How to Care for a Pet Monkey

First and foremost it should be noted, that most of you are not cut out to be monkey owners. Now this is not slander on your ability as people, it is merely an observation that the average person does not have the time nor the commitment that is required to properly care for a monkey. A comparable example to a pet monkey, is caring for a toddler an entire lifetime.

To the brave few who feel they are up to the task, I salute you and encourage that you read on.

Research

This short guide is a great start to obtaining the information that you would need to begin caring for your first pet monkey, but far from complete. You must do extensive research, scouring the internet and books, for all information you can gather. To take this one step further try reaching out to an actual monkey owner to see what methods they use which you feel will be transferable to your monkey. Do the majority of your research before obtaining your monkey as this could be as this could be the decision maker into whether or not you are up to caring for a monkey.

Obtaining a monkey

The only legitimate and safe way to obtain a monkey would be to buy one through a breeder. Although the tricky part is sometimes locating a breeder which is near to you and is not asking outrageous prices, while on the topic of prices, always look at the going rate of the breed of monkey you are going for, as anything under that price is more often than not going to be a scam. Some breeders have created their own websites and advertise through that platform, others use pet listing sites, regardless as to where you find your breeder always ask them for proof of previous clients, I also always advise that monkeys be picked up from the breeder, for the safety of the monkey.

Time and Commitment

I feel as though this point needs to be reiterated again and again, owning a monkey is a lifetime commitment which during their infancy requires 24/7 attention with some needing such attention all the way into adulthood.

Diet

As much as we love to believe the stereotype, monkeys eat a lot more than bananas. They require a specific balanced diet, which cannot consist of human food alone. Their sugar intake must be monitored at all times, too much sugar in the monkeys diet can lead to diabetes, in turn would require insulin shots and an awful standard of living for the primate. A recent introduction into a monkey's diet, which has become a regulation of sorts, is monkey chow. A mixture of certain fruits, nuts and insects. Monkey biscuits are also needed for the growth and development of the primate.

Living Environment

For the safety of the monkey, you will need a cage. As the intelligence of the primates comes into effect, being in a house 24 hours a day they will begin to unlock doors, windows and cabinets, this will put their safety highly at risk. The USDA recommend a minimum size for the cage, it is however advised that you are to acquire something larger, to what extent is at your discretion, just remember monkeys are very active animals and need a lot of space to play. They also need a large amount of mental stimulation, ensure to fill their cages with toys, trees and plants. Without mental stimulation, the monkey will become bored, which can lead to aggressive behavior.

Remember this is only a short guide to get you started, DO YOUR RESEARCH.

Capybara Learn Well and Are Trainable

Due to their high level of intelligence, a capybara can learn almost anything from a patient owner with an understanding of how to train an animal. These creatures certainly can assimilate what is and is not acceptable behavior.

If they do not receive gentle correction and consistent discipline, a capybara with "inside" privileges will chew the carpet, gnaw the table legs, yank down the curtains, and come up with a whole host of equally creative and destructive "projects."

They are remarkably anxious to please, however, so discipline really need be little more than obvious verbal disapproval.

If this is countered with loving praise for things done well or correctly, a capybara can acquire good "manners" rather quickly. This does not change the fact, however, that they do ultimately grow too large to be exclusively indoor pets.

Try to think of all communication with a capybara as a two-way street. They have a complex communication system within their groups built on vocalizations and body language.

When you become part of their "group" in captivity, a capybara will give as much information as they receive, asking for things they want or enjoy.

In teaching a capybara to do anything, consistent, patient repetition is best. They will respond to whistles, verbal directives, and treats.

They easily learn their names, and will perform various dog-like actions to get food including "twirling," and standing on their hind legs.

House Training

There are many owner stories online about house training capybaras complete with photographs. There's more than enough evidence of success in this arena to silence even the worst naysayer.

When you show one of these animals what to do, and are consistent with your instruction, they are typically quite happy to accommodate you.

It also does not hurt that they are, by nature, very clean and prefer not to soil their habitat, which is excellent if they're living in the house with you!

Having a housebroken capybara works best, however, only when the animal is still small enough to practically live inside. As your capybara grows, it really does need to take its "business" outside.

Since some capybaras will only defecate in water, the growing scope of the potential problems should be readily apparent.

Owners can opt to offer their pets both wet and dry litter trays, but if the capybara wants to be in the water, you automatically have problems.

You're talking about an animal that will weigh 77-146 lbs. (35-66 kg). A "pan" of water may actually be more like a "tub," which means splashing, potential water damage to your home, and difficult clean-up and maintenance for the owner.

Again, just because the capybara can be taught to do something does not mean the doing of it is actually practical in the greater scheme of husbandry.

Ultimately, if you have a capybara, you will have to have outside space to keep the animal. This is not an apartment pet!

Capybara learn well and are trainable plus more information here!

The Bee - Nature's Perfect Creature

Hollywood has never been known to produce factually correct movies, from historical events to the intricacies of animal interactions. Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie is a case in point. In Bee Movie, Jerry Seinfeld plays a young bee, male of course, who wants a life beyond the beehive. He joins the "pollen jocks" - the male bees who leave the hive to collect pollen, which the male and female bees in the hive, in their dull jobs, turn into honey.

Real life is quite different. It is the female bees that leave the hive in search of pollen, the males who remain as drones to do the work of the hive. The plot of Bee Movie could have been so much better if this little fact had not been obscured, but that's a topic for another article.

Let's get back to the truth about bees. Bees produce honey, which has long been considered nature's perfect food, and bee pollen products and honey based products are becoming increasingly popular with today's consumer.

Bee pollen products

Bees (female ones) leave the hive to find pollen from a variety of flowers. When they return, the worker bees (males) take the pollen and pack it into granules, adding honey (otherwise known as nectar), which is used as food by the hive. Humans harvest this bee pollen, otherwise called bee bread or ambrosia.

What's interesting about bee pollen is that no two batches are alike. The "pollen jockettes" (if I may so term them) bring back pollen from many different sources, and this alters the composition of the pollen.

So, what do bee pollen products do humans make?

Bath and body products enriched with bee pollen are very popular today. They include products for moisturizing, for exfoliation and even shampoo.

Honey based products

Again, honey has long been considered as nature's perfect food. Indeed, people have been eating honey since practically the beginning of time - it's even mentioned in the Bible.

Today, people consume honey as a condiment on bread, on ice cream, or even on its own. It's also used as a sweetener in honey barbecue, and honey mustard is very popular.

All bees produce honey, but only the honey produced by honey bees is edible by humans. Bees create honey by a process I won't go into here (well, if you must know, they transform nectar (pollen) into honey by regurgitating it), but it is then stored in honeycombs as part of their food supply.

Honey based products include honey, of course, and even mead. Some of today's beers also use it as a flavoring ingredient. It is also used to make aromatic candles. 

Why we need bees

Lots of people find bees annoying and will kill them on sight, which is a pity because all bees perform an important service for mankind. Because they go from flower to flower collecting pollen, they also deposit pollen on these flowers, "pollinating" them, and insuring that flowers themselves survive!

So treat bees well!