for your primate. Sure, our monkey friends could live on just dry biscuits and water, but the addition of healthful foods to their diet contributes not only to their nutritional health, but to their enrichment and quality of life as well. Primates are like us, enjoying a variety of food items.

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cooper rehome capuchin monkey

It was the summer of 2015 and after finally being settled into our new home, it was time to apply for an USDA license so I could exhibit Benji to others and get him a buddy. Monkeys are very social animals and don’t like being by themselves. I work full-time but am lucky enough to be able to work from home. Benji has access to my home office so he can visit me any time and he often spends hours in my office but having a buddy is still a lot better than just being able to see me during the day. We spend time every day together but that isn’t until after work or during my lunch break.

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By Mary Lynn Campbell

opie capuchin monkey rehome

When I look at this photo of our “Miss Opie,” my smile (inside and out) is for her unbelievable ability to surprise us at every turn as she did with this photo. Welcome once again to our monthly post here on the Primate Care site. This is the story of a re-homed girl monkey with a boy’s name, I must add that it took several days to finally get her permission to talk about her in this post. She is definitely a girl monkey who has a mind of her own!

When I went to pick up Opie from her previous owners, she let me know instantly that she was ready to be my monkey. Her eyes were full of acceptance and awe. She had a wonderful home with her owners but after experiencing life with her they felt she needed to be with other monkeys and wanted her to have an opportunity to bond with my troop.

She is smart and beautiful but there is a list of “nutty” things about her that is a mile long! Many of the things that have made up her list have been caused by a sketchy early background that we have been trying to piece together.

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By Mary Lynn Campbell

nutty monkey
Opie ( age 11) – this monkey asked to not be spoken about in this post due to her “very nutty behaviors.”

When I think of “nutty monkeys” many memories from the past 27 years come floating across my mind. Oh, the stories I could tell! We will also be talking about toys in this post too. But before we get to some important information about toys, I feel that the rest of the story about Casper from my last posting here on the Primate Care Site, would be the first story to start with for this posting.

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sell at primate store

Many of the toys. primate enrichment devices, monkey diaper covers and clothes used by primate owners are handmade. Thanks to social media, the creators of such products have the ability to market their products to a limited community. Unfortunately on social media your audience is very limited and as a buyer, it can be quite challenging to figure out who is selling what, plus can you really trust the seller? Primatestore.com is trying to close that gap.

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By Mary Lynn Campbell

companion capuchin monkey
Silly Willy ( 9 weeks old)
The star of the “Living With Monkey” books

Hi, everyone, well, here it is, the long awaited posting on the Primate Care site that will tell you if you need to add another monkey into your home. Yes, I, Mary Lynn, actually have the answer for all of you who are struggling with your decision.

I wish I could take credit for what I am about to say but I cannot do it. This was not my idea at all, it actually belongs to another experienced monkey caregiver who has added many different types of monkeys into her life and into the life of her troop.

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By Mary Lynn Campbell

aging monkey
Enjoying little Cheech (age 43)

This is the first posting of our “Special Topics” here at Primate Care. I was drawn to write about this topic due to the fact that I am now living with three older monkeys of my own. One of them is a soon to be twenty year old Common Marmoset, and I have a thirty-three year old Black-Cap Capuchin and then the oldest monkey in my troop is a Paraguayan Capuchin that is around forty-three. Much of my experience for the past 27 years has been with receiving monkeys who have been younger monkeys.

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