If you have a pet primate or you’re considering buying a pet primate, the Complete Guide To Care & Behavior is truly a must in your collection. This book is published by Monkey Matters and contains over 1000 pages of valuable information on primate care. One other book I would also recommend is the Primate Care Handbook which was published by the Simian Society of America. Unfortunately that book is no longer in print but you can still find it on Amazon.com or Ebay.com from time to time.

Price:$149.99 (+ $15 shipping – USA Only) – Buy Now
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By Ivan Crab

Primates breeders and primate institutes recognize the fact that profitable breeding depends upon primate health.  The observance of a few common sense rules will contribute to maintaining a favorable status.

The primate keeper is the key in maintaining the health of an animal.

Since primates are subject to many of the same diseases as humans, the premises should be isolated as much as possible.

The cages should be well constructed to give indoor and outdoor possibilities and to lend themselves to daily clean-up and disinfecting.  The cages should be suitable for rotation in case of diseases.

The summation of diagnoses over a period of time will inform the primate owner as to the principal troubles; by making daily observations on the health and care conditions; by keeping records.

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By Jose F. Jaramillo Vasquez

Cloning might be one of the most providential instruments ever for saving endangered species. More desirable would be for instance to replenish the seas with multitudinous identical varieties of dolphins, than having just written and photographic records about how they were, looked and lived before man let them come to a full extinction, as already happened with so many animals.

Cloning could be the only available tool we would have in order to rescue so extremely difficult to breed animals as chimpanzees, panda bears, tigers, whales, condors and many other from the pitiful road to annihilation. Let us not take away from them what might be their last opportunity to survive on earth. Without needless delays, mostly caused by misconceptions, fears, ignorance, and absence of an open dialogue on the matter, we should encourage responsible research and development in order to aid nature to avoid such a disaster. Upcoming generations who would enjoy all those wonderful creatures and their countless descendants will thank us perpetually.

Given the striking achievement of having cloned different kinds of animals so far, it is mostly a matter of expanding funding and means of investigation, whenever possible oriented to discover the safest and most humane possible ways of cloning without inflicting tribulation or harming the dignity of those specimens being replicated. Furthermore cloning would allow to select the very best and healthier donors, contributing that way to a betterment of many animal species. That is what we have so successfully done with plants throughout millennia. Thanks to the vast experience and knowledge we have accumulated, now it is time to turn our thoughts towards the animal kingdom and -why not?- the human being itself.  Otherwise evolution would impede and finally stop, and thus our still plausible dream of some day beginning to make real the enterprise of conquering the universe would vanish forever.

The author of this article, Jose F. Jaramillo Vasquez, believes that cloning could be a possible solution for the extinction of endangered species. We only publish this article because we believe that a dialogue about this matter should be kept.

 

By Sony Rickson

Breeders will always be there, nobody will ever change that! As far back as history goes, man always lived with pets – even exotics. Since there are breeders and there is no way that anyone is going to stop them, why not concentrate more on the actions of breeders and the people who purchase their animals? Do they truly care about the primates they are breeding, do they place them in homes that are proper for them, do they tell people the facts about the primates they are placing before they sell it to them? Are they interested in the welfare of the animal or is it the money or making a name for themselves that matters most? Do the people purchasing the animal know the proper care of that species, can they afford the vet care and housing requirements, why are they purchasing this type of animal? (more…)

We hear it so many times, people who want a sweet little baby chimp.

I have to admit, they are so cute when they are just a baby but maybe it is time for a reality check.  If you are not an experienced animal trainer, you will not be able to handle a chimp once he gets older.

Did you know that an adult chimp is up to 10 times stronger then a human being?  Before you even think about buying a chimp as an additional family member, just go to the zoo and check out their arm size.  I have no doubt about the fact that you will try to do everything you can to teach your chimp what is right and wrong.  After all, isn’t that what every parent tries to achieve with their kids? However, kids get injured all the time from fighting or fooling around.  Can you imagine what a chimp can do to you when he is just fooling around?  I mean, it’s not the first time that someone lost an arm or a leg or even his life when interacting with a chimp.  Let’s face it, a chimp is one of the greatest and most intelligent creatures among us … but they can never be considered as pets.

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Primates are one of the most attractive animals in our animal kingdom. But, they are unpredictable, destructive, expensive and they need a lot of care and attention. Since some of them can live for over 40 years, they truly are a life-time commitment. Are you the person that is willing to spend most of their free time with their monkey? Before you consider buying a monkey, you have to learn as much as possible about them. Read books, use the internet, try to visit somebody who has primates at home, join primate mailing lists, find primate owners on social networking sites like facebook so you can learn as much about them as possible before obtaining your own monkey. Some people prefer marmosets, while others prefer squirrel monkeys or capuchins. It is important you do the necessary research to find out which species fits you best. (more…)

About 15 years ago I walked into an exotic pet store that specialized in lizards.  I used to go there every week due to my interest in lizards.  One day I noticed a small cage, the size of a hamster cage, on a shelf which caught my attention.  Little that I know that this was about the open up a whole new world for me.  The world of primate ownership!  I wasn’t sure what I saw so I asked the store owner.  A few minutes later I found that this was a common marmoset.  I went straight to the bank, took the money of my account and bought myself the cutest critter I ever saw.  And so the adventure began… (more…)