Tracy Koroma answered
You sound like my daughter – she was asking for a finger monkey for her birthday last month (she got a Compare the Meerkat toy instead).
From what I can gather, it’s not illegal to have pygmy marmosets as pets, but they’re a lot of hard work and they’re blooming difficult to get hold of.
In the States, they’re in the process of making it illegal to keep primates as pets, so I expect the same thing will happen over here pretty soon.
Buying a Pygmy Marmoset
First of all, they cost more than £1000 each – you won’t get one any cheaper than that. In fact, you're more likely to pay around £2000. I think
Secondly, most breeders won’t give their monkeys away unless you know exactly how to care for them. Finger monkeys are a nightmare to look after, and it’s easy to get it wrong, so breeders are really careful about who they sell to.
You might want to make sure that your vet knows how to treat monkeys before you buy one – most vets can’t, so expect to travel out of town.
Caring for a Finger Monkey
From what I can gather, it’s not illegal to have pygmy marmosets as pets, but they’re a lot of hard work and they’re blooming difficult to get hold of.
In the States, they’re in the process of making it illegal to keep primates as pets, so I expect the same thing will happen over here pretty soon.
Buying a Pygmy Marmoset
First of all, they cost more than £1000 each – you won’t get one any cheaper than that. In fact, you're more likely to pay around £2000. I think
Secondly, most breeders won’t give their monkeys away unless you know exactly how to care for them. Finger monkeys are a nightmare to look after, and it’s easy to get it wrong, so breeders are really careful about who they sell to.
You might want to make sure that your vet knows how to treat monkeys before you buy one – most vets can’t, so expect to travel out of town.
Caring for a Finger Monkey
- To look after your pygmy marmoset, you’ll need:
- A big enclosure
- Specialist food
- Lots of plants and things for your monkey to climb and play with
- Other monkeys – primates are highly social things, and they can get really depressed if they don’t have any other monkey friends.
- Training on how to handle them
- A vet who can keep your monkey healthy (and check to make sure it wasn’t poached)
