Primate Care Sheets

We’ve created primate care sheets for the most commonly kept primate species.  However, most of the information on this site can be applied to other species as well.

There are 4 classifications of primates: Prosimians, New World Monkeys, Old World Monkeys, and Apes.

Old World  vs New World Monkeys

New World Monkeys

Capuchins

Squirrel Monkeys

Marmosets

Tamarins

Old World Primates

Bushbabies

Macaques

Savanna Monkey

Prosimians

Ruffer Lemur

Apes

Lar Gibbon

Gathering information about living with monkeys

July 27, 2019 5:01 pm

By Mary Lynn Campbell

capuchin toddler
Silly Willy (age 3)

Welcome once again to the primate care site.  The creator of this site and I are both very passionate about helping other monkey enthusiasts to gain good information on becoming great monkey caregivers.

Although we’re one of the oldest sites out there regarding primate care, we’re just one of the many available resources regarding the care for primates.  About thirty years ago, when I first became a monkey caregiver, there were no search engines or Facebook groups to gather intel, and most of the information was passed along by other monkey owners.  In today’s world, information is much more readily available.

Social media has literally changed my life. I realized from the very beginning of adding it into my busy life that there was a big world out there full of other monkey owners. After just a few months of being involved in reading and posting on Facebook, I began enjoying adding other monkey owners to my friends list. Some of them were new to owning a monkey, and then others were like myself trying to make connections with other monkey owners. Before I knew it, I had several hundred friends and I was added to many of the groups that offer help with diet, monkey enrichment ideas, and of course, information about the day to day living with monkeys.

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Posted in living with monkeys, primate care, primate ownership

Living with an Aging Monkey

February 6, 2016 11:12 am

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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Posted in living with monkeys, primate care, primate ownership, special topics

When to rehome a monkey

December 15, 2015 12:13 am

By Mary Lynn Campbell

monkey rehome
“Sissy Lou La La” (age 18) – one of my very special rehomed monkeys

Here we are with yet another hard subject to write about.  Each of these postings have been written with one very important thing in mind and that is to be helpful to both current monkey caregivers and others who may be seriously considering becoming one.

Rehoming a monkey is not always an easy thing to do, especially when you or your family members are divided about doing this. Monkeys are as different in their size, personalities and their behaviors as we humans are. One monkey may really make a great pet/family member and then one may not adjust in your home or family at all.

I have been on the receiving end of rehomed monkeys for nearly 27 years.  Many monkeys have come from homes where they have been dearly loved and the parting was a very hard thing to do.  I most cases people were just so glad that they had a safe and happy home for them to live.  There are so many different reasons why people decide to rehome their monkeys.

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Posted in living with monkeys, primate ownership, safety

Safety First – When A Monkey Is Stolen

November 7, 2014 6:30 am

By Mary Lynn Campbell

Monkey Stolen

Of course, we are still talking about “Safety First” in yet another posting. When I type the words (a monkey is stolen) it makes me have a sinking feeling in my heart. This is a subject that I do not like to talk about but it is yet another part of the “Safety First” topic that needs to be covered thoroughly. So let’s begin.

Recently, in the monkey circles on Facebook there was a family that had someone break into their home while everyone was gone, and take their young baby monkey. This actually was what prompted me to begin my first posting about becoming a “Safety First” type of monkey caregiver, here on the Primate Care site. It is important to us monkey caregivers to have well thought out plans formed in our minds if something devastating takes place with our monkeys.

I am so happy to report that the outcome was wonderful for this little monkey and it’s family. They used good judgment and choose to instantly kick into action upon finding the monkey was missing from it’s cage. They did many of the same things that will be listed here on our list. This story touched my heart and soul.

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Posted in living with monkeys, primate ownership, safety

Safety First – Making Plans

October 8, 2014 4:47 pm

By Mary Lynn Campbell

maggiewithcapuchins

We as monkey caregivers must live everyday with the knowledge that safety is the most important thing to be aware of with our monkeys. In choosing to follow Safety First monkey care-giving, when you are away from your home with your monkey, you will be able to relax and enjoy your time with your friends and family. I have found that peace of mind when it comes to monkeys is something that I must have at all times. So, it is very important for me to make plans ahead of time in order to know what I would do in case of a real emergency; such as a monkey is stolen, or one escapes, or even an accident, such as a bite or scratch happens involving another person.

A motto that I live by is to always choose to think about Safety First when planning the events or outings that I will be attending. These are just a few of the questions that I will ask myself before I say yes to taking the monkeys out: Is this okay to do with my monkeys? Will their safety be in prosody? Will anyone else be put in danger with what I am planning to do with my monkey? Will the temperatures be acceptable? Will there be pets that are not tethered?

The following information will always be here on this site for you and your loved ones to access if one of the above listed events takes place with your monkey. These are suggestions, of course, but I do know they have been tried and tested many times with a lot of people that have had to respond quickly to monkey emergencies.

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Posted in living with monkeys, primate ownership, safety

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