Monkeys are incredibly intelligent, endlessly entertaining, and sometimes surprisingly affectionate. But owning one requires a big commitment of time, money and patience. If you’re the rare person who has the personality and financial stability to care for a monkey, make sure you understand what’s involved before making the leap.
In the wild, most monkeys are omnivores, eating both plants and animals. But they typically lean heavily toward plant matter, with animal products like lizards and bird eggs providing only about 6% of the calories in their diets. Certain species of monkeys also have specialized anatomy to exploit specific foods, such as howler monkeys that chew leaves with long digestive tracts and colobus monkeys that use multi-chambered stomachs similar to those of ruminants to extract hard-to-digest leaf nutrients.
Like people, monkeys need a balance of fruits, vegetables and proteins to stay healthy. They also need lots of water to keep them hydrated when they’re exercising and exploring their environments.
Never punish your monkey, as it can cause him to fear you and may lead to negative behaviors. Instead, try to determine why he’s acting up and find ways to positively reinforce his good behavior. And always keep him in a safe cage when he’s not with you. If he escapes, you could be fined for having an unlicensed exotic animal. And if he bites someone, Animal Control will take him away to test for rabies, and you could be charged with criminal cruelty.